intermittent starting problem

I have a '96 Buick Regal 3800 that starts normally most of the time, but once in a while, I turn the key and its dead. No crank, no click,nothing just like a dead battery. If I let the car coast backwards a stop it quickly, it may start. If I wiggle wires under the hood, sometimes it will start. I had a aftermarket remote starter installed, and that will not start the engine when it's in one of its moods, and that bypasses the ignition switch. I had the neutral safety switch replaced. My mechanic
says its not the starter flat spot or it would happen much more often.
It happened today and has not happened since last September. Does anyone have any ideas, or has this happened to them. Its very fustrating not knowing when it will happen again. Help!!!!!!!

1- check your battery terminals for corrosion


2- If battery terminals check out OK, crawl under the car and locate the starter, find the wires leading to the starter, check for corrosion, and that the bolts holding the wires are tight.

Does it crank over at all? Does the security light come on or flash when this happens?

I checked the starter wires and battery cables, no corrosion, and they are tight. The engine does not crank when its acting up, however when it does
start normally, the security light does come on and
sometimes stays on for maybe an hour maybe longer then goes out. Sometimes comes on while driving and stays on.

ponch, not sure what you plan to tell from the security light being on, mine rarely goes off.

ponch, not sure what you plan to tell from the security light being on, mine rarely goes off.
If the light stays on, the car is in "alarm fail mode". Somewhere there is a problems with the VATS system. Usually this is a broken wire up inside the cyl. lock.

Since so many of these systems started have problems back in the early 80's, GM made a program change on the system where if certain "wrong" conditions were met, it would go into a mode where the light would stay on but you could start the car and drive it. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work as planned.

tman, aren't you a GM tech or something????

nope, a 16 year old high school kid with a love for buicks! I'm much smarter than the average 16 year old.

anyway, if this alarm fail mode means the alarm doesn't work, I got a little story to tell.

Yesterday, I was pumping my gas. I was in a questionable neighborhood, and got in the car and immediatly locked my doors with the keyless entry transmitter, thinking, good, the alarm is set. I pulled my notepad from the glovebox, and wrote down the money I spent on gas(I like to keep a record of where my money goes) Just as I put it away, some ricer pulls up behind me and revs his engine, pointing to the spot i was sitting in. There were at least 8 other pumps available, but he HAD to have mine. I was mad, so i put the key in the ignition and start the car. A split-second before i turned it, i remembered, oh yeah, the alarms engaged. Too late, horn blasts, lights flash, i press unlock on the transmitter and it stops, i start the car and drive away, with my tail between my legs.

Back on topic, If alarm fail mode applied, shouldn't the alarm have not worked, and shouldn't my car have not started for 10 minutes after the alarm went off?

Sound like your starter solenoid may be going bad. A new one is only about $10 or you can replace the entire starter unit about $50. If your dash lights do not come on when this happens it may be the ignition switch. Under the dash, pain in the rear to change.

I had the car in a buick dealership 2 days. They finally found a broken wire at the ignition switch. It made contact most of the time, but once in a while it moved and lost contact. They replaced my ignition and now because the new key pill has a different resistance than my remote starter, they had to disable the remote. They said if I started the car with the remote, the security system would lock me out for 24 hrs.
I really don't care about the remote as long as the car starts everytime I turn the key. Thanks to everyone for your help....

I had the car in a buick dealership 2 days. They finally found a broken wire at the ignition switch. It made contact most of the time, but once in a while it moved and lost contact. They replaced my ignition and now because the new key pill has a different resistance than my remote starter, they had to disable the remote. They said if I started the car with the remote, the security system would lock me out for 24 hrs.
I really don't care about the remote as long as the car starts everytime I turn the key. Thanks to everyone for your help....
No, it won't lock you out for 24hrs. What do you think was going on when you tried to start it before with the broken wire? That wire that was broken is the one that goes to your BCM for the security. Actually, unless they did some changes to your BCM, the code should be the same. I would try to remote start it and see what happens. Of course, I would bet they disconnected everything anyway. Trust me on these VATS systems, I work on them all the time.

Tman, sorry for the late reply but this goes with the above. The system will only lock you out after you have tried to start it 3 times but yes, only for 10 minutes. If one of the wires is broken and it doesn't read it correctly, it may go into alarm fail mode but not always. THis system is a very poor design and doens't always work as planned :banghead:

Hah! I'm having the same problem now with my 96 Regal. It's intermitant and usually "fixes" itself in a few minutes. I was guessing it was something in the steering column. More specificly, the ignition key.

How much was it to get fixed? I'll need to save the money. and fix mine when I get annoyed enough.