Car Not Wanting To Start

[kanesmommy]

I have a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix Gt. I has 205140 miles on it. For a while now, my car will start fine some days, and others days after I have driven it and the turned it off to go into a store or such, it won't restart.

We thought it was the alternator so we replaced it. Still didn't help. Had the battery checked, they said it was bad, so I replaced it. It was fine for a few days, but it still does it. It is happening more and more often.

The car tries to start, but then it dies. The radio, lights, and windows all work after it dies, so I don't think it is the battery. Sometimes I have to pump the gas pedal to get it to catch and other times that doesn't work. Sometimes it has to be jumped off. I don't understand what is wrong with the darn thing. I don't have a job and I am a recently single mom, so I cannot afford to take it in and be charged to have someone look at it and tell me what it is wrong.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

[cerick08GP]

Well, the first thing I would check is the MAF sensor. It is an easy and free thing to check. Disconnect the battery, and then unplug the MAF sensor. Re-connect the battery, and start/run your car. If it runs better with the sensor un-plugged, that is your problem.

[00RegalGS]

Is your check engine light on? If theres no check engine light I'm gona say the fuel pump is on its way out.

[NashGT02]

sounds like the ignition switch to me. our 02 regal did the same thing and it eventually went out to the point where it would start but ran like absolute **** in which case I thought the computer was fried turned out to be the ignition switch.

[kanesmommy]

Thank you all. I have no idea what an MAF sensor is, but I will have my dad look into that.

I had the ignition switch replaced about 2 years ago. The fuel pump went out one day when I ran out of gas. That was probably 3 years ago.

The check engine light.... It comes on and then it goes off. A few weeks ago it had 3 error codes, one of them was something about the fuel pump.

Friends have suggested that it is the fuel pump or the fuel pump filter. I don't know if fuel filters are supposed to be changed regularly, but if they are then I know mine hasn't been changed in a LONG time. If it is the fuel pump, I don't understand. I mean, shouldn't they last longer than 3 years? I have only ran out of gas once, and that happened at the gas station and that caused my fuel pump to go out.

Other friends have suggested that it's the security system in the car.
I have called service centers, and they say it could be the security system or the fuel pump but they can't say for sure unless I bring it in.

[00RegalGS]

yea you should change the fuel filter every 30,000 miles or so. whoever did the fuel pump should have mentioned the filter to you and replaced it then, or at least i do every time i do a fuel pump. but yea... if it hasnt been changed in a while you should probably get on that. its cheap.

[mikeygan17]

okay i had this exact problem, its one of the sensors i believe the part is less then a hundred bucks i know it to do with the ignition i hope this helps i just forget the name of the sensor sorry

[cerick08GP]

Other friends have suggested that it's the security system in the car.
I have called service centers, and they say it could be the security system or the fuel pump but they can't say for sure unless I bring it in.

I can tell you this; if it is your security system you have another problem in combination with it. Most of the symptoms you have posted could not be attributed to the security system.

[kanesmommy]

Well, I got the fuel filter changed and it didn't help anything... It's actually gotten worse, to the point that I don't feel safe driving the car. It dies constantly and one day the service engine light started flashing and flashed for about 10 minutes before going off. Now... I know that means that the car had a critical misfire and the error codes say that as well. I will be taking her in soon, and if it's not something major then I will get her fixed, but if it is she is headed to the junk yard. I've already replaced the transmission, the heater, some thing that caused water to fill my passenger side floor board, some belt, wheel bearings... so much has been replaced on my car it's not even worth it anymore!

[SlowNA06]

Have you had your dad check the MAF sensor? Often, a MAF sensor wire can get dirty and cause a car to operate poorly or not at all. A can of cleaner is $10. Checking it is free though - have him unplug the wiring harness from the MAF sensor and see if the car runs/starts better.

Additionally, your throttlebody is probably rather clogged and ought to be cleaned while you're messing around with the MAF anyway. they sell TB cleaner right next to the MAF cleaner.

[kanesmommy]

Well... he looked at it, but that's all he did. I will probably have to do it. I have no idea what a throttle body is, but I will google it and see if I can clean it.
Thank you!