1990 scottsdale

[jodiallen]

new battery,new pos cable,had starter checked.Said it was good.Try to start an nothing.Its like battery is dead.does not turn over. 99% of time it fires right up.starter? it died last night could not start will not turn over at all.go there today an it fires right up.???? lost please help

[oldblu65]

You may have a bad ignition switch ? Sometimes it causes intermittent problems and is hard to diagnose . The switch controls many aspects of the vehicle's operation and can affect systems seemingly at random ? I have a 2000 Impala that's showing the classic symptoms of this same problem . I stopped to refuel today , car was starting and running just great . Shut it off to put the fuel in and when I went to restart , it wouldn't do anything. I tried it several times with no luck , no response at all .Radio , nothing worked ! Then on about the 6th attempt , it fired right up and ran fine after that . It does this occasionally but always eventually starts ! One of these days , my luck will come to an end and .. well , it'll be time to replace that switch ! Check your ignition switch and good luck !

[jamesslcx]

Hi jodiallen, first i would check all connections battery related, then get a helper and see if starter is getting voltage when key is turned to start...it could still be anything from a bad starter to a faulty ignition switch, one more question when it wont start do the dash lights or headlights work?

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by jodiallen

new battery,new pos cable,had starter checked.Said it was good.Try to start an nothing.Its like battery is dead.does not turn over. 99% of time it fires right up.starter? it died last night could not start will not turn over at all.go there today an it fires right up.???? lost please help

with this 20 plus year old vehicle much can be wrong with the electrical system.

make sure all connections at the starter are clean and secure..this includes the solenoid connection that has NO WIRE !

using a voltmeter see at the starter where the voltage is lost/drops out.. you will need a helper...testing a starter with NO LOAD does not give a complete accurate test..

then theres the fuseable links that can cause all this especially with the 20 plus year old rust belt vehicle..

with the headlights on try to crank over the engine ..if the head lights do not dim out then it is in the starter circuit....

if the headlights dim out when cranking you have a bad battery or other wires connections at the battery to the vehicle electrical components..you will need a vot meter to be sure whats going on here ..no meter you are very much lost..