1996 Bonneville complete electrical failure

Can anyone help me? My Bonneville has started having electrical issues. While driving down the road or even after I have gotten in and started it, all power shuts off. Nothing. Not even lights. We have had it to a garage. They cleaned the battery connectors and it was fine for a while, but then it started doing it again.

Any suggestions?

I don't know for sure if you're having the same problem I had, but I suspect you might. I have a 95 Bonneville with the supercharged V6. It may or may not make a difference if you have a different engine. I had my vehicle refuse to start, and five minutes later fire right up, threaten to die while in traffic, run ruff many times, etc. The tie was when my engine would refuse to work, my windows would quit (they're power), and my power door locks would quit. After throwing parts at it costing me up to a thousand dollars in an attempt to fix the problem, including the battery...it all ended up coming down to one ground problem on the drivers side door kick panel. It just had some corrosion and a loose connection. Just a tip..don't go to the dealership...they're idiots. You or a friend who's willing could do this yourself and you'll save yourself money by tracing the short yourself. Figure out exactly what is loosing power. In my case it was the fuel pump, power door locks, and power windows. They all had a shared ground by the kick panel, drivers side. I hope my frustrating expearience can help benefit you with this. Good luck.

GMLoyal

Thank you for your reply and information. My Bonne does not run rough before quitting. There is usually no warning. Most frequently I unlock the doors, get in the car, put the key in the ignition and all power is gone. No lights anywhere. No power to the windows or locks. Nothing. Sometimes if you wait a while and try again, success! Othertimes, I have opened the hood and adjusted the battery connection and it will sometimes start. But, that is no guarantee that it will stay running! It has lost all power for a few seconds while I am driving down the highway, and then it might come right back on again. I have thought it must be an electrical short of some kind. I am wondering about the connector to the battery itself, since ALL power is lost.

Our local Pontiac dealership is not trustworthy. I have a local mechanic I trust who has done the work on the car for me. He told me one day that he thought my car was possessed .... the trunk opened and the alarm went off when he was in the office with the keys. The trunk will quite often open on it's own, and there is a control for opening the trunk in the drivers door, so your idea makes sense to me. Did you lose all power or just selectively?

Thanks again for your help.
Donna

From what you describe, it sounds like the exact same symptoms I had with my car. I would strongly suggest you reccomend your mechanic to download or otherwise obtain a diagrahm of the electrical system or grounding diagrahm. He can use that to narrow down which ground(s) is likely bad. My car would refuse to start and the locks and windows wouldn't work. It sounds like you have the same problem I had. It's only labor to fix, and less then half an hour if found quickly. Because you're trunk is also in the door, I'd bet it's the same ground as the other things that are not receiving power...just as mine was all one common ground. I wouldn't be surprised if was even the same location of ground...right next to the drivers side kick panel (the plastic length that covers the edge of the carpet on the floor). I hope I've helped you. Good luck.

[QUOTE=Donna Rae]Thank you for your reply and information. My Bonne does not run rough before quitting. There is usually no warning. Most frequently I unlock the doors, get in the car, put the key in the ignition and all power is gone. No lights anywhere. No power to the windows or locks. Nothing. Sometimes if you wait a while and try again, success! Othertimes, I have opened the hood and adjusted the battery connection and it will sometimes start. But, that is no guarantee that it will stay running! It has lost all power for a few seconds while I am driving down the highway, and then it might come right back on again. I have thought it must be an electrical short of some kind. I am wondering about the connector to the battery itself, since ALL power is lost.

Our local Pontiac dealership is not trustworthy. I have a local mechanic I trust who has done the work on the car for me. He told me one day that he thought my car was possessed .... the trunk opened and the alarm went off when he was in the office with the keys. The trunk will quite often open on it's own, and there is a control for opening the trunk in the drivers door, so your idea makes sense to me. Did you lose all power or just selectively?


I forgot to mention..I adjusted my battery cable sometimes too...sometimes it worked, others it didn't. It also would not start sometimes, and five minutes later fires up and runs fine the rest of the day. There never was a warning. Like I said, I hope this helps.

Thank you for your help! Will give your suggestion a try and let you know how it goes.

um check out http://www.bonnevilleclub.com

I am sure they know.

I would check the postive battery cable these are known to go bad on your year. (loose conductivity on the inside under the jacket)

Thanks. That is something I was wondering about, but everybody I mentioned it to told me that it is very unusual for the cables to go bad. I still wonder if changing it might do the trick.

Thank you for your help!

May be a broken or soon to be broken wire in the ignition switch. The one that moniters the little black lump on the key is security related and prone to breakage. Shuts everything down. Happened to me. Usually not intermittent (when it dies your dead) but with wires it could be, contact now, none later.

May be a broken or soon to be broken wire in the ignition switch. The one that moniters the little black lump on the key is security related and prone to breakage. Shuts everything down. Happened to me. Usually not intermittent (when it dies your dead) but with wires it could be, contact now, none later.

actually i truely doubt it is this.

when the Passkey system goes out it is usually a case of nothing, the car will not even try to turn over even if there is 13volts in the battery.

actually i truely doubt it is this.

when the Passkey system goes out it is usually a case of nothing, the car will not even try to turn over even if there is 13volts in the battery.

Well, when Bonne loses all power, she loses ALL power. No power; no trying to turn over; nothing. When I turn the key, nothing. No sound.

Actually this was a suggestion from someone I talked to about it. I think I will start with checking the wires behind the kick panel first, though. Sounds like it will be easier to check than the ignition, but the ignition short is one to consider.

there might be a fuse block that the positive cable connects to and fusable link wires get power from,which feeds everything maybe its loose, it might be located on firewall its late ill check my car in morning,otto034

I had the same problem with my 96 Bonne. I found the problem to be at the positive cables (Yes plural!). There are two positive cables and there tends to be alot of corrosion between the two cables at the battery terminal. I removed the bolt and separated the cables, cleaned with a wire brush a followed w/ baking soda solution. Dried, sprayed lightly w/ WD-40, replaced the battery terminal bolt. I had no problem for the last 8 months..... then had to re-clean the terminal again last week. Now it works great again. Go figure.

Thank you "GMLoyal"!!! I found the same problem with my 95 Bonneville. It stalled going down the highway and it was towed back. I knew there was a power issue but I did not have a schematic anyway to make a long story short I read your comments about the ground by the drivers kick panel and found that it was corroded, I cleaned the connection and low and behold all power issues dissapeared. Thanks again and have a good holiday.

Vernando