2003 No Start Mystery

I have a 2003 Ion that I've had since last March. All was well with the car
up until the first cold spell here in the northeast, around the end of
October. The problem is this: When I attempt to start the vehicle in the
morning, it will not start. No clicking, nothing. I do have full battery
usage. Upon taking it in the 1st time, I was told that there was a bad cell
in the battery, and that they replaced the battery. Now comes the best
part...if I wait a few hours, the car starts right up! And having the car
towed to the dealership, they are unable to replicate the "No Starting"
problem. I get it back from them, and lo & behold, a few weeks later that
same thing happens. The last time, in late December, the said that the main
ground wire was a wee bit loose, and they tightened it, along with
performing the two recalls. And all was well until this morning (Jan 8)
when the car threw me a curveball...it started in my driveway (morning temp
was approx 16 degrees) and drove it about 5 miles to fill up the 1/4 tank,
and upon attempting to start after gassing up, no start!
I'm desparate here. And I'm sure the dealership is as well. Since they are
unable to replicate it, they don't see it as a problem. I have a 7.5 month
pregnant wife & a job of which I need reliable transportation. I really
like the ION, as it serves it's purpose for what I need, but, I need it to
start!
Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'd have them check the crankcase position sensor.

 

Is it an automatic? If so, may it's not quite in park, and the switch isn't
engaged. Try shifting to neutral and then start, the next time it happens.

 

I'd have them check the crankcase position sensor.

If it was the crank sensor the car would at least turn over. He says it doesn't
even click.

Sounds like something maybe in the neutral safety switch circuit ?

 

Back in the late 80's a had a Toyota Corolla that had similar type of
problem. Had about 5 tows and $1500 of repairs done by the dealer;
battery, alternator, starter you named it, they replaced it at least
once (none of which is actually the problem). I started to carry the
schematic and a voltmeter in the car and sure enough, next time it
happened I found a intermittant connection on a connector (starter
relay). The odds of a mechanic ever finding this were (pretty much)
ZERO!

 

I have similar problem. Battery, starter, park/neutral switch are all good.
Luckily I have remote starter so I tried and it work. Later I found out
that my ignition switch was defective. So if you have a remote starter, try
it next time.

 

Thanks for all the responses! After it was towed into the dealership, lo &
behold, the car would not start for them. Turned out to be a bad "ignition
module" in the steering column. And the tech found two error codes. They
replaced the module, then "relearned" the security codes, and all seems
well. We'll see if it stays well for several weeks!

 

I hope it works out for you. You might want to network with some
neighboors, find out number of taxi service, ect to have a back up
plan if something goes wrong when she tells you it is time to go to
the hospital.

You might not be home, car could have a flat, yada yada. We tend to
expect our autos to work every time we want to use them and plan that
way.

Wes

 

I didn't read all the posts but my SC1 has a habit of vibrating the
positive cable loose. Once it does that, the heat expansion and contraction
will short my car and it won't start. It sounded like your problem. I went
and checked the battery cables and, sure enough, the cable was loose. A good
tightening and it was fixed.
Joe