92 olds CS problem

[rowan602]

a little background:

In august of 2005, I bought a 92 olds Cutlass Supreme S. It has a 3.1l V6. In October, I began having trouble with it starting. The battery seemed to be dead, but the car would jump start with no problem.

What I've done:
New battery
New alternator
New TPS
had the electrical for the brake light reset
new positive battery cable
disconnected the glove compartment, trunk, backseat, and under hood lights

I took this car to a mechanic 4 times and they could never find the problem. I'm at a total loss as to what the problem could be. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! I'd take to an electircal specialist, but the money I save for repairs always seems to get spent on diapers, etc.

Thanks,
Melissa

[GTP Dad]

Welcome to AF!!

Does the car turn over, meaning does it crank and not start? If not I suspect your issue is with the negative battery terminal/lead. The next time this happens take a jumper cable and connect the negative terminal and then to a metal piece on the car. If it starts then you will know that the wire is bad and needs replaced. If not the problem could be in the ignition switch or in the starter solenoid.

If the car turns over but does not start you problem could be in the fuel pressure to the injectors. You can check the fuel pressure with a guage that can be rented for a couple of dollars from autozone. Connect it to the shrader valve on the fuel rail, looks like a tire valve, turn the fuel pump on by turning the key to the on position. If the pressure is good then you should get at least 40 psi on the guage. If not then the fuel pressure regulator is probably bad and not holding pressure thus it won't start properly due to a lack of fuel.

I hope this gives you a few ideas on where to look.

[Slade901]

With my 1990 Olds cutlass, if you follow the + red cable from the battery terminal post, you will see one wire going to the starter and the other to a remote positive terminal (usually near the fuel pump relay/fuse) and it is usually held down but a nut. Make sure that nut there is tight and not loose.

[rowan602]

As far as cranking, it'll do both, depending. Sometimes it'll crank for a minute, then the cranking will die off, getting slower and slower until it just clicks. Other times i get nothin at all. when you say to connect the jumper cable, do you mean connect one negative clamp to the terminal, and the negative clamp on the other end to a piece of metal in the engine somewhere? I'm sorry if my questions seem silly, but I don't wanna get fried Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions!

[GTP Dad]

Yes, connect the jumper cable from the negative terminal to the block. Just the cable. You problem sounds like a high resistance cable that is causing the voltage and amperage to drop off when you crank the car. It is also possible that the starter is going bad. When they go bad they will heat up the more they turn over and then they will stop. If the jumper cable trick doesn't work then you may have to replace the starter and solenoid to get the car working correctly.

[rowan602]

Okay, tried the jumper cable thing, no luck.If it was a fuel issue, would that have come up in the diagnostic? Any other ideas? Again, thank you for taking the time to read my posts and help me out!
Melissa

[rowan602]

Just wanted to post a quick update. Changing the positive battery cable din't work. Next I changed the negative battery cable. We couldn't figure out whether or not that was working, cause the battery wouldn't hold a charge. it'd been drained so many times that it was no good any more. I got a replacement(thank goodness for warranty coverage!). We installed the battery and put the car back together. It started right up. That was yesterday. Drove the car several times today. No problems so far. Cross your fingers for me! If she keeps going, I may even get to name her, yay!

Anyway, I just wanted to thank ya'll for your help! Have a great night!

Rowan