I have a 95 Bonneville with the standard 3.8.It has a starting problem.It starts most of the time very well,but on occasions it will crank over just fine,but does not fire.Occassionally it will die while sitting and coasting to traffic lights.The check engine light never comes on until after the car stalls.Last night after driving all day to several locations the car fired after every stop,and at the last stop it failed to fire.Pulled a plug wire to check for fire,and got nothing.I went back to pick it up this morning ,and it fired on the first hit.The car has a new fuel pump,and sending unit. Checked and found pressure at the fuel rail last night when it would not start.This leads me to beleive it is an ignition problem.A friend of mine thinks it is a relay under the hood on the firewall.The diagram for the relay'* is missing on my car.Does anyone have a picture of this that they can email me?Or does anyone have an idea on the starting problem,or which relay might be the problem :?: ?? Thanks,Doug

I doubt it has anything to do with a relay on the firewall. Do you know anyone with access to a scan tool so you can check the diagnostic trouble codes?

My feeling is that the problem is with the ignition control module...the piece that the coils are attached to. However don't bother taking the ICM in to a mechanics' to have it put on a bench tester...those are unable to detect an intermittantly bad ICM. A gearhead will be here to give you a more reliable opinion than mine before too long.

I agree with JDB that it could be the ignition control module, and that it would be very helpful if you got it scanned for the code. There are other things that could cause it also, and a code will help keep us from shooting in the dark. The best way of checking the ICM is by swapping it out with a known good one.

And I currently don't have any good ones at good prices to swap yours with..but may after Saturday'* yard run.

Something to try is check the wiring going to the ICM, remove ICM, look it over, and clean the ground on the bolt under the mounting plate.

I had a reputable mechanic fix the car while I was on vacation.He read the codes and found the crank sensor to be bad.He was 100% sure this was the problem.He is a very qualified mechanic,so I hope he was right.Labor and parts was $175.

That was a good price for the work. Let us know how it goes.