95 Bonnie starter problems

[hiergirl]

Hello I am a newby to this... I have a 1995 Bonneville SE that has been a great car, but giving me some headaches lately. Just wondering if someone could help us out.

First, the blower fan worked when it wanted to, then completely quit. I took it to a mechanic who replaced the relay, now I have the high setting only (no lower settings work). Happy that I am that I can defrost the car in the morning, I don't want only high settings... is this the control on the dash that is causing the problem?

Second, she spits and sputters on acceleration. When the car is in park, it is not as bad, but when driving, it gets worse. We have done a tune up on it, including a fuel filter, O2 sensor, and plugs.

Third, the starter just plain quit the other morning and we are in the process right now of putting the new starter in.

If you could give me some insight as to what could fix the problems I would greatly appreciate it!!

Thanks!

[hiergirl]

ok, the starter is in now... for the love of God will someone please tell me why the battery will now NOT hold a charge. I just drove it to the store and left it idling in the lot for a minute (maybe 2) and when backing out the volts dropped and lights dimmed. Thankfully I managed to keep it running and make it home.

Thought we had this fixed last night, but apparently not. And since it is 4:54 am here, I haven't went back outside to try to restart it yet. Is there something else that I am missing here?

Can someone please help us?

[GTP Dad]

As far as the battery not holding a charge, how old is the battery? If it is more than three years old you may need a new one. Second, If the car is running and the voltage drops, the alternator may be going bad. That is why the battery is not being maintained properly, remember an alternator will not recharge a battery only maintain it. Before replacing the battery, have it properly charged, this may eliminate the problem at not much cost. With regard to the fan, the fan control resistor should be replaced to give you all fan speeds back, it is located next to the fan motor and costs about $40 to purchase at a dealer. The spitting and sputtering may be caused by a lack of fuel, the fuel pressure may be too low when you hit the gas and takes a while to build up. Have the pressure checked to see if it is within proper range if it is too low then the fuel pump may need replaced, otherwise look for a bad vacuum line as this will cause a similar problem. Hope this helps!

[hiergirl]

Thanks for the insight! We were thinking about doing the plug wires today... will that make a difference? The battery tested good at the auto store yesterday, but it came with the car (and i bought it 2 years ago).

Things that have already been replaced (in the last 2 years) are the water pump, alternator, fuel filter, and now the starter and the relay (for the heater/ac blower).

Driving it this morning, it didn't seem to spit and sputter like before til i was losing power (battery-wise). I will try to get a good charge on the battery and see if that helps... thanks again!

[GTP Dad]

A bad plug wire could cause a miss in the engine but you should see a check engine light if that is the case. As far as the battery, you may be draining it very quickly and that is why the engine is spitting and sputtering. Lack of voltage will cause the coils to lack power and not get enough spark to the plugs. You may also want to check all your grounds and also check the positive wire going to the battery. IF it is bad it will cause voltage problems as well.