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Old 12-13-2007, 09:41 AM   #1
egrofal
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97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

My 97 Bonneville's engine will die at warmup. It's been happening for about a year at the same place to and from work. At 55MPH it feels like a bump in the tranny as it dies for about 200 microseconds. But in slow traffic or left turns it will die completely accompanied by three chimes. Starts up ok. Wife refuses to drive it because of this. No OBD codes. No check engine light. Otherwise runs fine but could use some new struts. 92000 miles. I love this car. Any thoughts?
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Old 12-14-2007, 03:06 PM   #2
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

Look for frayed harness between the crank sensor and the ign module, look for a bad ground junction under the frt l/s sill plate just inside the door opening under the carpet, just some of many possibilites.
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Old 03-05-2008, 02:03 PM   #3
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

I found this good post in another forum. My question is how do I remove the plastic trim just below the drivers side door panel? I looked at it and saw no screw heads. I felt around and found no way of removing it.




Electrical Ground Bus Connector Issues…

We have seen several instances in which owners experience multiple electrical failures all at once. These include the following symptoms:

a) Power seat issues
b) Engine misfires or stalls, due to power loss to fuel pump
c) Dash cluster flickering
d) Door locks failing
e) And power windows failing

All of these components share a common ground point called a bus bar connector. This connector is located underneath the driver’s side door floor panel, and the passenger side door floor panel, which provides electrical ground to the fuel pump, power windows, power locks and other devices.

We have found that most of these failures occur with vehicles in the northern snowy states that use salt on the roads. This ice salt/water mixture gets tracked onto the driver’s side carpet where it melts and penetrates the bus connector. This salt water mixture on the metal connector starts a process called corrosion. We all know what corrosion does to electrical connectors, i.e. battery cables.

Remedy:This includes doing both connectors. The drivers side, and the passenger side.
Remove the plastic trim from just below the driver’s side door.
Pull the bundle of wires out some to gain access to the black connector.
Pull the metal blade out of the connector.
Take some sand paper to the connector to clean it.
Apply some dielectric grease to the connector. (This prevents further corrosion)
Clean the individual wire connectors inside the connector.
Those female clips can be removed from the plastic connector by slipping a very narrow, thin bladed screwdriver in to depress the tang that holds each one in place. Something about the width of a jeweler's screwdriver or a very small pocket screwdriver. Once the tang is bent flat, the connector will pull easily out of the plastic. The clips can be cleaned a lot more thoroughly when they are out of the plastic connector. To restore the snap-in-place action, you just bend the little tang back up before pushing it back into the plastic connector.
Reinsert the metal connector and re-assemble.
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Old 03-05-2008, 02:47 PM   #4
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

The chiming makes me think you're losing power to the PCM. Check for corrosion on the battery cables. You have to remove the rubber boots to do a good cleaning. Apply some dielectric grease to help prevent future corrosion.

I think that sill plate is held on with clips. Just pull it off.
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Old 03-05-2008, 03:27 PM   #5
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

I got the sill plate off (just clips) and there nothing accessable under that. Just inside the door openning from the sill plate there's a 2" wide coweling that leads from the sill to the carpet. How do I get that off? I'm assuming that the wire connections these people are talking about are running under the coweling because I can feel a wire under the front edge of the coweling. How do I get the coweling off without breaking it?
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Old 03-05-2008, 06:35 PM   #6
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

Here's some pics that should help.


The little bit of blue is the ground bus taped to plastic conduit.



A plastic cap partly removed.



The metal bar that corrodes, this one was fine. If it's corroded make sure to clean the male & female side of each terminal.
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Old 03-10-2008, 01:44 PM   #7
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

I see no pictures. A box with a red x appears when I roll over it with the mouse, but the box disappears whe I right click to show picture.
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Old 03-10-2008, 02:14 PM   #8
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

You should be seeing them, I just tried another computer & they show on both. Send me a private message with an email address & I'll send them to you.
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Old 03-10-2008, 04:43 PM   #9
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

Thanks, I am using another computer and I see the pictures! Now all I have to do is wait till it warms up outside!
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Old 03-10-2008, 05:27 PM   #10
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

It only takes about 10 minutes to check the bus. Maybe another 10 -30 to clean them up.
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Old 04-24-2008, 10:55 PM   #11
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

Wow.. My 1995 Bonneville SE is doing the "exact samething" and has been driving me completely nuts.. I love my Bonne too and have put alot of money and work into it, that's why this is so annoying. Last weekend I found some vacuum hoses in awful condition, figured that was it and replaced them all, but it died again this morning and chimed 3 times, started right back up and has done ok, sometimes it dies two days in a row, twice in one day, or once every two weeks.

I've replaced my fuelpump, fuel filter, all vacuum hoses, and it also has a new plenum too. I will now also check the things said in this post, thanks!

Also, where is the "Crank Angle Sensor" located at?
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Old 04-26-2008, 04:51 PM   #12
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

Still doing it. Went under inside of the drivers side door panel and checked out the ground bus, looks good. Sure is wet down there, left it open for the past month to dry out. I look at the temp needle when it happens, and it seems to me to do it at a certain temp just before fully hot.
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Old 04-26-2008, 05:05 PM   #13
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

In fact, if the car is hot and I park it and let it cool a little, go shopping for 20 minutes and come back, it won’t start. It cranks and all electrical seems to work. I only try it 3 times so as not to smoke the starter. So I leave it, say 45 minutes, I try it and it starts right up. I usually drive it back and forth to work and I notice as the weather is warming the engine will stop and start by its self before the crankshaft stops moving (sort of a hiccup). But sometimes totally gone so I have to coast over or right turn and restart it.
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Old 06-08-2008, 09:21 PM   #14
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

did you figure out what was wrong? bcs i have a '97 bonnie too...and it's driving me nuts bcs i JUST bought it and only was driving it for 6 days before it died..it was starting and then stalling like yours too...but then it eventually stopped doing that even...so it's been at the garage for 3 weeks now and the mechanics haven't figured out what's wrong...they did tell me it's definitely not a fuel pump
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Old 06-10-2008, 11:59 AM   #15
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Re: 97 Bonne 3800 Dies at Warmup

So you’re the guy that bought it! Ha Ha, just kidding, I’m still having the same problem. This morning it died at the same stoplight as before. I asked a mechanic that changed oil on my Dodge van and he says it might be the fuel pump; expensive to replace. I’d hate to start throwing money into something that “might” clear the problem. I’ve got 3 other cars to keep on the road. I already tore apart the floorboard under the driver’s door to find a shiny ground bus connector. Next project is to put it back together.
I’m just living with the problem for now. Body looks good and shiny, no dents. Not much trade-in value and it would be right to sell it to someone who might find out where I live. I check this site now and then for a fix and if I finally get it fixed, I’ll be sure to post it.
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