No crank? it's a Ghost! (Chevy Cobalt) 

Some ECMs will go in safe mode (theft mode) when they detect un-commanded engine crank that's why it needed a code reset to restore crank relay control. Nice fix Ivan 👍

Dude thank so much for this video i bought this car not running this summer for my daughter for her xmas she just got her license and its 2 days away from xmas and i cant get it running i was up all night trying to fig out why it wont crank might i add i dont have access to the diagrams nor do i know how to read them so i was up late after working on it and i seen ur video at about 7 this morning and almost jumped out of my bed to go try it but thought i might just get some rest and tackle it later on w some rest and it worked but i am still cant remove the key not sure why that is yet but ty so much you are going to make my daughter so happy this year i have fell into some money problem this year which are getting alot better so i wasn't really able to give as much as i wanted my daughter is one of the most amazing people and i didn't want to let her down and thanks to you that wont happen i am almost in tears writing this ty again god bless you

Great video shows the absolute necessity for a wiring diagram

Ivan is the professor of automotive troubleshooting! Extremely knowledgeable, logical and patient. PHAD is the best for diagnosing the hard problems on RU-vid. Thanks for sharing your expertise with us.

Had a coworker do a wiring harness on a Chevy diesel ,he was in such a rush to impress the boss that he left the shared ECM/GPCM ground only hand tight. Truck got towed back in later that night as a no-crank , I attempted to communicate with it with the Tech2 and no comms I used my 3157 home made test light to load test the ECM fuses and all the relays started to chatter just like that. Since I know he had just done the harness I went right for the ground on the engine block and found it very lose. tighten it and all fixed and of course he came over and brushed it off like yea what ever it happens. Awesome video Ivan

I knew what the problem was from the beginning. It’s a Cobalt.

FYI, the actual ignition key release is under the steering column. There's a little plastic/rubber panel you can pop off on the underside of the plastic column shroud. You can then use your finger to push in the plunger of the solenoid that prevents the key from coming out. That way you don't have to drive around with the center console removed. The key being stuck in the ignition actually is unrelated to this car's issues. All Cobalts and HHRs have that ignition switch issue.

As a rule of thumb any time you have clicking relays it's a ground problem have seen a lot of problems on newer ford's very good video on the process

Ya stayed on track Ivan and found the bad ground. Those clicking relays are tell tale. The computer was finding its ground through the transmission relay probably into a trans. solenoid. You followed the clues very well Ivan. Nice job👍

(Sung to Ghostbusters theme) If your car won't start, when it's in park. Who you gonna call ? PINE HOLLOW!!! When your car won't pass. It needs a kick in the a$$. Who you gonna call? PINE HOLLOW!!! When you need it fixed right, Ivan's got a test light. That's when you call. PINE HOLLOW!!!! Hahaha

I enjoyed this one. I always appreciate that you bring us along for the process and hear how you approach which direction to take.

The key not returning to the LOCK position is a fairly common problem on the Cobalt. There's actually a release button inside the steering column where you can manually release the key. It's awkward to reach, but the access hole is on the bottom steering column cover.

You scored the Touchdown, Jim Kicked the Ball through the up rights to win the game. Ivan stands and watches Jim get carried off on teammates shoulders, crowd goes crazy.

Ivan so many electrical problems turn out to be wire corrosion. Great place to start all electrical troubleshooting. Thanks Ivan good video ❤️

This is a known problem with this ground .. it’s in a really bad spot . And the computer had a pcm relay code in it because of the bad ground that’s why it wouldn’t start . You reset the computer and it started . Great 👍 video Ivan !!!

Seen this a few times here in the uk with bad grounds which then back feed and cause the car to crank on its own. Great video from start to finish 👍 Great use of diagrams and double checking each step.

A do a full ECM reset whenever I've had a low voltage or bad ground issue. What can happen is that the volatile stored values for everything from the fuel trims to the current rolling code for the key will turn into something nonsensical because the power level dropped to the point where they couldn't be stored reliably (most ECMs have "undefined" behavior below something like 9 volts). The bad values then cause all sorts of problems. Usually you end up with a rough idle, wrong idle speed, bad shifts, and sometimes even keyless entry stops working. Sometimes it'll start and fix itself after a while, but its just easier to clear all the values. To be sure I disconnect the battery for 30 minutes so that the store values in the ECM, Transmission ECU, BCM, and other modules are lost and everything starts from scratch.

