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1999 Pontiac Sunfire automatic Won't Start
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sophie
Novice
Jun 26, 2009, 8:01 AM
Post #1 of 7
(6996 views)
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1999 Pontiac Sunfire automatic Won't Start
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Hi, I have a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire
automatic
4 cyclinder (quad-4 olds)
37,000 miles
It was working fine and now it's in my garage and won't start. The dashboard lights do come on. The icons that show up are the "Check Engine," an oil can (I think), and a water display. I don't remember seeing these before it wouldn't start. I might have missed them, but that's a lot to miss. I do have gas in the tank.
I have a problem where I sometimes have to jiggle the tubes (?) going to the battery to get it started. I don't have to do that very often. And it's been so long that I've had to do that, that I don't remember if this is the same thing. The car does try to start very briefly and then goes into a sound like prrrrrrrrl -- I don't how to write how this sounds, like something unwinding. I don't know if it would make any sound if my battery was dead and I don't want to keep jiggling the tubes and trying to start it because I don't want to do more damage.
I admit I haven't had the car serviced in a very long time. I have no one that can help me jump start it or give any other help with it.
I just wondered if anyone who knows about this car knows of a way I could get it started and take it directly to be serviced -- or what the best way to get it to a service center is.
Thanks in advance.
(This post was edited by sophie on Oct 23, 2011, 8:17 AM)
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Sidom
Veteran
/ Moderator
Jun 26, 2009, 4:19 PM
Post #2 of 7
(6984 views)
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Re: 1999 Pontiac Sunfire automatic Won't Start
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It sounds like you have a dead battery & may need to get the cables cleaned. If you can't find someone to jump it for you, you may have to call a tow truck or call the shop you are planning to take it to & they may be able to help you out.....
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sophie
Novice
Jun 30, 2009, 2:43 PM
Post #3 of 7
(6965 views)
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Re: 1999 Pontiac Sunfire automatic Won't Start
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Sidom, I just wanted to say thanks for your response. I called AAA and they came out and jumped the battery and said to take it straight to a service place just to be sure. Walmart replaced the battery but said something was wrong with the alternator.
Thanks again for helping! 
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
jteeguarden@msn.com
Jul 2, 2009, 4:35 PM
Post #4 of 7
(6953 views)
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Re: 1999 Pontiac Sunfire automatic Won't Start
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Sophie,
What did Walmart say was wrong with your alternator? Not putting out enough voltage or what? Your battery starts your car, after the engine is running your alternator produces the electricity to run your car, its systems and recharge the battery. If the alternator is bad, simply replacing the battery will allow the car to start and run for a while but it will soon die without an alternator making electricity and recharging the battery. It also sounds like your cables to the battery are bad or the connections from them to the battery are corroded and dirty. Clean them and have the alternator checked to make sure it is putting out the required voltage for your make and model of car. Jason
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sophie
Novice
Jul 3, 2009, 5:59 AM
Post #5 of 7
(6946 views)
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Re: 1999 Pontiac Sunfire automatic Won't Start
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Hi Jason,
I think the cables to the battery were just dirty and that may have been my only problem to begin with. But I really didn't know how to clean them and I couldn't really understand what the guy at Walmart was saying, so I ended up with a new battery somehow. The guy, in broken English, just said there may be a problem with your alternator because the car was started, but then later he moved it and it wouldn't start again. I don't know. I probably need to go to AutoZone and have them check the alternator with the computer, as you said. Thanks again.
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sophie
Novice
Oct 23, 2011, 8:15 AM
Post #6 of 7
(6468 views)
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Re: 1999 Pontiac Sunfire automatic Won't Start
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I'm back again with the same problem as I talked about in the original post above from June 2009. Last time, after I got the new battery, it was still giving me problems and I went to AutoZone and they said I needed a new alternator. I bought a refurbished alternator from them and had it installed at a shop they recommended. Just FYI, the guy at the mechanic shop said a wire was loose when I picked it up and I said, "A wire loose?" -- sort of like I suspected that was the problem instead of the alternator and he quickly said, "But you needed a new alternator too."
Now my car won't start again. It's been fine ever since then, July of 2009. It's been jumped twice, but later will go dead. When I try to start it, it makes a grinding sound like trrrrrrrrrrrl. My boss said it sounded like the starter.
HISTORY:
I just wanted to add a few things to give you the whole picture: This past week two days BEFORE it went dead, my car was parked in the garage for no more than 50 minutes and I smelled what I thought was gas when I ready to leave again. I opened the garage door and let it air out and started it and there was no problem. Later, a family member checked the fluids and said it was very low on oil. At one time, we thought we smelled something again. It's hard to be sure that you actually smelled it or imagined it. I don't why.
I hadn't changed the oil yet and two days later, the car wouldn't start after work. My boss jumped me and I went to a family member and they charged the battery. I had the oil and filter changed, and the oil flushed. It was fine until the next day and now it's in my garage again and won't start.
Would an alternator already be bad after two years!!!!!????
This car is a 1999 and only has 42,000 miles. I traveled when it was new and it spent most of the time sitting the airport parking lot. So I thought I was lucky -- that my car hadn't been driven to death and would not just start falling apart like cars with tons of miles. If I have to install a new alternator for $500 every two years, this car that I babied for all those years will just be eating my money. I might as well pay to get some $1500 used car with high mileage that runs.
Is this normal? Do you think it's just a wire that comes loose and they're just taking my money? At the previous oil change at Walmart in 2009, the guy also talked about how it might be a loose wire because the lights would flicker on and off. And that's another reason it was so surprising when that shop mentioned that there was a wire loose - but claimed it still needed the new alternator.
More background: For many years, about 5 to 10 years ago, every now and then the car would not start and you had to jiggle the "connectors" to the battery to get it to start. Sometimes you had to get the corrosion off of them. There's no corrosion that I can tell right now. The battery is 2 years old.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
(This post was edited by sophie on Oct 23, 2011, 9:38 AM)
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 23, 2011, 11:02 AM
Post #7 of 7
(6450 views)
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Re: 1999 Pontiac Sunfire automatic Won't Start
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This thread is 2 years old so please start over with a new thread. Whatever is wrong, it is not a continuation of the original problem.
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