[Ajrothm]

After searching the forums/FB groups etc and my own troubleshooting, and getting corn holed by the dealer on a new starter, I still have a no start condition when the car is warm. 62k miles.

This started about 2 years ago, car would be hard to start when hot, but would always start, after a dragging turn over. Replaced the battery, seemed to “help” the situation but not solve it, but it always started. This was around 30k miles

Fast forward 2 weeks ago, wife is stranded at the grocery store, I go test the battery, it’s good, starter is dragging bad. I throw jumper cables on it and it was JUST enough to get it to start.

I take it to the dealer, I have them change the starter and check everything else out. $1000 bill.

Guess what, today while running errands, stranded again. Won’t start again. Soooo I’m at a loss as to what to do. Wiring/cables look perfect, battery load tests well and the starter is new. Cold, it starts great....it’s literally after running stop and start errands and shutting it off for short periods of time that it happens.


Do I throw another battery in it and hope the increased amperage is enough to limp it by or??

I’m so close to unloading this thing it’s not even funny. 62k miles, bone stock 2SS. Wife’s daily...

[knighti2]

Found this thread:

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=585499

Looks like might be a more common issue then you would hope. Unfortunately no solutions there as no one seems to have run across one.

Several culprits though.

Good Luck is needed it seems.

[Ajrothm]

Originally Posted by knighti2

Found this thread:

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=585499

Looks like might be a more common issue then you would hope. Unfortunately no solutions there as no one seems to have run across one.

Several culprits though.

Good Luck is needed it seems.

Yeah its crazy man that its this common and there is no fix for what seems like a simple problem. After about 45 mins or so, it'll cool down and spin over like no problem at all and fire up.

What really sucks is this is my wife's daily, she has broke down twice and I work shift work, so I can't just rush over anywhere in the city to try to get it started.

I hate to say it but this has been the worst GM car I have ever owned. All of the usual 6th gen camaro quirks, mine has had most all of them.

[Racerman27410]

I am starting to experience the slow hot start thing... car has never failed to start .. YET!
Seeing as these engines are high compression i think that may be playing a large part in the hot start issue....In the old days where the throttle pedal was actually connected to the carb i would say cracking the throttle when starting would help... with the fly by wire i dont know if that will do anything but i'm going to try it next time i get a slow start. Only other option i see is fitting an aftermarket high torque starter from Power master or similar.

[DaveC113]

Test the starter cable's resistance with a meter, or replace it just to be sure, also clean the flanges as I think it's grounded via the engine block, and clean the electrical contacts at the starter and battery. This is a low voltage high-current device, so low resistance is extremely important.

I used to have a shop, I remember a f'in Toyota truck that had a starting issue and the cable looked new but was corroded near the starter, I wasted way too much time on the job.

[Biscuit.fr]

Starter is too close from the engine
Doesn’t like the heat
I thing a good think would be to put some heat protection around it...

[AmazinglySmooth]

In a completely different vehicle, I experienced start-up issues due to an engine position sensor that worked intermittently. The dealer diagnosed it by heating the position sensor with a heatgun.

[Petrol Head]

Look into this to see if it applies to you:

https://www.classaction.org/chevy-ca...blems-lawsuits

[Ajrothm]

Originally Posted by DaveC113

Test the starter cable's resistance with a meter, or replace it just to be sure, also clean the flanges as I think it's grounded via the engine block, and clean the electrical contacts at the starter and battery. This is a low voltage high-current device, so low resistance is extremely important.

I used to have a shop, I remember a f'in Toyota truck that had a starting issue and the cable looked new but was corroded near the starter, I wasted way too much time on the job.

Thanks man. I did check all the cables for tightness and visual inspection for corrosion and they were all good. I didn’t measure resistance though.

I did measure battery voltage after sitting all night in the cold and it was 12.21v which is a little low. Battery is exactly 2 years old. So a new battery will probably get it to at least start. It will still drag its balls when it’s hot but it should start.

Looks like I’m gonna put a battery in it today and send this thing down the road. I can’t be having this kind of BS with this car. It’s my wife’s car and I work shift work, I can’t run out and rescue her every time it acts up. It’s a damn shame because we love the car.

[Ajrothm]

Originally Posted by Biscuit.fr

Starter is too close from the engine
Doesn’t like the heat
I thing a good think would be to put some heat protection around it...

Yeah I assume it’s heat soak related. I don’t think a heat shield is gonna help. The starter is packed into a little/tight compartment with not much air flow etc....

Hell I couldn’t even figure out how to get the starter out once I unbolted it.

Oddly enough, I have a C7 Z06 with 2” headers and that car has NEVER had a hot start issue or even a slow dragging start...at least not yet in 13k miles. And ALL of its driving is city, stop and start type stuff..

I think it’s a combination of things on the Camaro, heat soaked engine compartment, lack of cable quality/size.....too many junction points etc. just too much resistance in the whole system.

Piss poor design and execution from Chevy.

[Rhobz]

I haven't done any research but this product page also includes a video talking about this issue. Maybe this will solve it for you.

https://www.lethalgarage.com/collect...ground-harness

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by Ajrothm

I did measure battery voltage after sitting all night in the cold and it was 12.21v which is a little low. Battery is exactly 2 years old.

12.2 V is only 60% charged. For a 2 y.o. battery sitting overnight that is low.

I would try to measure voltage while cranking. You may have drop across the starter relay contacts. if voltage drops under 11 it probably won't crank. Relay is cheap to replace, and might be worth doing for peace of mind. But I think the main problem is something is draining your battery.

[wwiiavfan]

The batteries in these cars seem to be really sensitive to loss of efficiency. As in, there seems to be no margin of error for a few bad cells. I had the battery crap out after one year and less than 5k miles on my SS. I had stored it with a tender on it the first winter, and the following spring as soon as the weather started warming up, it would intermittently not start, and I thought, oh boy, here we go...
Dealer checked battery (and a bunch of other stuff) declared it good, and sent me on my way. Of course the problem returned. After checking the battery and having it test "good" AGAIN, I asked them to replace the battery. They did it on their own, as GM won't replace one that tests good. Problem went away and never came back since, nearly 3 years and many, many starts later.
Anyway, point is, ALL components of the system have to be in top working condition, there is no wiggle room.

[RyanR623]

Oddly enough, i used to get really bad, almost no starts when the engine was hot. When they dropped a new engine in it, the issue completely went away. Even in 100 degree heat when warmed up. The oddest thing is that no new battery or starter were on the service sheet. To this day I have never been able to figure out why.

Maybe the lethal garage idea was the issue? They would've replaced that part most likely.