91' Won't Restart

I have a 1991 Regal with the 3.8 V6. The check gages light comes on occasionally while I am driving and than goes off again. When I leave the car sitting and using any amount of power (listen to radio for 20 minutes, 4 way flashers for 20 minutes) or once when it had been parked , I tried starting it up 5 minutes later and it wouldn't start. The motor wouldn't turn over at all. Usually a battery boost would fix the problem, although this last time it wouldn't. This last time I went home to get a couple tools and when I came back and tried starting it it fired right up. I have had the battery tested and the connections are tight and clean. What could be the problem? Thanks!

You could have several things going on. Do you start the car a lot through out the day (city driving) or do short distance driving? If you do, the cranking amps in the battery required to turn the starter could be draining out of the battery so quickly without restoring them (continuous driving). Even with continuous driving, it recharges the battery very slowly, not fast enough to restore the full charge. Then when you play the radio, have the 4 ways on or anything else continues to drain the battery to the point that you don’t have enough cranking amps to turn the starter. There will be enough power for the radio, windows etc, since they use a small amount of power as opposed to the starter. When you get a jump-start, you are getting whatever cranking amps are left in your battery, plus the amps from the boost.

Find out how many Cold Cranking Amps are required for your car and be sure to get a battery that will not have any trouble exceeding that amount. Sounds like you don’t drive too far and start the car often. Do yourself a favor and spend a little money and get a good battery. You might spend about $100.00 for something halfway decent. Good Luck.

I have a 1991 Regal with the 3.8 V6. The check gages light comes on occasionally while I am driving and than goes off again. When I leave the car sitting and using any amount of power (listen to radio for 20 minutes, 4 way flashers for 20 minutes) or once when it had been parked , I tried starting it up 5 minutes later and it wouldn't start. The motor wouldn't turn over at all. Usually a battery boost would fix the problem, although this last time it wouldn't. This last time I went home to get a couple tools and when I came back and tried starting it it fired right up. I have had the battery tested and the connections are tight and clean. What could be the problem? Thanks!


It sounds like the alternator or something related to the charging system...

Ajscottjr

I have had a similiar problem. My check gauges light has been on since a week after I bought my 1991 3.8 L Regal in 1995 w/41,000 miles. I was told it was a problem with the printed circuit board on the back of the instrument cluster and that the rest of the dash functions would likely start messing up including the odometer and I would have to replace the whole unit and of course it was the ONLY item not covered by the 30 day warranty that they told me I had when I purchased the car from the dealer. I am nearly certain this has nothing to do with your problem though, as my Regal now has 240,000 miles and still has this problem and the fuel light that comes on at about 1/2 full tank. The problem I did have, that though, not exactly like yours but similiar was the result of the 10ga. red wire running from the alternator to the battery block terminal near the battery had a small place rubbed in the insulation near the left side of the cross member behind the radiator. This hole allowed moisture into the copper which corroded it until only 1 or 2 strands were all that was conducting the amperage back to the battery from the alternator thus requiring long drives to fully charge the battery back to full charge of 13.6 volts.
So, if a battery does not fix your problem remove the black flexible covering from the wire harness that contains the aforementioned wire and good luck.