New camaro - struggles to start when hot. Throws up lights

[pomomp]

Hi everyone,

I just purchased a '14 camaro 1LE,

I've been scouring the forums for this issue that I'm having to no avail. Most threads are either inconclusive or don't have same symptoms as me...

Anyway, when my car is hot, or after recently switching it off, it struggles to start - it cranks for longer and when it finally fires up, the stabilitrak warning lights come on and the car drives rough.

I've replaced the battery as I've read that could be the issue. Worked for a while then had the same issue later that day. It only happens when the car is hot.

I'm at the dealership and they don't seem to know what it might be and need to hold on to the car for a few days - which I think will end up at a dead end. They reckon it could be a fuel pump. On top of this, I live over 200km away from my nearest dealer so I'm in a tough position.

The car only has 10, 000 km on the clock. I'm going to have the battery and ground wires all checked, but apart from that, I don't know what else to do! I've also read that heat wrapping the starter might help, can anyone tell me where I can find it on this car?

Any other suggestions?

[MoeIv]

I had the same problem and it turned out that the spark plugs and wires were loose

[pomomp]

I checked all of the wiring on my plugs, everything was in place and fine.

I'll get them changed, see if that helps. Thanks

[keving2873]

I have had similar problems. Had a dealership check the battery and they found that the starter was trying to pull way more juice from the battery than normal (I don't remember how much exactly). They decided to swap the starter and after that everything seemed to be back to normal. It has been a few months and I seem to be getting back into the same situation. The starter sounds very labored when I go to start the car only minutes after having turned it off, say like when you get gas or something.

So I would say the starter would be a good thing to check, but that might not be a lasting fix...

[pomomp]

Hmm not sure if my starter is the issue. It starts perfect first time in the mornings, and I tried replicating the issue at the dealer 4x in a row and (surprise surprise) it turned over first time. Only afterwards when I went to the mall, it happened once. Then was fine again. It's very intermittent... Hard to pin down!

[2013 ZL1 #7860]

Originally Posted by pomomp

Hmm not sure if my starter is the issue. It starts perfect first time in the mornings, and I tried replicating the issue at the dealer 4x in a row and (surprise surprise) it turned over first time. Only afterwards when I went to the mall, it happened once. Then was fine again. It's very intermittent... Hard to pin down!

Record every start with your phone until you catch it doing as you described. Take notes of all the details like temp, time, voltages, etc and show them the video.

[L&M CAMARO 6]

Very well could be the starter motor. Sure sounds like it, heat soaked and binding up.
STEALERS don't even know there product and how to repair when there is a problem.

[pomomp]

I'll have the starter motor looked into,

I read some people doing DIY fixes by putting some sort of heat shielding around the starter motor, my issue is that I dont even know where the bloody thing is!!! Is it easy to reach without any tools?

Thanks for all the input peeps!

[keving2873]

Starter is underneath on the passenger side of the motor.

Mine starts fine first thing in the morning and anytime it is off for more than just a couple minutes before restarting. It's only the quicker restarts that seem to have the most trouble (like when you stop to get gas).

[Low Saturn]

Subscribed.

Mine does the same thing. Fires right up without issue in the morning or after sitting several hours. But if I restart it after driving it a little while, it struggles a bit to start. Almost like you're trying to start it with a slightly low battery.

But if the battery were low, the opposite would happen.

[pomomp]

I've not had the problem since posting this thread.

I swear, I feel like I'm playing the lottery every time I start the car up after popping into the shops or somewhere!

I will have the spark plugs changed on Monday (I'll do the oil while I'm at it), and get the wiring checked. Will post back with updates.

[pomomp]

Typical, 15 minutes before my first track day with the car and it had issues starting again! What the hell...

This is not good :(

[CamaroLoco]

[QUOTE=pomomp;8145116]Typical, 15 minutes before my first track day with the car and it had issues starting again! What the hell...
*
I just posted this note below to another member (cjscjs) on his thread yesterday concerning the same issue.
*
Trust me, it's the starter. Replace it and you'll be fine. There is a heat shield next to the starter but we put header wrap on the left side primary just to add a little more. The shop I went to though didn't think it was a result of heat. He felt that it was just a starter that was going bad.
********
I had the same problem. Read a bunch of threads from guys having the same problem and the fix was different for everyone, loose plug, plug wire, short in the wiring harness, bad coil pack. One guy said he changed his battery. Mine operating on the low end so I changed it. I didn't know if that was the fix but I didn't have a problem for a year.
*
Then it started up again. Seemed like it would happen once it had run for a while and was hot. Tach would go dead and run like it was missing. It was throwing Crank Position Sensor codes as well as Cat Bank1 & 2 codes. Nobody seemed to know what was causing it. It was getting ridiculous.
*
Found a shop in town, J&R Performance. The owner (Rick) worked for GM for several years and bought one of the first 2010's. He goes by the handle "Urr2slo" here on the forum if you want to contact him.
*
He peeped it out. It was the starter. It was operating within specified parameters but it was operating on the low end. He could see how it was trying draw power and in the process, it was shutting down the tach.
*
Anyway, it's been a couple of weeks and he drove the car and it didn't happen again. It hasn't happened to me and I've been driving the mess out of it. At the time I took it to him, it was happening pretty much after every drive. I would have to let it set for 10 min or so before it would start up without the stabilitrak light.
*
I hope that your fix is just as easy. It's really annoying. Good luck.

[TommyTheCat]

Do they have lemon laws in UAE?