BigDaddy74

So my wife goes to crank our 2009 Traverse this morning and the starter engages for a few moments but the engine wont fire. I got home and tried a couple of times to get it to crank to no avail. The drain on the battery from multiple attempts had me thinking I might have a bad battery since it was the original battery that came with the car. Took it to Autozone and the battery tested fine according to their meter. So I come home and reinstall the battery and still get the same non-cranking issue. I also tried jump starting to make sure that it wasn't a amperage issue but again the motor wouldn't fire. The wife says she has noticed a slower start and a clicking noise from under the hood for about 4 days prior to today but that it went away after the car idled for a minute or two.

Could this be something in the electrical system causing the engine not to get fire? Fuel pump not pushing fuel when it is trying to crank? Is there anything I can check BEFORE I pay a tow bill to take it to my mechanic?

Help!

2009 Traverse LT
87,000 miles
only in shop one time for a water pump about 18 months ago

sledge.impy

So the lights and accessories are fine? If it is cold where you (40F and below), you might not have enough CCA (cold cranking amps)...but you should at least get SOME activity like lights dimmiing or strange noises.

It is possible it is the starter if there is full power and nothing. The starter needs to turn the flywheel to get the motor turning before spark and fuel are added.

But it sounds like you have absolutely nothing from the starter even when jumping the car...? Is that what you mean by no-cranking?

Jess Daniel

Did you ever figure out what it was. Same thing is happening to ours. Has a brand new transmission and power steering pump, our warranty just expired and we are trying to see if there is anything to try before we have it towed! Thank you I’m advance.

KChevy75

Sounds like the OP had a 6 year old battery back in 2015. That's well over the lifespan of a typical OEM battery and the symptoms indicate a bad battery.

I've had the same thing happen and the auto parts store always said it tested fine even when I purposely brought it in so dead no interior overhead or cluster lights would even light. I thought about even draining all of the liquid inside and replacing it with water and seeing it they said it was fine.

No sure what age battery yours is but if it's 5+ years old, I'd be leaning toward bad battery.

Most OEM batteries I've had have lasted 7 years max. My 2011 challenger battery lasted 7 years / 36,000 miles. My Ram 1500 lasted 7 years. My 2007 suburban is on its 4th battery in 247,000 miles or every 60,000 miles or 2.5 years.

It seems to me like charging cycles and not years are what really effect longevity. I'm using AGM batteries now whenever my originals go out. So far, I haven't reached the years/miles of the lead acid batteries I've used previously so I don't know if they are any better. I have 46,000 miles / 2.2 years on the AGM battery in the suburban so far. I'll know more by the end of the year if it's any better than lead acid. I've had 2 instances where it was completely dead recently. The first was because someone left a 12v cigarette lighter heated blanked plugged in overnight back in December. I immediately threw the blanket in the trash. A week ago, it was completely dead. I think the inside light witch was left on for a couple days as it clicked when I turned it to the left. No issues since I charged it back up.