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Old 11-07-2004, 04:31 PM   #16
cbushnell
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Thumbs up Fixed....

I think it may be fixed, thanks to MarkH's post. I tore the carpet and all the wires out. I found a small ground wire that had some corrosion. Fixed that, but the car still had the same problem, just not quite as bad. Further tracing lead me to a small black block approx. 2"x1" with 9 black wires running into it. They all ended up being ground wires and every one of them was severely corroded. Out of sheer frustration, I cut all the wires and rewired to the body, bypassing the block completely. I started the car (without any problems) then proceeded to run every electrical accessory that I could at the same time, and the car didn't quit.... WOOOO HOOOO. It does appear to be fixed. Once I fix the gas leaking from the sending unit (it'll be at least a week waiting for the part), I'll drive it for a while to confirm. I will post an update to let everyone know. Thanks to all who have helped.

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Old 11-07-2004, 05:01 PM   #17
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cbushnell,

That is what's so great about these forums. You have access to other's knowledge and experiences and in alot of cases, it can make a huge difference. I'm getting quite tired of having my vehicle at a repair center and all they want to do is replace parts hoping the problem gets solved along the way. I'm sorry, but as a customer, I wan't a clear diagnosis, a viable solution and an estimate for repairs, NOT, we'll 1st try this, and if that didn't do it , we'll try this, and...I won't pay for that type of service. In my case it was an unneeded fuel pump. I know it would eventually need one, but I will take care of that at MY convenience, NOT theirs. Anyway, I'll stop rambling now, I'm very glad to hear your news.

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Old 11-11-2004, 02:12 PM   #18
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Re: 1995 bonneville - stalls and windows fail

Thanks Guys for the great posts! My Bonny had a ground bus under both the drivers seat and passanger seat. After cleaning them my car no longer shuts off under heavy electrical loads - thanks for the posts!!!!!!
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Old 11-15-2004, 12:57 AM   #19
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Re: 1995 bonneville - stalls and windows fail

BONNEVILLE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS/ALTERNATORS/STALLING=Poltergeist

Have blown 3 alternators. Finally went to the rebuild shop and the owner told me to replace 105 Amp crap with 140 amp Cadillac Allante alternator and install star washers at the ground points. Both alts are clocked the same=easy replacement. Also, he told me to get THE LARGEST battery one can fit in. Got 1000 cold amp battery. No more power starvation, for years.
He told me that GM 105 amp alternator is a design failure due to the non heat conducting plastic plate located over the voltage regulator. When it overheats=kills the regulator. He was v. happy and told me that thanks to the continous 105 volume he rebuilds, he was able to buy a new Predator speed boat.

As of now, 135,000 Miles later, I'm experiencing "sudden death syndrome". Car was running fine until I have replaced a sending unit. Since, it starts and stalls, or does not start on Monday, but it runs OK next day. Checked everything and I'm ready to drop the tank again. I'm sure it is a bad strainer. Also if anyone has stalling problem or charging systen shut off while turning right with less than 1/4 of a tank, check plastic baffle in the tank. They are notorious for cracks and separation from the shell. Also call dealer and ask for a copy of the TSB bulletin #92665 JUL92 Fuel-Momentary Loss of Power Hesitation on Turns.
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Old 12-04-2004, 07:33 AM   #20
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Talking Its Fixed

It is fixed. My wife and I have been driving the car for about a month now without a single problem. Woo Hoo. I had a hell of a time getting the tank and such changed out, but the problem WAS the ground on the drivers side floor. If you are noticing a frequently wet floor and having a quitting problem with windows failing, check the grounds in the floor of the car. Thanks so much to all those who helped.
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Old 08-24-2005, 07:35 PM   #21
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Where is the ground fault?

I've searched the web high and low to solve the IDENTICAL problem!! Sounds like cbushnell and mhollon both found and fixed the problem. Others (like me!!) have spent a fortune replacing other parts at the GUESS of their mechanic. I'm a believer, because I too have a problem with a wet floor because the windshield leaks.

My question is: Exactly where is the ground wire? I started lifting the carpet and found a puddle of standing water on the driver's side where the emergency brake cable goes into the floor. However, the floor is in perfect condition (no rust at all). There is a group of wires running in plastic conduit, with a small black block (about 3in x 1.5in x .25in) attached by electrical tape. There are several thin black wires and one thick black wire running to a piece of galvanized metal encased in this black plastic case (with a blue retaining clip) . There is some corrosion, but not very much. The passenger side has identical wiring. Are these the blocks that cause problem? How do I verify that there is a ground fault and that I've solved the problem? Of course, I could continue with the trial and error, but I figured, what the heck, might as well ask, right?
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Old 08-30-2005, 02:33 AM   #22
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Talking 8 months and still going...

Well I've been driving the car for 8 months without any problem with it quiting. cprivitera, the thin black plastic block that you described with the numerous small black wires going into it is exactly what the problem with mine was. Mine wasn't just a little corroded, so I knew right off the bat. If it were me I'd just cut one of the thin black wires going into the block to see how black the actual wiring is. The copper in my wires was jet black for better than 2 feet. To fix it I just cut the bad wires out and soldered in new wires. I then soldered all of the new little ground wires to a battery ground cable that I had lying around and bolted that directly to the body about 1 ft off the floor (if the water gets that deep on the floor I'm scrapping the car). I only did this to the drivers side and haven't had any problems since then. The passenger side block is corroded as well, but hasn't given me any problems, so i didn't replace that one until just recently. But as long as your ripping the carpet up you might as well do both. To test it I used and ohm meter to see if I had good connection between the plastic block and a foot or so down the ground wire. I think only 1 of the 9 wires had any connectivity at all. Hope this helps.
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Old 08-31-2005, 08:16 PM   #23
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Re: 8 months and still going...

THANKS cbushnell! This did the job for me too! When I went to test the theory, it happens that the car wouldn't start. I replaced the little "bus" bar in the plastic clip and replaced the ground wire going to the frame. The car started immediately and hasn't stalled since (only a few days so far, but it would have failed by now).

Of course, now I have a new problem. I drove the car for a few days and it ran great. Then all of a sudden it started running really rough -- like it was running on 5 cylinders. The check engine light went on so I had Autozone read the codes and it read P303 (misfire). Duh! I replaced the plugs and wires and it runs much better; however, now it hesitates a lot when accelerating! There are about a zillion sensors that could be a problem. I've read many threads about hit-or-miss sensor replacement. Cam Sensor, Crank sensors etc. Often the codes are useless or unavailable (e.g misfire). The thing that strikes me the most is that the problems that people are having are all so similar. Just like the flakey ground problem.

I'm sure that somebody has found a silver bullet to my sudden hesitation woes. Probably after dumping a fortune into non-solutions. Any ideas would be appreciated.
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Old 09-01-2005, 04:35 PM   #24
radsterz34lover
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no windows, no door locks, no starting

My car had the problem with the fuel pump quitting when I tried to use the power windows. I found the problem to be a bad ground in the driver side kick panel. I cleaned the terminal, and the problem continued. I finally decided to run a dedicated wire from the battery to the terminal. This completely cured the problem. I've had no further problems with the car stalling.
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Old 09-02-2005, 09:04 AM   #25
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hesitation question

just a reminder, there is another ground on the passenger side that will most likely need to be replaced as well. that said, the hesitation you are having... does the car buck or vibrate when you are experiencing this problem? Is it usually when you are going uphill, and trying to maintain speed? When it happens, if you change you speed (step down on the gas more or let off the gas a little), does the hesitation go away? That was the symptoms of my hesitation problem. Mine turned out to be the Mass Air Flow(MAF) sensor. A little info on MAF sensors, they are what tells your car how much air is coming into the engine. So if there is a problem with it, the computer can't determine the correct fuel/air mixture. The sensor has 2 posts and metal filaments that go between the posts, kind of like a lightbulb. The filaments are wrapped in a VERY fine wire that sense the air flow. These filaments can get dirty and cause the MAF sensor to malfunction, and they can break. If you remove the sensor you will be able to see if it is dirty or broken. If it is dirty you can clean it with rubing alcohol and a q-tip, but they are very easy to break. New ones run between $150 and $250 depending on which one you have and where you get your parts. If you clean/replace the MAF you will want to change your air filter as well, since the dirt that gets on the sensor comes through the filter and it would be a shame to have to buy a $100+ part to save $10 on a filter :o)

If that is not the problem, do not look at the O2 sensors. If they are the problem, the computer will specify that telling you upstream or downstream O2 sensor. Since you said all the computer indicated was Misfire, that would not be the problem. I'll do some more research on this though. Let me know if the MAF info helps.
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Old 09-03-2005, 07:57 PM   #26
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Hesitation

I have had the symptoms that you describe, though long before the latest problem. For the past year or so, the car occassionally bucks and vibrates when accelerating from a steady speed. Especially when going up hills, but sometimes on a flat as well. This problem sounds exactly like what you describe.

