hi i have a 1988 bonneville sse with only 74,000 miles. now i the second owner first was a family member but since i got the car a year ago i put replaced the alternator, the starter, the battery, the catco, mass air flow sensor, the tires and had all the brake lines replaced. car runs like its off the showroom floor .( when it starts). latley for the last month its been giving me a starting problem. some times when i turn the key she starts in a half a second flat and purrs like a dream but other times when i go to start the car she wont kick over. when i turn the key i get full battery power thru out the whole car but she dont make no sound or attemp to start. i usally have to sit there and keep trying and jiggle the key for about 5-10 minutes for it to catch and start. then when it finally starts i can turn the car off as many times as i want and she will start right up. but when i go out i always have this problem when i try to come back home. not when im leaving my house..(go figure) bonnie dont want me to go back home to my wife.. lol

please can someone please help..; thanks john

Try moving the gearshift while you're turning the key to crank. Maybe it'* the contacts in the switch that lets it crank only in park and neutral.

It also can be the starter switch itself and the contacts there.

It could be battery cables and grounds not making contact.

The starter has its own battery cable so the rest of the car having power doesn't mean anything. Go disconnect the battery cables, remove the bolts & check for any corrosion. If found clean with a wire brush or sandpaper then apply some dielectric grease & reassemble. Let us know what you find.

Sounds to me like the starter is going out. If the solenoid on the starter is going out, you won't hear anything when you turn the key. If the starter itself is going out, you will at least hear a click when you first turn the key, but the car won't start. When you turn the key and hear the click, that means the starter solenoid is engaging, but the starter is froze and won't turn. Turn all your lights on and then try starting your car. If the lights get dim when trying to start the car, then your starter is freezing up and needs to be replaced. For the time being, take a hammer or other solid object and tap on the starter and it sometimes will unfreeze itself, but this is only a very temporary way to start the car. Replacing a starter on an 88-89 SSE is very easy since it'* right at the front bottom of the motor, virtually unobstructed. (if i remember correctly)

do i dissconnect the negative cable on the battery before i dissconnect any wires on the starter to check for corrosion? and could it possibly be an ignition coil?
its dark now but i will check tomorrow when its light out.
the car only gives me this problem sometimes like 1 or 2 x'* a week so it might be hard to tell if i fixed the problem after tryng all of this. thanks

Yes, disconnect the negative battery cable first. That will keep you from shorting your wrench to ground and creating some really bright sparklies.

I did that exact thing when i had my 1989 SSE. Scared the sh*t outta me.

i did everything people told me. i checked all power and ground for corrosion around the car, i banged on the starter for about 2 1/2 hours trying to start the car. i even disconnected the battery and reconnected it thinking it might be the cut off switch for the factory alarm i no longer have the remote for and that was not it either.. my bonnie has had alot of work done to her, new alternator, new m.a.f.*., new brake lines for the whole car new oil, new filters, new spark plugs, new cat co and header pipe, full 6 point tune up done by firestone every three months, new tires, new throttle bod, new dura last gold battery and i was taking bonnie for new paint in 2 weeks. i spend more money on bonnie then my wife but bonnie keeps giving me more head aches. car has 74,000 original miles. she did sit parked up for 2 years straight before i started driving her but thats why i replaced everything i did. today she started right up this morning to take my wife to work and when i went back to pick her up it started right up also.. i got there early so i turned the car off and waited for 15 minutes. when she came out and i went to leave the car would not start and left me my wife and 2 kids (1 is a newborn) stuck at my wifes job for 4 hours while my stuburn *** tried all i could to start it in stead of calling a tow truck. so 4 looooooong hours later i left the car at her job and called a friend to take me home... could it be an ignition coil or the starter? i ask this becaus when the car does this to me every time it takes about 20 minutes to play with the ignition by jerking it to get it started with out having to bang on the starter at all either time..? also my steering coloum is loose. it has tilt but it still shifts up and down with about a inch of play each way... could this be the problem? thanlks all advice does help as i really do not want to sell my bonnie but i need a reliable car for my family.. thanks a million guys ... john & bonnie

Now you've got me confused. Is the problem that the starter isn't turning over the engine or is it turning over but not starting?

ok this is what happens ecactly. word for word.
when i turn the key to start the car i get full battery power as my whole dash lights up and my radio comes on.. but the car dont make no sound or attemp at all to try and kick over.. my engine runs good thats not a problem but it just wont make an attempt to kick over. no sound or nothing when i turn the key. just battery power. sorry for the confusion