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Will not crank, older Bonneville

I have an '89 Bonneville 3.8L. Last week it would not start and had it towed to a local mechanic who replaced the ignition module. Today I had difficulties where it died several times and then had no electrical power. I checked the connections, tightened them and all was fine. Tonight I tried to start her and electrically everything works, but she will not turn over. The headlights are bright but when I turn thekey it makes a single click and nothing happens. The dash lights do not get dim. I have little experience with American cars. (American car companies seem to want to complicate everything and have no logical or engineering background in their designs) But I have worked on foreign cars and American trucks for quite a while. Any ideas on where to look to diagnose this?

Reply to
rwilliams
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Trust me there is NOTHING difficult on a 89 Bonny. NO import even comes CLOSE to its SIMPLICITY! Try swapping the battery with another car and see what happens. Also check the connections under the boots and at the starter. Also what were you doing when it died. I had a 92 that would die when I hit bumps, turned out to be an internal short in the battery.

Reply to
Bon·ne·vil

At first glance, it sounds like the starter solenoid. They used to be mounted on the starter, but now, it is probably mounted on the wheel well or firewall on the same side of the car as the starter and battery. When you find it, turn the ignition to on, then short across the 2 big terminals - the cable from the battery is connected to one and the big cable to the starter is connecter to the other. If your problem is the solenoid, it should turn over and start just like you were turning the key.

Tom

Reply to
Tom S

Reply to
Shep

Reply to
no one that you know

Since you have plenty of electricity, but none of it will turn the starter, you really have a pretty easy problem. The starter contains an internal set of contacts, and it's powered by the big battery cable through those contacts. From the contacts, it runs through the brushes in the starter and through the starter windings. When it clicks, but won't turn, you're not getting electricity along that path. Simple, really.

You can replace the starter solenoid without the whole starter if you want to. That'll get you new contacts. Might not be the problem, but if it is, it's cheap to fix.

Reply to
Joe

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