Thing is....it works fine most of the time. Just every once in a while (even more lately, it has been quite cold here) I turn the key and nothing happens. What does happen, though, is the dashboard resets every time I turn the key, you know how when your about to start the car the dials do a full back and forth thing, well, it does that when i turn to the ignition. In addition the radio, compass, DIC, and climate ctrl go off when I turn to the ignition. Like I said, when it works, it works fine, but every once in a while it just wont do anything. The alternator isn't clicking either, showing I have low battery input. I think there is something corrupting the ignition system...but only sometimes.........really frustrating, especially when I was trying to get to family for christmas.

** UPDATE ** I cleaned the battery terminals. No luck. It must be something to do with ignition system itself. I'm taking it into the shop soon, see if they can diagnose it. I'll post what they say.

Shop says it'* the starter motor gone bad because of oil leaking from an intake manifold. New starter is $180 but the oil leak fix is $400....great :(

check if theres any oil it can explain a lot if the motor is not cranking

Theres plently of oil. I changed it not a month ago. It just leaked on the starter motor because of the gasket. And they said that it would start sometimes because of the position of the starter motor, that sometimes it'd get stuck and not work and sometimes it'd be fine. They're also putting a battery in there and they it'* $180....is that reasonable?

it depends on what gasket their gonna replace because it they got to dig into half way through the engine then it would make sence for such a high price. It your battery is fine (e.g cranks the motor fine) then theres no need for one, their just trying to make few extra bucks off you.

BTW are they gonna replace the starter by any chance, because i would since they're already gonna dig in there anyways

Ya those are the two things they're going to replace. The starter and the battery. I'm gonna do the oil leak at a later time, it'* fairly small. I thought my battery was fine too, but what are you gonna do when they have to test the new starter motor because otherwise they wont guarantee the work.

well if you see your guage light dim down to the point where you cant see them anymore then the battery can be dead, but to konw if the starter motor is working fine, it should just crank the motor over without hesitation, unless your in cold weather.

id get them to replace your starter first, then get them to check if the starter cranks without any problems, if it sounds like the battery is dead when they attempt to start the car then the battery would be next to replace.

I had a similar problem with the '95 Bonneville I had. Sometimes it would start, sometimes not. If I repeatedly kept turning the key to start, the car would eventually start.

Some of the forum members mentioned that the problem may be in the VATS (Vehicle Anti Theft System). It was the problem, I wound up putting a resistor in the VATS wiring harness under the steering column to bypass the VATS. That may be your problem also, just a suggestion.

Dave

DANTHURS: I realize you've said "check both ends of your battery cables. If they corrode they will still let enough threw to turn on lights, but not enough amps to turn over the starter. So check both ends of both cables. Clean them good and put them back on." about 7 times in replies to this post. I'm sure you're blue in the face by now

However, I have a question about this logic (as I am experiencing the same issue):
If this is actually the case, should I still be able to jump-start the car?

Occasionally I'd come to the car and there would be no power -- completely dead. I discovered that it is probably (or at least initially) a connection issue, as when I first went to jump it, I just wiggled the cables going to the (+) side, and suddenly I had full LIGHTS/accessories and the car would start.

this problem proved intermittent and I just put it off for about a month. (i know, i know.) In the span of the month, there were probably 4 times that I had to go under the hood, wiggle the (+) cable, and it would work.

Well, as of this morning, I have full lights/accessories in the car, but it won't turn over. I get a singular loud "click" off the starter (as opposed to a frantic "clickclickclickclickclickclick" that would allude to a trashed starter), but no rev or anything that would allude to a fuel/spark problem. And I can tell it'* pulling on the battery, but it won't actually turn over.

So, I tried to jump start it - nothing. I left my dead 94 Bonneville hooked up to my running 99 Grand Prix for 20+ minutes, came back - same.

I'm hoping it'* a dead/dying battery or corroded cable - but the matter of it not wanting to jump/charge off of my other car has me thinking it might be a starter/relay/something worse.
Thoughts on this??