Dude thank you i inherented this "thing" and i couldnt figure the issuse out..your one of the only ones that did it and explained it well. Now if only i could find out someone to buy this thing ,i mean this wonderful specimen of a chevy car..then id be true happy and buy my 04-07 dodge diesel 4x4 with 6speed. Oh for those good old days. Thanks again you pull my butt out of a fryer. Sincerly, Kurt D Lord Bee keeper Exstrodinaire

Great video for DIY you are a great investigator thanks for your time making great videos Bill N LI NY

This video helped point me in the right direction with my niece's 2007 Cobalt. I also found that the park/neutral fuse kept blowing & found the loom for the range sensor had rubbed against a stud just enuff to short to ground. Id have def been scratching my head a lot longer

Another PHAD fix where NPN (no parts needed) other than a couple of eyelets, Great video.

Ivan says: "....bad grounds to fix it...." Jim says: "I thought that was it..." Then why in the hell didn't JIM fix it? I've worked around folks who say those things - Jim should have thanked Ivan for fixing it!

Great diagnosis, all caused by a corroded ground. Thanks for sharing and best regards from the UK.

I was test driving an Avalanche after an engine performance repair and stopped in a parking lot because I realized I'd forgotten to clear codes and fuel trims. I hit the clear all codes from code scan command on my Snap On tool and then remembered I needed to save something from that data before clearing it. I hit the abort clear code command from the scan tool and the "truck" wouldn't start afterwards. No communication with BCM. Thankfully I was only a couple miles from the shop I worked for at the time and was able to get a co-worker to bring me a 1/4" ratchet and 10mm socket. I did a battery cable reset and all was good after. The clear codes situation on the Cobalt reminded me of that. Dang GM modules! Great case study Comrade!

AllData has saved my ass more than once. Great troubleshooting, man.

Well done Ivan , That is a good little car. Great to see it running again.

Dude, your one of a kind.

Ivan! That was really weird diag!! Needed a kick in the a$$ lol. Nice diag. I learned something on that! Hahaha.

Clicky relays, the first thing I look for is bad grounds. The old Ford Escorts are famous for bad grounds, looks like Chevy had the same problems.

Thank you Ivan. Good job. I appreciate your videos. Have a blessed and safe week.

Thanks for that wonderful video learn another solution to fix that problem.. From Mexicali Mexico. Franco Perez

That was funny when Jim moved his relay tester and moved the start relay to another position you could hear Ivan get anxious but politely say, “what relay is that Jim?” Jim replies “they’re all the same not realizing that Ivan is troubleshooting and wants to keep track of things.”

That ground looks similar to a Chrysler style, nice job Ivan!

Next time try the holy water, lol. Awesome video keep up the great work.

Excelente! I know a few GMs that lock the key in the ignition when there's low power to it. To me, that was a clue. Great find. Love the process! Have an awesome weekend Ivan!! 😊😊🤗🤗

I love a good automotive exorcism great video Ivan

Good on ya Jim for calling in a pro

So am I to assume that clearing the ECM codes can be interpreted as kind of an 'equivalent' to re-booting a PC, Ivan? Looks like both actions can be seen as resets after making a fix. I will have to remember this the next time I have a PCM-related repair. BTW, this was a very good instructional video and I particularly enjoyed watching you explain the 'thought process' to trace the fault through the schematic. You da man, Ivan!

i have the cobalts twin the pontiac g5, known for ground problems. ground wires also under driver headlight and coolant tank. check all of them plus fuse for bcm/pcm for corrosion/oxidation

Another winning diagnosis!

Ghost in the Machine. Very instructive... nicely done.

No bonus footage....UNSUBSCRIBE. Nice video Ivan.

Nice fix Ivan I actually have this car had a nocrank situation once it was the ground strap on starter was corroded away.

