Friend of wife has a "97 Olds, giving starting problems. Will start fine when cold. If she drives it shuts it down, comes back in ten to fifteen minutes, won"t start. Acts like it doesn"t want to turn over. If she waits half to three quarters of an hour, will start normally. Has had it to the shop four times, mechanics can"t find anything wrong, and they"ve checked starting, (including flywheel), charging, battery, etc. Also stalls occasionally after the warm start. Got any Ideas? One sage thinks a computer flaw.
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- Thread starter rabbit-1
- Start date
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
Take it to a good parts place. They will have a load tester that will give you the info you need as to if the starter is pulling to many amps. You say does not want to turn over as in tries but when comes up to compression stops a moment then goes on over or does it not turn over at all just tries to at first. If it turns but stops as it get to compression it could be a timing problem
Does have have a check engine light on? No light usually means no computer problem, the light is telling you something the computer monitors is out of parameters and it's probably running on a default value. I think something is getting heat soaked when it's hot, electric stuff is funny the flow or resistance of some components change with temperature. She's going to have to have someone look at it when it's misbehaving. I would start with a starter draw test when it's hot and work from there. Would also check that something is not keeping the timing advanced when it's hot and verify the ignition system is good, I've had a few that didn't turnover well to find out it was weak spark and with no ignition in the cylinders the starter wasn't getting any help from the engine trying to run as it turned over.
Ignition switch. either a camshaft or crankshaft position sensor will cause it to die and restart later,but neither will stop it from cranking. classic signs of a bad ignition switch,especially since the starter has been tested.check for 12v at the ignition coil(s),and starter solenoid. one other possibility,blown intake manifold gasket.check for water in oil. you dont say what the exhaust looks like when its running,but alot of these cars along that age were well known for burning out intake gaskets.
Had a car that was doing that few years back, pour cup of water over the starter to cool it down and then it would crank. always tested fine when cold. replaced started and it crank fine after that. intermiting problems are hard to find. had coil packs go bad after engine heated up it would kill the engine , but it would still crank and engine light didn't stay on to tell you what the problem was. good luck with it.
Stephen Newell
Well-known Member
It probably is going to have to be put on a dealer computer. There are so many sensors it could be causing the problem, you could spend a fortune guessing which one. My guess would be the air flow sensor.
Favorite daughter had the same problems with her 97' Lumina (about the same as the Olds only bent up different). On advice from several folks here, I checked into the "Passkey" security on this car. Seems the wiring or contacts in the ignition switch had been intermittant and then finally failed. The car was mean to get started in addition to stalling or not starting at all. I OHMed the key chip and bought a $.19, 1/2 watt resistor ($.99 for a 5 pack) and cut the 2 wires to the switch and soldered the resistor into the computer side wires and taped the switch side wires. The car runs great and starts on the first roll. The resistor is a must as it lies to the computer and says everything is ok at the switch. Just remember the theft protection is gone (so don't leave the keys in the car Einstein). Dealer will happily skin you for $500+ to change the switch, but likely the car isn't worth that much so $.19 and 20 minutes is a good alternative. Check the link. Daughter was so tickled she gave me the car and bought a new Nissan.
Bypassing the Passkey
Bypassing the Passkey
JimB2
Well-known Member
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Hi, my wife had a 92 Olds that would do the same thing while still under warranty. It got towed to the dealer many times and always started when it got to the dealers. Dealer started changing things from the key switch forward towards starter but still failed. Finally it failed in the garage one day and I crawled under it with VOM and had my daughter try to start it. Solenoid was being picked and power applied to starter and starter ground was good but starter did not turn. Had to fight with GM Service Manager to replace starter but it fixed the problem.
MIL has a 2005 Olds and it was doing same thing, dealer replaced starter but still, same, next replaced key switch with chip in it and all was good.
JimB
MIL has a 2005 Olds and it was doing same thing, dealer replaced starter but still, same, next replaced key switch with chip in it and all was good.
JimB
A friend was having about the same problem that you are having. After a couple of years they found the problem which was the plug that goes through the firewall one of the pins was loose and it would move around and cause it to stop and then later on start again. Have someone check the pins real close.
Bob
Bob
I might add, the 2 wires I cut run along the bottom of the steering column in the Lumina, This system might have been optional and the wiring for it not apart of the base model harness. I only had to remove the plastic valence panel under the column to get to them. The link shows pulling the steering wheel all apart to get to the switch. NOT nessasary!
wilson ind
Well-known Member
Heat shield problem above starter. lets fields drag armature.
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