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I have a 2010 Chevy Cobalt. I drove the car shut the engine off, when I went to restart the car it did nothing.

All of my dash lights worked and my radio would play, but the car wouldn't turn over. Since then I've had the battery checked it came back good. Tried to cross the starter with a screwdriver nothing happened no spark nothing.

Replaced the starter with a new one, car still does the same. Tried to cross the new starter with a screwdriver got nothing no spark nothing. So I replaced the cable that runs from the fuse box to the starter. Tried crossing again still nothing.

What would cause my car to not get any power to the starter?

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  • This sounds really obvious, but have you checked the fuses as sometimes there is a main fuse responsible for the starter motor? And is the battery charged? As sometimes the battery can be flat so that the instruments light up but it will not charge. Also NEVER short circuit things, especially in modern cars as you can cause loads of damage to the sensitive electronics.
    – George
    Jun 27, 2016 at 18:03

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Please stop testing your starter with a screwdriver! You could get hurt. A simple volt-meter or multi-meter is a good investment for a home mechanic.

Is your starter cable fused? Check the fuse with your new multi-meter and then you can check the voltage back to the battery negative post. It's possible the earth strap has come off your engine and there's no route back to ground.

There's not a lot that usually stops power getting to the starter, immobiliser systems usually stop the sparks and fuel.

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  • Good point on not to test starter with a screw driver
    – Shobin P
    Jun 27, 2016 at 15:38

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