Looking for possible problem that HHR's have had in the area of a starter not turning over when trying to crank the engine over. Sisters boyfriend recently bought a 2008 HHR with high miles. It runs fine with exception to a low pitch rattle for the firs minute after the engine is turned on. He has experienced having to jump start the engine more than once in the past week. I informed him he should first check to see if the battery post are clean and that the cables have good contact. The starting / no turning over problem is a sporadic one. But, from what I have been told, it will crank over when it is given a boost. So, I was also thinking that the starter is drawing a lot of amps/voltage and at the end of it's mechanical life. End cap bushing and brushes could be worn due to the amount of miles on the engine and times the starter has had to turn the engine over. If there are other service bulletins out regarding such no start issues, does anyone have a bulletin number to refer to?

 

if its the starter brushes, the symptom would be no crank, single click of the start solenoid is heard.
tapping on the starter while someone holds the key in the start position and the engine will now crank over. hitting to hard will break the starter field windings.