Okay... 2002 Bonneville SSEi... 97,000 miles on the clock... recently went in for multiple coolant leaks... a few weeks afterwards, we have a starting problem. When turning the key to the on position I notice a slight delay in the gauges coming up through their sweeps (not sure if that is normal or not, but it doesn't seem that way)... go to crank the key and NOTHING! sometimes with multiple attempts, it will work, other times nothing. Twice today, I have gone to wiggle the under-hood fuse box (is this the ONLY fuse box BTW?) and funny thing is, it starts. I'm wondering if we don't have a relay inside the fuse box that is bad. Or maybe a loose connection in the harnesses that come into the fuse box. Possibly they had to remove the fuse box while doing the coolant leak and power steering pump replacement... not sure. Any suggestions? I don't have an owners manual for our car and so I can't seem to figure out what relay might be the one that controls the starting. I know that there are a couple different circuits for the start on lots of GM vehicles... as I have installed a few remote starts on late-model GM vehicles. Any chance that there is ONE relay that could be causing this? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated... I'll go do more searching for fuse panel info, but I'm in a panic since it is our only car and with the heat getting up, I don't want my wife and kids stranded in a hot car. Thanks in advance!

Randy

Start by checking the connections. Check for corrosion and clean.

It boggles my mind how clean this car is under the hood... no corrosion whatsoever... are you a mechanic? Do you think the under-hood fuse panel would have been removed for the work done for coolant leaks and power steering pump replacement? If so, would they have disconnected the harnesses from the bottom of the panel? Any chance a contact could have been damaged or bent or something? I'm headed back to the garage... I'll check back soon. Thanks for the quick response.

Randy

Hey Randy...if you need an owners manual, check these out!

There is a fuse and relay box under the hood and one under the back seat as well. Pull the fuse relay block up under the hood and check for corrosion. If you had an on-going coolant leak, you may have corroded the grounds on the block. Our cars are pretty darn finicky when it comes to a ground issue.

Any connection from the battery can get corroded.

Not seeing any corrosion under the under-hood fuse block. There is a new observation though... if I turn the key on and let everything go for few seconds, the drivers information center will read "Driver 2" and then start to read "Fuel Range" and then blanks out and reads "Service Air Bag" and won't start... while down in the garage, I cycled the key several times and twice it DIDN'T read "Service Air Bag" and when I cranked the key, it started no problem... but once it goes back to reading "Service Air Bag" it won't start... going back to check further for corrosion. Is it okay to loosen the three bolt that pass through the fuse block? I assume this is what holds the harnesses to the fuse block, right? BRB! Thanks for the replies guys!

Randy

OUTSTANDING! Thanks!

If your going to be playing with the wires, you may want to consider disconnecting the negative battery cable.

While there, check the battery connections for corrosion.

Man oh man... things are freakin' HOT under the seat! When trying to crank the engine (turning the key to start), I can hear a relay click under the seat... I can't however tell which one it is... going back to the manual to figure out the fuse boxes... ugh! I hate being a one-car-household!

Randy

Well... not sure if it was a fluke or not, but after going through the fuse panel information from the owners manual (Thanks again Purplehazeir), and checking all ignition fuses and relays, after removing, checking under-hood location #41, 30A maxi-breaker for the starter, after reinstalling it, it started numerous times... does that mean its fixed? Not sure but we shall see. As I had noticed before also, now that it is starting, it doesn't read "Service Air Bag" in the drivers information center. Weird! Thanks for the input and the help on the manual.

I'll let y'all know if that problem rears its ugly head again!

Later!

Randy