GM (Holden) over here were notorious for ECM failure creating a No Start condition around that era. My fix for them was piggy backing a separate starter button to bypass it. Most of those cars are still goi g to this day(the ones that haven't been destroyed)

I realize the age of this video however, after seeing the corrosion on the eyelet on the transmission & seeing the misfire, there is also a grounding pount on the right side(driver side rear of the engine fornthe coils. Its worth checking.

when i hear it clicking i though bad ECM ground it remind me case by scannerdanner (How to test a computer ground circuit (Audi)) its same sound same problem , greeting from Saudi Arabia

Good thing you didn't title it "Ghost In The Machine" (RU-vid strike) lol. Nice vid.

Good job Ivan powers and grounds good v log Power to pine hollow cheers

Great job as always comrade. Good to see you.

Smashing diag :-D The rattle of the relays did sound like a bad 12+ or gnd to the drive module, someone did say "Always check power and grounds on ecm/modules." it may have been you lol. I did get a bit lost at the point where you decided to connect a bulb to 12+ and the relay coil-- drive, then you jumped to testing the 12+ on the relay coil+ instead lol. I had to watch that again untill i knew where you were going lol, i get mixed up easy if i'm not actually doing the job myself. Connecting a low resistance bulb from +12 to the crank relay coil -- sounds very dangerious, it could have overloaded the module and blown the output, that relay coil can't be asking for much more than 300mA and the drive transistor could have been blown out. Expensive module death :-( Just my opinion/worry.

Well i have a dilemma. 2006 Cobalt,i followed your video as best i could, upshot is it has 4 wires at that ground stud, the 3 smaller gauge were broken off the ring, the one large one was still barely attached. Repaired that and still no crank, i can jump ground to the pin on the crank relay and it'll crank over. I'm hoping i can come up with a scanner to clear codes. But this car is really teetering on fix or junk. If i can get it to run my neighbor will really be happy, it's his kids junker/ beater for running around town. One thing is the ECU connectors are different, they aren't side by side they are over/under. So may be a different engine or something

30 seconds or 30 feet for the warranty. Sometimes resetting the PCM kicks out all the bad habits and lockouts. Definitely a bad ground! Nice Repair!

I’m having a near identical issue with my 07 G5 (cobalt clone). No crank, weird electrical symptoms like you had. I cleaned every ground on the thing, and cleared the codes. My G105 is in good shape, cleaned it up nice anyway. I like your style of approach though. If you have any advice I’d really appreciate it, I do all my own work on this thing and over the past 3 years made it a near new car again, and I’ll be damned if this electrical issue scraps it on me!

I’ve got two question for my situation with no crank no start. New battery. New starter. 1)what if I don’t have continuity to the starter like you test at 7:45. What should I do. And 2) what if I have a weak ground on the bottom right pin. Should I ground ECM to strut tower bolt? What size of bolt and nut for the hole on ecm? Is a thick gauge wire good enough to ground? Should have zero resistance right? Thank you for your time. If you can help me diagnose issue, I would not mind helping you out with a tip. $$

Nice find! That eyelet terminal was a mess. Shame on such a low mile, relatively new car. Par for the course today. Chinese copper / slag wiring & terminals ... Always amazes me how a missing ground will do all kinds of unpredictable, strange stuff! I learned that many years ago troubleshooting a turn signal issue on a motorcycle - just because of 1 bad ground, the opposite side light would blink when one side only was activated. Was also blinking the wrong filament in the bulb, lol! Running lights up front were also dim on one side. Fixed the ground, and everything worked normally. Lesson there is, electricity will find ANY path back to ground it can, usually unintended, or illogical paths. 😎 Love Jim's computer monitor! That thing is MASSIVE! 👍👍

My 2006 is having all these and other problems. It started after replacing wheel bearings and moving wires to diagnose a bad wheel sensor. First symptom was the gear position switch not reporting. Followed by all kinds of crap from no gauges to every alarm imaginable buzzing relays. I bumped the wire loom in the area of that ring and it quit. Will check it in a few hours. Sure as shit mine is busted too exactly the same way. Will get to repair.

Great working diagnostics!

Just want to add to that, I had prob 5 different cobalts fail from grounds mostly g105(same reason) but they all showed different symptoms. None had a clicky clicky relay yet lol.

