Ok..I purchased a 1997 Bonnie SSE..I think its the 40th Anniversary Ed. I've had it since Jun 9th of this year. It has 156K on it, and recently out of nowhere..the gauges would freak in the car..I was driving on my way to work and the gauges all acted as if the car was turned off and then restarted, it did that three times..the air would start blowing air (meanwhile it wasn't even turned on) the cd player would reset, it was really weird.

A friend of mine told me to check the Ground wire from the battery..Then out of nowhere, one night after it rained really hard in my part of NY. The car wouldn't start..I mean NOTHING..it wouldn't turnover, it was just dead..the batterys brand new..I believe that time the lights did turn on..now if this happens. The car has no power what so ever. I mean the keyless entry won't work, the car won't start, no lights, nothing. It does this maybe 3-4 times a week. I found that in order to get the car started, i'd have to turn the key all the way as if to start it, and then move the ground wire of the battery until i heard the fuel pump on..then it would start.

I also have some kind of problem with the "ride control" both touring and performance are stuck on..I am at a lose to be completely honest with you with this vehicle. If anyone knows what might be wrong with the car please let me know..or honestly if anyone near me wants to buy the car that works too..I work and drive way too much to take time to actually rectify these problems. The cars in awesome condition this whole issue just sucks. Big Time.

Thank You.
-P

P...

Welcome... this sounds like you need a standard battery cable cleaning/tightening. Now..don't tighten until you clean. Our cars are VERY and I mean VERY picky about power. You can have headlights and all w/o having enough power to make the starter click. (Right TJ?)

Remove your battery cables, remove the bolts from them and pull off the rubber boots to get a true understanding of how corroded your cables may be. Clean then, put the boots back on and give that a try.

As for the ride buttons. Unfortunately your CCR (computer command ride) has an error and it would take a dealer or dealer type scanner to tell what codes are present.

Definitely sounds like either the cables have a corrosion issue or one or both cables are not "biting" into the side-post(*) on the battery. If you can move a cable back and forth, then the cable is not tight enough. There are 4 "ears" or "tabs" on the terminal of each cable that need to bite into the lead of the battery. If the surface of the battery post has been "chewed" out by the tabs on the termianl, you may have to repostion the cable so it gets good bite. And tighten them down really good.

Also, you mentioned rain. I don't think this is your issue but was/is any of the carpet wet? There are grounds at the base of the door sills that if wet or corroded can cause all sorts of electrical issues.

On the CCR, I am positive that you can get the codes to help identify the failure(*) by jumpering the DLC and pushing a sequence of the CCR buttons, which in turn responds with flashes of the button lights. If you want to do this, I will find the procedure for you for the '97 (I think it is the same for 95-99) and may already be posted here somewhere.

CCR code extraction is in Techinfo. It doesn't require a dealer scan. But scanning is typically pointless, as the cost to repair the system is extraordinary.