Odd power drain (split from Car shuting off while in freeway
#1
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Just will not start
I have a 1994 Pontiac Bonneville, V6, 3.8L. A month ago around 10am, I was out driving locally. 30 to 40mins later the car stopped. No warning light, no sound from the engine, all interior lights, etc turned off. It just stopped. While waitting for a tow truck which would take 45mins to a hour, 30mins while waitting it started up. And I drove home.
Using my Haynes Repairt Manual 1985 thru 2000. I went to the Troublesshooting section. I went thru section after section, checking this and that. Bottom Line I had replaced the - Ignition Coil/Module, E/Fuel Pump, Fuel Filter, Crankshaft Position Sensor, Fuel Pump Relay, Oil and Oil Filter, Computer, Valve Cover Gasket, Battery, Transmisor Sender, Alternator Connector (it was cracked - also had alternator was tested - it held it charge), Spark Plugs and Wires. Added Injector Cleaner and had Dobbs did a diagnostic check. No problems found.
I replaced two to three items at a time during the month after it stops running.
Yesterday, I was using a 12V power inflator for the back tire, plugged into the back seat cigarette lighter, with the car running. Within 5min the car stopped running and it will not startup. And today it will not startup - engine rotates but will not start - what is drainnig my power?
Please help
Using my Haynes Repairt Manual 1985 thru 2000. I went to the Troublesshooting section. I went thru section after section, checking this and that. Bottom Line I had replaced the - Ignition Coil/Module, E/Fuel Pump, Fuel Filter, Crankshaft Position Sensor, Fuel Pump Relay, Oil and Oil Filter, Computer, Valve Cover Gasket, Battery, Transmisor Sender, Alternator Connector (it was cracked - also had alternator was tested - it held it charge), Spark Plugs and Wires. Added Injector Cleaner and had Dobbs did a diagnostic check. No problems found.
I replaced two to three items at a time during the month after it stops running.
Yesterday, I was using a 12V power inflator for the back tire, plugged into the back seat cigarette lighter, with the car running. Within 5min the car stopped running and it will not startup. And today it will not startup - engine rotates but will not start - what is drainnig my power?
Please help
#2
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lookover your grounds,make sure that they are not loose.also make sure that theres no rust or corrosion buildup in the ground wires
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(edited : sorry SSEi93, you beat me to the punch by a couple of minutes and I didn't see you post in time.)
Are you watching SSEi93'* thread?:
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=87390
There may be nothing more than just a corroded connection. Remember, our treasured Bonnevilles are getting pretty old :( . Do some searching as indicated.
I'm just guessing, but your compressor may have been the straw that finally broke down some marginal connection (but apparently didn't blow any fuses, right?) in some weird way (or may have been just coincidental, of course. [Oddly, it was when I blew the front ligher fuse with a power invertor that I started to get intermittent ABS failure lights on our '94]).
I think there is just something very sensitive about old wiring and connectors and keeping vital electronics powered up. Here'* three maybe four old Bonnevilles right here in these various threads all dying identically, and then able to start after a rest on the side of the road. It'* not a fun thing of course to have your brakes and steering turn to sludge along with no power while you're negotiating freeway traffic -- it'* scary (yeah, I sure heard it about from my wife when she got back :( .)
(BTW -- I have a crackpot theory that when your car first starts, your voltage is running high. As you drive, your battery charges up, and the alternator output then drops a liittle (you can watch this happen). Maybe down past the point where critical but comprimised wiring can no longer supply adequate voltage to some vital engine control or function. And then your car dies. Pretty far out, but you have to keep thinking about various possibilities)
Are you watching SSEi93'* thread?:
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=87390
There may be nothing more than just a corroded connection. Remember, our treasured Bonnevilles are getting pretty old :( . Do some searching as indicated.
I'm just guessing, but your compressor may have been the straw that finally broke down some marginal connection (but apparently didn't blow any fuses, right?) in some weird way (or may have been just coincidental, of course. [Oddly, it was when I blew the front ligher fuse with a power invertor that I started to get intermittent ABS failure lights on our '94]).
I think there is just something very sensitive about old wiring and connectors and keeping vital electronics powered up. Here'* three maybe four old Bonnevilles right here in these various threads all dying identically, and then able to start after a rest on the side of the road. It'* not a fun thing of course to have your brakes and steering turn to sludge along with no power while you're negotiating freeway traffic -- it'* scary (yeah, I sure heard it about from my wife when she got back :( .)
(BTW -- I have a crackpot theory that when your car first starts, your voltage is running high. As you drive, your battery charges up, and the alternator output then drops a liittle (you can watch this happen). Maybe down past the point where critical but comprimised wiring can no longer supply adequate voltage to some vital engine control or function. And then your car dies. Pretty far out, but you have to keep thinking about various possibilities)
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Losing Power
Thanks for the info SSEi93 and SLUG. Time to open my Hayes Repair Manual and look over the Chassis electrical systems diagrams. Do Bonneville have a site that I can download the layout on ground wires for my 94?
#5
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Not as such.
Click on Techinfo (above) and you'll find info on the cabin grounds.
Use the search function and there'* lots of info. Especially using Billboost37 and willwren as authors .
Check for blown fuses, too. If these things don't do it, then post back for help from the Gearheads.
Click on Techinfo (above) and you'll find info on the cabin grounds.
Use the search function and there'* lots of info. Especially using Billboost37 and willwren as authors .
Check for blown fuses, too. If these things don't do it, then post back for help from the Gearheads.
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