Thanks for this video. I went straight to testing the ECM ground and got 12V. I thought it was going to be a simple ground cleanup. I'm certainly going to put in some work into this now. Update: I went to check my always ground on my Run/Crank relay and got positive voltage. I thought I must be crazy, then I pulled up the fuse box schematic. Turns out the fuse box had fuses where there should be circuits. Relays were missing and some were backwards. Replaced the fuse box, and it started right up. Thank you very much for this video. Now I'm following wiring diagrams everywhere.

You are a great teacher. Great video.

Damn bad grounds. This was a good one thanks for showing this.

I can only imagine how many codes were stored before he cleared them because of ground issue.

Outstanding troubleshooting.

Ivan, what? No bonus footage? Great video!

gm has a specal coverage for this condition 14632B special coverage adjustment. covers 2005 -2010 colbalt plus more. get this 15 years. they install a new shifter.

90% times when anything controlled by a computer end up into a indefinite loop, expect something which causes an reset - run - crash loop. More often it's the grounds which fail as on the positive side there is only a battery terminal out there in the wild. Car manufactureres should add "clean and grease body grounds every five years or 100 000 km / 60 000 miles, which ever come first. 200 000 km / 120 000 miles or 10 years in CA, AZ, TX... "

Ivan no parts again A+ nice fix..

Goof Grief! All that complexity just to spin the starter? I'll stick with my '94 K1500 thank you. Great job Ivan.

Not all clicky relays are a bad ground. I had one go clicky on me that is used to turn on my light bar. It was the relay itself that was the issue. Not a ground. I would have swapped relays to see if noise followed relay to start with. If it didn't then I would have started with what was going with that relay.

Follow the "clicky clicky." Well done Ivan. Thanks!

Key typically wont remove with a dead or disconnected batt. Push realease inside steerring column

Nice walk through!

Great job Ivan!

I had it diagnosed in 30 seconds when you knew you had full voltage and chattering relays.

Some of those damn ground gremlins.

Awesome troubleshooting.

I c u r using all data on your phone too. So u pull it up on both computer and phone to go to various places. Those relays will go in both ways. So how do u know the recommended way? Thank u!! Get Jim to start walking and quit smoking. He's a nice guy and we would like to c him around longer

My cobalt cranks but doesn’t run. You replaced 2 eyelets correct? Because my mechanic (never going there again) wrapped the copper wires behind the thick eyelet. Please help

Excellent video. Thanks!

I use fluid film in my car engine bays to scare away the green crusties.

Ivan. What is the brand of gloves you use? Is that white part a liner?

How much did you charge for the diagnostics and the labor?

Curious as to what you charge to diagnose issues. I posted on your other video with the dead dash mini Cooper (mine doing the same exact thing) and I'm wondering what I'm going to be looking at to pay someone to figure it out

I have same car, but it's a 5spd. Doing the same stuff but it will push start just fine. What's the tool Jim used to jump the relay?

You are good, most shops would have started to sell them an ignition switch and a new computer, before or if they ever found that bad ground.

You do good work brother!

Mysterious, Is that like a relearn process when you cleared the codes ??! Interesting.

Amazing find.

great video Ivan thanks again

2005 Cobalt. Key is able to come out. New battery. But car won’t start. It won’t even crank over. Any suggestions?

That was a dilly ivan well done

Jim needs to let a man work lol too many cooks spoil the soup:)

lady theres your problem! usually clicking relays is power or ground is weak and a quick visual over that ground terminal....

HOLY SHIT....THIS IS 1000% WHATS UP WITH MINE OMMFG ....HOLY HELL.....THANK YOU

The current draw of the relay coil is typically 150-200 mA is it to much to put 2 Amp on the control ground ECM side of the relay I don't know just asking?

so far I'm in this is an awesome video won't be able to finish it up I have to go work on my car one week away from vacation I threw a p0171.......I believe with the help of different videos I have eliminated it down two front oxygen sensor is basically dead giving me out 0 volts so off I go to the auto parts store thanks to you.. Eric.. and scannerdanner I'm on my way

What no bonus footage, like the video.

Good job

That was fun, but how did you manage to remove the stuck key after all?

great diagnostic thanks