Strange Electrical Problem

New here but hoping someone has some ideas on this. Last week at the same time the following electrical problems started happening:

-Door locks stoped working from switch on the inside (both drivers and pass)
-Key Fobs stopped working
-Inside Trunk Switch stopped working
-When the key is turned to the off position all electrical stops, don't have to wait until the door is opened.
-Radio (AM) will not get any reception (Antenna effected?)

I have looked at the fuses and don't see any that would effect all these things. I went under the steering wheel and pulled some of the fuses but did not see anything wrong. I also pulled the cables off of the battery for a half hour to see if this would somehow reset the system.

I am stumped and it is getting very frustrating, never realized how much I relied on some of those convienience features.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

You checked the bigger fuses under the hood?
There are quite a few large ones there.
I would bet some of your fuses under the steering wheel has no power. Pull one at a time and check both sides for power.

Of course for us.. we need the year model.
Some of us have wiring diagrams and fuses you can check for power.

Find a wiring diagram, start with ONE thing that quit.
Choose an easy always on device. Things like antenna motor, or Trunk, or radio memory.
Trace the power source for it to fuses. Trace the missing source back to the problem.

Your antenna motor may not have power and not going up.

The radio has a always on power to keep stations in memory.


Good luck.

Thanks for the response. Sorry i forgot to say it is a 1998. Except for the radio everything seems to work fine while the car is running. I will look at the fuses under the steering wheel. Should they show a voltage when the car is off or do I need to at least have the AUX power going?

This sounds like an issue with the Body Control Module. The majority of the items you mentioned are controlled by the BCM. Check the connections to it before going anywhere else. They also fail from time to time. I am not certain of the location but check the area next to your left foot under the dash. It should be mounted on the side of the car. You may have to remove the kick panel to get to it.

IM in the same boat with my wifes car. '91 SSE 3800 with 187k miles. Got the inevitable histerical phone call the other day that her car stalled out for no apparent reason while she was driving. I asked her to check the battery cables as we have had issues with that recently, but that had no effect. So I left work to go get her as she was sitting there while it was about 98 degrees out, when she calls me back not 10 minutes later saying that it's running now. Ofcourse after I was heading back to work 5 minutes later she calls back to say it stalled again and this time she was stuck in a median turn lane. After arriving on scene and looking things over I relized I have no clue whats going on. 20 minutes goes by this time and the car gets started again. With less than 5 miles to go till we get home I decide I have spent more than an hour away from work, so I might as well go the distance and follow her home. Two blocks from home it dies again! This time I have had it and break out a tow strap. Later that evening I checked the charge on the battery and checked the alternator, both where performing correctly. I had changed the plugs, wires, and performed an oil change not 2 months ago so I ruled out those areas. I spoke with a friend of the family who does back yard mechanics (20 or so years worth) and he agreed to look at the car. After limping it to his house 8 blocks away with out a problem I left the car with him. Unable to get it to act up when I first got there, by means of shutting the car off and turning it on several times it finaly did it's deed when we where leaving and he was moving the car around back to his shop. After a few moments of looking around and what not, he proclaimed the culpret was most likely the ignition modulator at a whopping $360.00 replacment coast! I told him to hold off and couln't afford to deal with it at the moment, which is where AF has come in. This is the first of I hope many leads that will result in some sort of reassurance as to the issue at hand. I saw this post and have skimed through all of the Bonnaville posts pertaining to my issue, but none seem to match 100%. If anyone else can shed some light on this I would greatly appreciate it! Please email me [email protected]

Thanks :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Hi, you should start a new thread as this one is old,also is your problem just stalling out .Have you checked and cleaned battery connections and all grounds.How does your car run when it is running and idling .

After a few moments of looking around and what not, he proclaimed the culpret was most likely the ignition modulator at a whopping $360.00 replacment coast!
My experience (my '93 SE died numerous times at inopportune times in traffic) leads me to believe that your mechanic-friend is close...

The ignition module sits directly beneath the 3 coil-packs, and may well have gotten fried, but more than likely it's the coil packs themselves.
It was on the side of the road by flashlight that I finally was able to diagnose mine. As soon as it died I pulled over and popped the hood to start testing for spark:
pull cable off plug
stick screwdriver, pocketknife, or other inanimate but metallic object into cable
hold object close to metal and crank while observing for spark

(correct me if I'm wrong, but I'll bet that yours cranks fine.. just won't fire off until it's darn good and ready).

Anyway, I immediately found that the 1-4 coil-pack (closest to front of car) was not firing. I assumed that I had found the problem, so I let it sit and it finally fired up again and let me drive the 25 miles home with only minor bucking (feathering the gas pedal seemed to keep it alive when it got uppity, but maybe that was my imagination).

Once safely in my driveway I shut it off and back on a few times, then tested for spark again. Since it was starting, I just had my wife kill it as soon as it fired up, giving me just enough time to see the spark a few times. I found that when it was starting, I was getting weak orange spark rather than a strong blue or white... on 2 of the 3 coil-packs.

So... that sounds like it'd likely be the ignition module not the coil packs, since the problem was spread over more than 1 pack, and what are the odds of 2 coil modules going out at the same time?!?

Well, like you, I couldn't stand the thought of paying the big $$ for an ignition module on a whim, so I bought a complete coil-pack set off eBay for about $40. Figured if I was going to do it the military way (replace parts until it works) I'd start low.

Couple of minutes to install once they got here and it's run fine ever-since =)

What I don't know is if the '91 is the same setup as the '93, but I'm sure you'll be able to tell.
Here's an example of what I bought, and at a great price!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1992-Pontiac-Bonneville-SE-Coil-Pack-V6-3800_W0QQitemZ220043383826QQihZ012QQcategoryZ46098 QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
Only takes minutes to remove the 3 modules and drop them into your car.

Good luck!