Yeah, I've not yet checked for spark, and I realize that I should. To be honest, such things intimidate me and that'* probably why I haven't done it yet. I may see if I can coerce my brother into helping me this weekend though (tomorrow is pretty much out because of finals).

I'm relatively sure I know what you're referring to when you talk about the plug wires; so I would put a screwdriver in the socket that unplugs and stays attached to the wire, correct? (And then do this for all six wires.) Is it necessary to pull a fuse as was suggested earlier?

Once again, I appreciate all the help...and sorry if I appear not to be listening to you guys; that'* not my intention at all. Like I said, I'm just a little uneasy about doing things like this. I will try to get to this as soon as I can.

Thats totally understandable, just remember engines look more intimidating than they are. I'm not sure what fuse someone was talking about, but generally I just jump in and slap a screw driver in it. And yes, it sounds like you've got the right place to put it.

Just as additional information, I went back out to the car a little while ago to get something out of it. Didn't bother to try to start it this time, because I didn't feel like becoming even more angry with it. Anyways, I was reading over the paper from the mechanic from this last time, and it said that the two history codes they found were P1626 and P1629 (anti-theft).

I don't know what these mean, if anything, but I just thought I'd share that.

Anyways, I'll report back when I check for spark tomorrow or the next day.

The 1629 code description you gave sounds reasonable, since that'* what it'* doing as far as I can tell. Also, the previous owner mentioned something to that effect. As for the 1626...does that mean that the car would have stalled at some point or something (which it has never once done since I bought it)? Or just that there'* a problem with electronics/sensors/something to that effect?

Another question - how long are these history codes stored? I was about to say I have no clue how old these are, but at the same time, I'm reasonably sure the previous owner cleared the codes (I don't know if it was all the codes or what) before I drove off with the car; after telling me what they were of course. So...basically I'm still confused. :P

Although I'm hopeful that maybe the problem is narrowed down a bit now! I'm still intending to check for spark at some point (unless that'* no longer necessary?).

Edit: Just thought of something.

Is it possible that the SES light that came on the other day (disappearing after the next time I turned off the car) was the result of the computer throwing a 1626 code or something like that? I realize these were history codes, but it might have easily done the same thing before...the light used to come on all the time before my first round of repairs (which included, among other things, an oxygen sensor that I needed). The light never really came on after that (that I can remember...), but that was a good month of driving so I could have easily missed it.

First of all, no problems; I really appreciate the help!

So as far as the SES light coming on the other day, I guess that was something else then. But I'm not particularly worried about it right now; as you can imagine, getting the car to start is my first priority.

As for the security light, I'm pretty sure it'* never stayed on. It is normal for it to flash on-off 2-3 times when opening a door, no? (I can't remember if it does this while starting or not.)

The SES light is not currently on either, I'm pretty sure. (I'd have to go out to the car again to check, which I probably won't until later.) It was just the other day, briefly until I turned the car off.

The SES light had been on intermittently for the first few weeks I had the car, but it promptly went away after that first round of repairs (which was on October 25). After that, I had not once seen the light except for when I was out running errands two days ago; it came on and stayed on until I parked the car and turned it off (a minute or two later...this is a small town ). The light hasn't appeared after that to my knowledge.

If you're in SA, that'* right at 7 hours from me... I've got the Actron CP9110, I don't know anything about a different cable...

Yeah, I'll be in SA next week anyway. I'm in College Station right now for school; but finals for this semester end on Wednesday.

I wouldn't necessarily be averse to driving up there, but the main problem is I don't want to get stranded anywhere. Which brings up another problem...I don't yet know how I'm getting back to SA next week - I'm thinking that if I can get the car to start once, I may just drive on down to SA, pick up my brother'* car, and drive that back up here to use for the remaining few days. It'* no SSEi, but it does at least start reliably. (Oh, and my car currently has slightly less than half a tank of gas...possibly not enough to make it back to SA...and if I had to stop for gas, I'd run the risk of it not starting again...)

Then I could sort out my own car problems back at home.

Anyways...yes, 7 hours is a long time/distance...but we're not even quite on opposite ends of the state. Texas is pretty big.

Houston is only ~85mi southeast of here (College Station, that is); are there any members with scantools there by any chance?

eee...thread exploded overnight

Tidbit - History code is a problem that has been fixed. Its helpful in finding intermittent problems though.

I realize this thread is going on ancient, but I thought it might be helpful to update you all on what happened.

As it turned out, the car of course wouldn't start at all the week of finals...so I had to leave the car in the university parking lot for a few weeks while I figured out what to do with it. Fast forward to about two weeks ago, and my uncle and I went up to either drive the car back to SA (if it started), or get it towed to a dealer. Of course the battery was near dead from all the excessive start attempts, but after jumping it, it miraculously started after a few (several) tries. So I took the chance of going to get gas (really had no choice - I probably wouldn't have made it back to San Antonio on what I had left). Strangely enough, it started just fine after getting gas. So we then left for SA (~165mi drive).

This was on a Friday, and as I was still intending to take it to a dealer, I had to wait until Monday to do that. The car started fine a few consecutive times that night, but later of course it returned to its old habits. So Monday comes, and I call up the nearest Pontiac dealer to get them to tow in the car (since it didn't start again). Eventually they tell me that the ignition cylinder is bad, which sounds reasonable to me...so they replace that, and it seems fine, and I go to pick it up last Wednesday and drive it home. However, once back home...it soon refuses to start again in the same exact way. So I call them up again and tell them that obviously they didn't fix the problem.

Without making this TOO long, they replaced the anti-theft module as well, and had found a short in it or a ground wire near it (or something like that - I'd have to look at the paperwork to say exactly). I'm assuming that was the real problem. They'd had suspicions of a bad PCM as well, so they replaced that for me for free (the second time it was in, they massively discounted everything since I wasn't too happy about it not working when I initially picked it up).

It goes without saying that I ended up spending more money than I really wanted to....but at least the problem is fixed now. (I also had a few other unrelated things fixed as well) I noticed too that my cruise control now works, when it never did before....I'm assuming that'* because of the PCM? Either way, at least I don't have to guess anymore whether or not the car will start when I get into it....