'99 LeSabre Electrical

For the past few weeks there have been a few intermittent problems.
1)gas tank can be full when the fuel gauge drops to empty, then after few minutes it will return to full.
2)when locking the doors by using the door button, the car sounds the warning chime, then I must press the button a second time to actually lock
3)and the most irritating and quirky--- Sometimes... when trying to start the car, it acts like the electrical system is flickering, (just like a light bulb flickers) and then dies. If I race the engine, sometimes it stays on. The clock resets, and the dash lights go nuts. If I try to start again, sometime it does the same again. Other times it will not even give a peep, nothing, nada, no clicks, no flickering and no start. Sometimes it will start right up.
The problems seem to be electrical, but I'm by no means a mechanic.
Anybody have any thoughts as to what has possessed this car? Am I holding my mouth wrong or something? :biggrin:

Your first problem sounds like you have a bad fuel tank sender.

The second problem you have is normal, it is called delayed locking, Try this push the lock button once and close all doors and wait 30 seconds you will hear the doors locking.

The last problem you will need to go to a dealer and have it checked out.

For the past few weeks there have been a few intermittent problems.
1)gas tank can be full when the fuel gauge drops to empty, then after few minutes it will return to full.
2)when locking the doors by using the door button, the car sounds the warning chime, then I must press the button a second time to actually lock
3)and the most irritating and quirky--- Sometimes... when trying to start the car, it acts like the electrical system is flickering, (just like a light bulb flickers) and then dies. If I race the engine, sometimes it stays on. The clock resets, and the dash lights go nuts. If I try to start again, sometime it does the same again. Other times it will not even give a peep, nothing, nada, no clicks, no flickering and no start. Sometimes it will start right up.
The problems seem to be electrical, but I'm by no means a mechanic.
Anybody have any thoughts as to what has possessed this car? Am I holding my mouth wrong or something? :biggrin:

Thanks for the info. I feel I still need a little bit more direction on the 3rd. My shop always seems to want to put the car on diagnostic computer system and charge me for 2hrs worth of diagnostic time. Is this "normal"? It almost doubles what the rest of the bill usually is.
Again, thanks for the help so far. :)

Check battery teminals for any corrosion.
Sounds like a bad pwr source almost.

If you want to tackle the last problem yourself, you will certainly need the factory electrical service manual, a good meter, and the ability to trace power and ground circuits throughout the vehicle. You will need the factory manual since it shows the physical location of possible trouble points such as splices and grounds. If you are not prepared to do this then I agree with the previous poster to take it to the Buick dealer. Perhaps the Buick dealer has seen this problem before and knows exactly what to look for. If you do it yourself, you will have to start from scratch and trace out the wiring in the affected circuits from the power source to ground until you discover the problem. This problem could be very challenging to solve.

For the past few weeks there have been a few intermittent problems.
1)gas tank can be full when the fuel gauge drops to empty, then after few minutes it will return to full.
2)when locking the doors by using the door button, the car sounds the warning chime, then I must press the button a second time to actually lock
3)and the most irritating and quirky--- Sometimes... when trying to start the car, it acts like the electrical system is flickering, (just like a light bulb flickers) and then dies. If I race the engine, sometimes it stays on. The clock resets, and the dash lights go nuts. If I try to start again, sometime it does the same again. Other times it will not even give a peep, nothing, nada, no clicks, no flickering and no start. Sometimes it will start right up.
The problems seem to be electrical, but I'm by no means a mechanic.
Anybody have any thoughts as to what has possessed this car? Am I holding my mouth wrong or something? :biggrin:


Check the ground by the battery on the fender well. There are other gounds but this one gave me simular problems. Lights flickering when I pushed the power locks, check engine light and ABS light coming on at the same time. And finally, the engine stalled when I pushed on the window switch a little too long after it was closed. I was able to restart that time, however, a couple of minutes later the engine stalled altogether and was compleatly dead (I was able to roll to my driveway). I did see a bit of movement in the gauages when the key was turned on. Clean the terms up and coat them with grease and you shouldn't have a problem there again.

Dan