97 Park Ave Ultra power surge on ignition

[Nevee1]

Hi, I have a 97 park Ave Ultra. It was tuned up last week, 119000 miles. Yesterday afternoon it started to flip all of the gauges on ignition then would start, battery was @ 13.8 volts when I drove to work @ 7:00 a.m. But by 11:00 It would'nt start.. when I turned the key gauges went up but no ignition. My husband is at work so I thought I would try to find out if anyone has any ideas what could be wrong. Thanks
Please disregard duplicate post!

[Mickey#1]

Let's start by finding out what you mean by "no ignition".
Is the starter cranking the engine but the engine won't start?

[Nevee1]

I think it tried to turn over the first time I turned the key but after that I think it had no power to turn over. Battery is about one year old. Yesterday after it started it cleared the odometer, said unknown driver etc. But it turned the engine over and drove just fine.

[Mickey#1]

It sounds like you may just have a bad connection at the battery. A lot of the GM cars have 2 battery cables that come together inside a rubber boot. You need remove the bolts and pull the cables from the rubber boots. With a wire brush or sandpaper clean boths sides of the cable ends, the spacer & the under side of the bolt. Coat all surfaces with dielectric grease & reassemble. If its cold out then you may have to warm the rubber boot with a hair dryer to get everything back together.

Another possibility is a fault in the security system is disabling the starter. Turn the key to the run position & see if the security light turns off after a few seconds. If it turns off then we can rule out that possibility.

The worse case scenario is the upper intake manifold or lower intake gaskets are leaking water into the cylinders and locking up the motor. Make sure the coolant level isn't down & don't keep trying to start it if it seems like the starter is engaging & trying to turn over the engine. It's possible to break the starter, break teeth off the flywheel & bend a connecting rod. You should really try turning the engine over by hand before attempting to start it.

[Nevee1]

Thanks Mickey#1, We were able to jumpstart the car last night and will try and clean the connections today.

[buickultra2000]

I had the same problem at one point. It turned out to be the side bolts on the battery connection keep coming loose. Every so often I have to tighten them.

There is a long handle tool available specifically for GM side battery cars. I purchased one at a local hard parts store but I've seen them on some online automotive supply sites and I believe also on Amazon.com.

Hope this is your problem as it is a real cheap fix.