I cleaned the MAF Sensor with brake cleaner; though it didn't look very dirty at all. I replaced the air filter, pcv valve and fuel filter. Still no difference. The check engine light is still on and Autozone still reads the same code P0303: Cylinder 3 misfire. This might be the same code from before I changed the plugs and wires. The car seems to have all kinds of power when I hit the passing gear at about 40 or 50. In a matter of seconds, it climbs to 75mph, so I have to back down pretty quick. That kind of pickup should be there from zero mph too. It was just a few weeks ago.

Would a new MAF Sensor make a difference? It's peculiar that the code complains about a specific cylinder. That suggests a bad fuel injector or maybe the Cam Sensor. Though I doubt a bad Cam Sensor would consistently misfire on the same cylinder. Any more ideas?
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Old 09-03-2005, 08:14 PM   #27
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Question

are you certain you did not break one of the fine wires? If you did then the sensor is never going to work correctly. You could try resetting the computer to clear the codes and run it for a while. Before buying a new MAF sensor take a look around at the other posts on this forum to see if anyone else has any other suggestions. I know I wouldn't want to buy a $100+ part on just one persons suggestion. Also a misfire could be any number of things... maybe even a cracked head or blown head gasket. A compression test would eliminate that as a possibility. I'll keep looking as well.
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Old 09-06-2005, 07:20 PM   #28
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Talking Re: 1995 bonneville - stalls and windows fail

I started another thread to report my misfire woes. Somebody suggested switching the coils around to see if the problem moved. My persistent P0303 - Cylinder 3 Misfire problem suddenly became a P0300 - Random Misfire. FINALLY, something that I did had an affect! That was enough for me to spend the $20 on a new coil, and voila! Problem solved. I expected a coil failure to report problems on 2 cylinders. This one didn't.

The good news is that the car is finally running good again and it only cost me about $100 for a complete tune-up. Nothing lost on this repair job! It needed a tune-up anyway. Thanks for all your help on this. I was ready to give up on this car.
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Old 12-16-2007, 05:35 PM   #29
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Talking Re: 1995 bonneville - stalls and windows fail

Quote:
Originally Posted by cscottyr
Hello Everyone,

Well my problem isn't a new one. My bonny - will stall at about anytime and anywhere - and yes various power ckts will also fail at the same time. I have cleaned every power connection that I can find. Today I was hoping to get some replies with similar problems - Several threads here have listed answers to this problem - One guy rebuilt his starter - another person found the problem in some wiring on the drivers side of the car in some shorted wiring. Some ignition modules and or coils have been replaced (do these drop out the power rail when they fail????) Interestingly enough I did not find any threads that indicated that cleaning power connections fixed the problem - Also, no one indicated that replacing their alternator fixed the problem. One guy did replace a battery with a leaky cell - he also replaced a neutral saftey switch. I dont know which of those actions actually solved his problem. Since so many people have had a stalling problem and a power accessory problem at the same time (especially on 1994 and 95 models)- I thought it would be a good place to start a sort of clearinghouse where a collection of potential repairs could be cataloged. So if you have had a stalling and power accessory problem at the same time -What did you fix to make it better. Anyone out there want to comment???

thanks cscottyr
I have a working solution scotty , if you are still struggling with this problem. Pull off entirely , and remove from under the hood the coil pack assembly. Under it you will most likely find a wire short that is causing your problem , it was with mine. Once this nekkid wire is no longer shorting out , you will no longer have this recurring stranded by the road recurring problem. I tried all the other suggestions I found here , but this was the ultimate cure. Also , once the drivers seat was totally removed , there was another wire short there that totally disabled my power seat adjustments . PLEASE , let me know , asap. sun. 12 / 16 / 2007
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Old 12-16-2007, 07:06 PM   #30
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Re: 1995 bonneville - stalls and windows fail

Welcome to AF, please look at the dates before posting, this thread is over 2 years old, thanks.
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