92 lesabre not starting

i have a '92 lesabre custom. for a while the check engine light would stay on and i ran a scan on the computer and came back with a bad crank positioning sensor.it would still run fine and not give me any problems till one day i was at discount tire and went out to start it up and it wouldnt start. it would turn over, catch then die. finally i just started to turn it over and floored the gas and it fired right up. then about a month later i was sitting in my driveway and hit brake to shift into reverse and it dies. the i was just driving down the road and it dies. then it dies as im pulling into the parking lot at subway. all this dieing happened in at least a 10 min. time period. then it wouldnt start at all. i wiggled the positive battery cable and then it started. it did that for a while and then i had no power at all. i replaced the battery and starter and it worked fine i got maybe 20 or so starts out of it now it wont even turnover. i replaced the lock cylinder, checked the ignition switch, fuses, relays. i am completely stumped on what it could be. does anybody have an idea?

:screwy:
It sounds like you had a loose or corroded battery cable that caused voltage drops and voltage spikes. (This condition can kill an alternator)! You recently replaced the battery; however, did the alternator maintain the full battery charge?

I would first check the battery condition (under load) and then charge it if necessary. Next, check the alternator output. Both services can be done, usually free of charge, at Auto Zone.:naughty:

Well, with all that trouble I would just be screaming obscenities, pulling my hair out wildly only momentarily stopping to pound the steering wheel. The vehicle is unsafe and I would avoid driving it.

Fuel pressure, Crank Position Sensor or Battery terminals.
Any one of which could be the problem not to mention they may be all or more involved.

During start attempts,
Is there spark.
Is there fuel pressure.
Is there adequate voltage.

Fuel pressure problems are usually consistant.
Crank Sensor is inconsistant as it starts to fail and usually happens like you discribed.
Bad battery connections and ignition switches are also as you discribed if you were discribing the ability to actually crank the starter on the engine. It seems something is still loose around the battery or starter.

Good Luck

well i would check the alternator and fuel pressure but right now i have no power at all and when i do have power, i turn the key over and have nothing. i get a click and thats it.every now and then i can get the starter to turn but not very often. any other ideas?

I may have misunderstood but your story seems to have already provided one of the answers.
"i ran a scan on the computer and came back with a bad crank positioning sensor"

This will cause the engine to die, have difficulty starting, then, in some cases, act normal for a while. I suggest fixing it.

It sounds like on top of that you have a drain on the battery. With the key off, hook a test light between the positive cable and the battery. If it lights up, you have a drain. Start pulling fuses till the light goes off to find the area of the drain.

yea i was going to take it to get fixed the next day. i have a guy down from my house that will do it for like 150-200 bucks. way better than over 400 at the dealership. but thanks for the idea, i'll try that tomorrow when i get out of school.

i have figured out the problem. my VATS is screwed up. my dad is having a guy erase that program off the ecm and hope that works. thanks for the suggestions and i will check all of them when i get it running to make sure they are all in proper working order. thanks again.

i have figured out the problem. my VATS is screwed up. my dad is having a guy erase that program off the ecm and hope that works. thanks for the suggestions and i will check all of them when i get it running to make sure they are all in proper working order. thanks again.

I have had the exact symptoms you had and even went so far as to diagnose my VATS system as the cause, but I was wrong. How did I find out? I eventually took it to a dealer AFTER I had bypassed the VATS system (by soldering in resistors to match the resistance on my ignition key) and asked them to determine why my car would occasionally not start. In my case it was the ignition module, which I replaced myself for about $200.

There is a key difference in our situations, however. You said you sometimes get a click in the starter. This reeks to me of battery/starter trouble. My starter died last week and did the same thing every so often. It would click. When it finally seemed done for good, I rolled the car off a small drop off and the jerking motion caused it to start again. I replaced the starter and it has been perfect since then.

FYI, I am very glad I bypassed VATS because now I can use my extra key without a resistor to drive the car.

FYI II: I got fed up with the trunk release not working on my car so I dug into it and eventually figured out how it is wired, and then rewired one side of the circuit directly into a fused "always on" power wire in the fuse box, which means I can now hit my trunk button without the key in the ignition and it will pop. This is a mod I recommend anyone do on this car.