95 LeSabre not starting randomly

Twice since I got my car, 2.5 months ago, I have gotten in it, and it would not start. No dome lights, no radio, no clock, nothing. Then a few minutes later, I would try again, and all of a sudden, everything would come on, and it would start right up, and not give me trouble for a long time.

Last night, I went to leave work, started the car, and in the 20-30 seconds it took me to get situated, the car stalled and all of the power shut off. I tried starting it and the only light I noticed was a faint red glow behind the oil light on the dash (security or something maybe?). The cigarette lighter also supplied power to my cell phone charger (put the LED in it on) but not to my cell phone. Also, the light in the glove box would come on faintly.

I got someone to bring my other set of keys, thinking it might be a security thing and maybe it had to do with the key I had, and that didn't help. We hooked up a booster pack, which did nothing, then tested the battery, which showed 12V. I just got a ride home, went to bed, and got a ride back to work this morning.

This morning I tried it and got a much different beep than the typical door ajar or headlights on beep and the dash lights came on. I tried starting it and got that clicking noise from the passenger's side dash. Also while I was attempting to start it, the speedometer was climbing.... if I let go of the key it would stop, and when I turned it it would climb again... weird.

Anyhow, car's not turning over, power's acting weird, battery's good.... any suggestions? Relay under the passenger side dash? Fuse?

Thanks!!

- Dave

Yeah, check your relays out, maybe have a partner try and hold a ear to which one it may be while cranking, and check your battery cables out.

Thanks, I will check that out as soon as I get time to. Any other suggestions are welcome. I'm also considering a loose connection or bad ground somewhere maybe.... no clue really. This electrical stuff is a shot in the dark for me.

It's normally the battery cables at the battery or starter, both relatively easy to check. If you have the 2 postive battery cable that overlap each other on the battery they like to get some corrosion in between them. Also since you just bought the car, make sure there is washer that goes inbetween the two cables! When I first bought mine and it would have a random no start, it would always happen to my wife. I'd get there and it would start right up. Finally one time it didn't and when I went to check for corrosion, I found there was no washer inbetween the 2, under $2 later, no problem since for the 8 years I've had it.

The two positive wires are covered with plastic, and everything seems fairly corrosion free. I did have a new battery put in when I got the car in July and I'm sure that the guys that put it in took care of anything that might have been on it. I do get that clicking a lot on the passenger's side, I'm going to check the relays whenever I get a chance. I just wish I were home where I could have my tools to work with.

How difficult is it to get at the relays? Do I need to take anything off? I looked briefly and it looks like it'd be much easier if I pulled out the glovebox...

I may be able to get some things from my landlord or the shop here at work to try to get this worked out. If not, I'll have to get in touch with a garage here and see if I can get an appointment tomorrow....

well, I just got a call from the garage that I took my car to, and apparently the two cables that hook up to the positive terminal have fused themselves together..... one cable is discontinued, so they're looking at aftermarket, and after all of that they told me that just getting the cables would be about $90 and then the diagnositic and labr would take it to about $225..... great news on a friday when i'm supposed to be leaving for buffalo early... oh, and the order's going to take until probably tuesday... awesome... so i'll be without a car all weekend as well, this is going to be fun.

It's about the only thing wrong with LeSabre and Park Avenues, electrical gremlins.

This is not an uncommon occurrence on these cars. We have discussed this dilemma on many other threads. I would like to offer this as a lesson to those who choose to ignore a regular battery maintenance schedule including cleaning and lubrication of the battery terminals. :uhoh:

Many times, the cable terminals fail to carry the current in a few months after a new battery has been installed. (New batteries have more cranking amps than old ones)! Therefore, arching can occur and the cables and connections must be in tip-top shape to carry the newfound current. :grinyes:

The “piggy back” positive cable design leaves a lot to be desired and when either loose, corroded, or lack lubricate, they will arc between the terminals and even “weld” together.:screwy:

I try to make it a point to clean and lubricate mine every six months, usually during the fall and the spring. This is a good time to do this, due the pending severe heat or cold of the coming months that place even a greater load on the system. Never assume, if you have a new battery installed, that the one installing the battery will do this for you. It would be more logical to assume, that it will not be done!:nono::2cents:

Many times, the cable terminals fail to carry the current in a few months after a new battery has been installed. (New batteries have more cranking amps than old ones)! Therefore, arching can occur and the cables and connections must be in tip-top shape to carry the newfound current. :grinyes:


Hate to tap your shoulder here but what do you think of this. Just for Forum Chat.

At first start the current usually is the same as a new battery for starting on an charged old battery unless theres a bad cell. A new battery has more depth amp/hours. Only if the battery is drained during a start past its depth will it start dropping voltage. Then if you drop voltage your starter goes slower and draws more current. Hence the bad battery is hurting the starter.
Terminals get hot when they are dropping resistance across a bad connection.. This problem is a cascading issue. A little bad connection gets hot and the heat cycles makes the bad connection worse and worse. This scenario doesnt ruin a starter but starve it and will not allow the battery to fully charge well from the alternator.

Very good thoughts Bass, and thanks for the input!
:meant:
First, let me clarify one of my earlier statements. (New batteries have more cranking amps than old ones) Actually, I should have said; New batteries with the same CCA rating of an older battery, will maintain higher cranking amps for a longer period of time.:grinyes:

Cold Cranking Amps is a rating used in the battery industry to define a battery's ability to start an engine in cold temperatures. The rating is the number of amps a new, fully charged battery can deliver at 0° Fahrenheit for 30 seconds, while maintaining a voltage of at least 7.2 volts, for a 12-volt battery. The higher the CCA rating, the greater the starting power of the battery. I hope this helps clarify this area of discussion.:disappoin

Now, with your permission, we need to expand on one of your comments; “Terminals get hot when they are dropping resistance across a bad connection”. What we should say is; when VOLTAGE drops across a loose or corroded terminal, the electrical energy lost, is converted to heat.:devil: (Energy is never lost or destroyed–only converted.)

In the case of a poor battery terminal connection, you will have “resistance” confined to a small area. This “poor connection” scenario, is often referred to as a “bottleneck effect” and can result in the destruction of the terminals through “thermal run-away.” :angryfire

When available voltage to electrical parts drops about 10% below the optimum level, the performance of the parts will typically drop by about 30%. If voltage delivered to accessories are 30% low, performance can be very weak. (Lights will be dimmer, alternator may not charge the battery to full capacity, electric fans will not move as much air, fuel pumps will supply lower fuel pressure, and so on.):frown:

:smokin:Couldnt have said it better.

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since I've responded to my own post, but it looks like you've kept yourselves busy.:)

Anyhow, in the meantime, the transmission lines that I had replaced when I got the car, have separated (loose hose clamps holding the rubber hose onto the new line coming off the tranny) on the return line at least twice...:banghead: but not a significant amount of fluid lost any time... well, not to do any damage at least.

The electrical problem, was really just corrosion between the rings on the positive terminal. So I took an angle grinder to them and cleaned them right up, and then put some protectant on. That seemed to fix the problem.

But then, a couple of days ago, the morning of our first real frost here in Syracuse, the engine wouldn't turn over.:banghead: Starter would click, but it wouldn't turn over. So I left it sit for a while, thinking it might come back to life if I let it rest. I got it to turn, very slowly... so I called AAA, they came to tow it to a garage. When he got there, I tried it again, and it sputtered, but eventually started up. Soooo I tested the battery when I got home on Friday, and it had a pretty bad draw on it under load. So, $57 and a new battery later, car's running fine. I just have to keep track of that transmission line.

Thanks for all your help guys. :cheers: