Hey guys. I have a '99 Bonneville SLE, and it'* been giving me some trouble for the past month or so. When I'd go to start it, sometimes it'd turn for a long time before finally 'catching' and starting up fully, as if not getting enough gas. A mechanic friend of mine (albeit ford mechanic) listened to it and said it sounded ilke the flowback valve in my fuel pump was bad. Said to just leave the key on for a few seconds til the pump pressurizes and it should work fine..so, I did, and it worked.

Now, this morning, I got into my car, put the key in, turned it to the first position..waited..then tried to turn the car on and..CLICK. Just one, single click. The lights inside the car didn't dim and the battery gauge is around 12. I thought it was because I didn't have enough gas in the car when I parked (I park on an incline), since it was below the "E". Filled it up, put a bottle of HEET in..same problem.

Girlfriend had to bring me to work. So, any ideas guys?

Remove and clean both ends of each red and black battery cable, including removing the rubber boots and cleaning them out. Reassemble everything with dielectric grease. This is every battery connection at the alternator, starter, ground locations, etc.

Charge the battery if necessary, then go happily on your way.

Same thing just happened to me, too cold and dark to play with it tonight.

I don't even get a click from the starter *solenoid*. (I do seem to hear a small relay clicking somewhere around the front passenger seat.)

Does the starter solenoid get constant +12v from the heavy red battery cable (and then a switched ground when the ignition key is in "start" position? Or does is solenoid grounded through the frame, and get a switched +12v when the ignition key is turned?

THANKS!

Clean the battery cables ... both ends...all cables.

Alright. I got home from work last night around 7:30 (long day at the office), and my car started right up. Without hesitation I took it to O'reilly'*. They tested the battery..and here'* the strange part. With the car off, it tested fine. But with the car running, it showed bad cell.

They also tested the starter and alternator, and both are getting the voltage that they are supposed to. I replaced my old battery (a wal-mart everstart :() with one of o'reilly'* premium batteries, and everything is fine so far!

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'm sure the collective karma from this group is all my car needed to start up again

Here'* a wiring diagram for the starting circuit on a 98 SSE. If cleaning all the battery cable connections doesn't help then check for power at the purple (PPL) wire going to the starter solenoid. It should have 12 volts when the key is turned to the start position.