1994 Pontiac Bonneville

[Mommypooh]

I need some advice on my car. I have a 1994 Pontiac Bonneville, I went out to start it this morning and the battery is dead. I have had tired to Jump it and can not get it to start. I have interior lights now and the gage says it has close to 14 volts of battery and It still won't start. I can get it to try and I get the clicking sound but no roar to life. Sorry I am talking like a girl. Any ideas what might be wrong. I know we replaced the altranator around a year or so ago. other than that I am totally clueless.

[nhbilly]

your car guage might be wrong.....
if it is making that clicking sound, you're still short on battery to get that V6 started...

[johnnymk]

Try jumping it with another car's battery.

[Svyn]

I think on the gm the starter solenoid is built onto the starter (can someone confirm this?). On my t-bird I had the starter solenoid go out, and I just replaced it. It would click forever; I thought dead battery too, but once attempting to jump I got no life from the motor. I got out the trusty screwdriver and touched the terminals together on the solenoid and it gave me a cranking noise along with some sparks, letting me know it was indeed the solenoid. I am unsure where gm put the solenoid, but I believe the solenoid is on the starter. I would take off the battery cables, clean the terminals and the contacts then try again, also make sure they are tight. While you are messing around with the battery make sure to check the water levels in the battery, and be sure to check to see if the battery is getting buldged out around the sides (as if maybe it froze). Good luck, sorry all the help I can be I am not a GM person.

[TERRIBLETOM]

I need some advice on my car. I have a 1994 Pontiac Bonneville, I went out to start it this morning and the battery is dead. I have had tired to Jump it and can not get it to start. I have interior lights now and the gage says it has close to 14 volts of battery and It still won't start. I can get it to try and I get the clicking sound but no roar to life. Sorry I am talking like a girl. Any ideas what might be wrong. I know we replaced the altranator around a year or so ago. other than that I am totally clueless.
A dead battery in this weather (winter) is common, if you get a continuous clicking when you turn the key, that usually means that the starter isn’t getting enough voltage/amperage to turn the engine over. This usually happens when your battery freezes or you get a dead cell in your battery, in turn the battery is shorting out to ground internally, which means you should replace it. If you are getting a single click it could be a connection problem or faulty starter most of the time.

[mechmike0034]

A dead battery in this weather (winter) is common, if you get a continuous clicking when you turn the key, that usually means that the starter isn’t getting enough voltage/amperage to turn the engine over. This usually happens when your battery freezes or you get a dead cell in your battery, in turn the battery is shorting out to ground internally, which means you should replace it. If you are getting a single click it could be a connection problem or faulty starter most of the time.

:stupid: Yeah, what he said...

Look for loose or corroded battery cables, or a defective battery (particularly if the battery is a couple of years old or more)

It takes about 10 amps of current (if that much) to run the interior lights, radio etc., but it takes about 200 amps of current to turn the engine over with the starter.

As an aside, most inexpensive jumper cables are junk - they aren't anywhere near heavy enough to handle the necessary load. A good, professional-quality set is expensive but worth every penny in times like this.

This would also be a good time to have a AAA or other motor club membership, but you probably already knew that.

Of course, if the engine cranks over but will not start and run then that's a whole new scenario. Did you run the battery down cranking the engine over when it wouldn't start?

[BigJon]

Mommypooh forgot to post....battery is 4 years old...never replaced. Switched it out with a new one at Sam's and it works perfectly now. They said at Sam's that the battery would not hold a charge AT ALL. Thanks all for the advice!

[whitak24]

like mike said, it's worth checking (even though you've got the battery replaced) to make sure that the battery cable is nice and clean and is clamped tightly. unfortunately, some of the automakers (i specifically know that the mazda-made ford probes, escorts, etc) insist on using this completely retarded battery cable clamp design that makes it next to impossible to get a good tight seal between the terminal and the cable. if that's the case, then at least keeping it clean will give you the most conductivity possible.

(on my old probe, i had to replace the cables because they just would not grasp the terminals tightly enough so the battery was constantly going bad. once i replaced them, my problems were completely solved.)

[nhbilly]

your car guage might be wrong.....
if it is making that clicking sound, you're still short on battery to get that V6 started...

cool glad I was right too

[Mommypooh]

Well BigJon forgot to mention that I changed the battery all by myself while he was at work. I had a friend who told me how to do it and what tools I needed. So I set to work at removing it and took it to get it checked and bought a new one. I also then proceeded to put the new one in.

Sorry I am tooting my own horn here folks. I am very proud that even thought I am days away from giving birth to my second child I was able to do that all by myself.

BigJon would have done it when he got home from work, but I am too antsey to feel comfortable with not having my car, If things had started and I needed to get to the hospital. Also it would have been after dark when He would have been able to deal with it so I thought it would be easier to deal with in the day light and when it was not so cold.

Thank you for all of the advice, You guys are all the greatest.

[TERRIBLETOM]

Well BigJon forgot to mention that I changed the battery all by myself while he was at work. I had a friend who told me how to do it and what tools I needed. So I set to work at removing it and took it to get it checked and bought a new one. I also then proceeded to put the new one in.

Sorry I am tooting my own horn here folks. I am very proud that even thought I am days away from giving birth to my second child I was able to do that all by myself.

BigJon would have done it when he got home from work, but I am too antsey to feel comfortable with not having my car, If things had started and I needed to get to the hospital. Also it would have been after dark when He would have been able to deal with it so I thought it would be easier to deal with in the day light and when it was not so cold.

Thank you for all of the advice, You guys are all the greatest.Good job. :cheers:

[mechmike0034]

Well BigJon forgot to mention that I changed the battery all by myself while he was at work. I had a friend who told me how to do it and what tools I needed. So I set to work at removing it and took it to get it checked and bought a new one. I also then proceeded to put the new one in.

Sorry I am tooting my own horn here folks. I am very proud that even thought I am days away from giving birth to my second child I was able to do that all by myself.

BigJon would have done it when he got home from work, but I am too antsey to feel comfortable with not having my car, If things had started and I needed to get to the hospital. Also it would have been after dark when He would have been able to deal with it so I thought it would be easier to deal with in the day light and when it was not so cold.

Thank you for all of the advice, You guys are all the greatest.

You should be proud - way to go! :cool:

Take a :bow: because you certainly earned it.