Ok, Please Help Once Again, It's Electrical This Time.
 

Man, dont know whats been going on lately, but I'm been having some problems with my bonny. :( Nothing MAJOR however, just annoyances, and they could also all be related, who knows. Anyways, heres the latest:

For some reason after driving for a good period of time (1hr+), when I shut the car off I seem to loose all electrical power, like someone literally shut off a switch on the battery. It usually seems to happen about 5 seconds after I turn it off. The retained accessory power will come on as normal keeping the radio and windows alive, but then all the sudden BAM, nothing. No windows, no radio, no flashing security light on the dash, not even any dome lights if I open the door. This tends to last anywhere from 5-30 seconds before everything comes back on just fine like nothing happened. The most recently its done it was last night when I got home from driving about 2hrs. I shut it off, grabbed some things from the trunk, went to arm it with the remote, and nothin. It was dead, no security lights, dome, etc.... I waited about 30 seconds and kept trying every 5 or so to arm it with the remote, and finally after about 30 seconds, out of nowhere, it locks and chirps as normal, like nothing happened. Security light on the dash was on steady like it should be and everything.

The alternator is new as of this summer, so I'm guessing either The Battery or Battery Cables, however, I've never heard of either of those causing symptoms like this, which leads me to thinks its something else like a relay or something. Anyone ever had this problem or run into this before??

This may not help you cure your problem.. but check the connection between the battery and the battery lugs ( where the power cable is.. ) Should make sure that there's nothing around there ( had melted a bit of the rubber/plastic off my Z24 causing similar problems ). Clean it with an iron brush and put some dye electric grease before reconnecting it... just my 2 cents...

I would also start with the battery cables. Scrub both the metal parts on the battery and also the part of the cable that contacts the battery. Don't forget to scrub in-between both of the two positive battery cables as well.

Something else you can try... Use a multimeter and touch the ends of the two cables connected to the battery when you lose power, and see if you have any juice there. If not, then you know it's not getting to the rest of the car.

Term, you're not alone. JSeabert's car is doing the same thing. His is the negative battery terminal AND cable. They're worn. He needs to replace them both.

we need someone to make a full wire harness solution for the Bonneville. There are so many gremlins and loose connections. I figure the computer needs a good shake too. Any opinions on this I would love a list of electrical problems people have had. I know painless will work with us if we ever follow through. In the midterm ill get a custom price from them.

Ty

this also happened to me then i poped teh hood and closed it and itworked again. I think its due to heat buildup in teh engine bay. maybee not i dunno but i replaced my alt and i never had that problem again. hth

i had this and it was a bettery leaking out of the side posts....check for corrosion around the battery nuts

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think it was more of a combination of both bad connections and a battery on its way out. I ended up replacing the battery with a new 900 cca / 1000ca dual-post AC-Delco. While swapping the battery out, I noticed some of the red rubber from the protective covering of the positive battery cables was overlapping between where the 2 side post cables connect. I cut it out with a razor blade, and then cleaned up ALL the cables with a wire brush. I have had no problems since.

Thanks!