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 Post subject: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 11:48 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 3:08 am
Posts: 29
Location: Redmond, OR
Year and Trim: 89 Pontiac Bonneville SSE
Looking for clues as to what I should be looking for on my '89 SSE which simply turned off while driving at low speed in a neighborhood. Coasted to a stop in neutral. Placed in park and started normally and drove off like nothing happened. Now I can't trust it. When will it do this again? Oh yes, plenty of gas. All gages normal. Any ideas?

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'67 Corvette Coupe 427/435, 1 owner (motor in storage, now running with 4 bolt 327)
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 Post subject: Re: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 9:49 am 
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Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:11 pm
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Location: Ontario, Canada
Year and Trim: 2000 Bonniville SSEi L67
how are your plugs/wires. did it die just once or is it a regular issue?

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 Post subject: Re: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 10:04 am 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 8:53 am
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Location: Las Cruces, NM
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It could be many many things, none of which can be tracked down until the issue repeats. If it restarts without incident, I would just make a note of it until there is more information to consider. You can also scan for codes just to see if anything set.

Until then, worry not!

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 Post subject: Re: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 1:55 am 
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Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 3:08 am
Posts: 29
Location: Redmond, OR
Year and Trim: 89 Pontiac Bonneville SSE
96 SSEi wrote:
how are your plugs/wires. did it die just once or is it a regular issue?


Engine and peripherals are only 10,000 miles old. Reman installed by previous owner. So plugs and wires are nearly new. All ign thoroughly inspected last week due to ign failure described in '87 - '91 Mech. & Maint. topics in a reply under "No start, manifold backfire".

This was not an ignition failure. It was a total electrical shutdown like I had pulled off the main battery cable. But it restarted normally not a minute later and ran normally. Now I can't trust it not to die at a critical moment in traffic or a distance from home.

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'89 Bonneville SSE daily driver (prior 3800 was '90 Buick LeSabre - solid car)
'06 Suburban 5.3 280,000 miles (now 308,000 and running fine - May,'22)
'67 Corvette Coupe 427/435, 1 owner (motor in storage, now running with 4 bolt 327)
'38 Chev Business Coupe, all original (wife won't let me "improve" it).
'80 BMW R100 Frankenscooter from a basket case.


Last edited by NoShowCar on Mon Aug 13, 2018 2:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 2:14 am 
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Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 3:08 am
Posts: 29
Location: Redmond, OR
Year and Trim: 89 Pontiac Bonneville SSE
RJolly87 wrote:
It could be many many things, none of which can be tracked down until the issue repeats. If it restarts without incident, I would just make a note of it until there is more information to consider. You can also scan for codes just to see if anything set.

Until then, worry not!


How can I not worry when it might die on me crossing a busy road or a distance from home?

Last week it did experience a different failure as described in a recent reply to "No start, manifold backfire" under Mech & Maint. under '87 to '91. I believe I resolved that issue, but this is something new and I think, unrelated. The whole dashboard went dark.

I guess I'll have to wait until it does it again and try to remember ALL the details that occurred.

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'89 Bonneville SSE daily driver (prior 3800 was '90 Buick LeSabre - solid car)
'06 Suburban 5.3 280,000 miles (now 308,000 and running fine - May,'22)
'67 Corvette Coupe 427/435, 1 owner (motor in storage, now running with 4 bolt 327)
'38 Chev Business Coupe, all original (wife won't let me "improve" it).
'80 BMW R100 Frankenscooter from a basket case.


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 Post subject: Re: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 6:51 am 
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Joined: Wed May 21, 2008 11:47 pm
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Location: Philadelphia
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Check all the battery connections for corrosion and have the battery tested.

I had a similar failure in my 95 back in 03 while going down a hill that had no shoulder and a quick left hand turn into an intersection. That was fun. It turned out to be a bad cell in the battery. A new batt solved it.

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 Post subject: Re: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:58 am 
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Another thing to check is that the battery positive wire that goes down to the starter doesn't have any bare/burnt shielding on the wire that could be shorting to the frame/engine. It's possible that the wire wasn't routed properly during the motor replacement and it may be intermittently shorting to the block/frame or exhaust.

Check both ends of all cables to make sure they aren't loose while you are checking for corrosion.

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 Post subject: Re: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:48 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 8:53 am
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Location: Las Cruces, NM
Year and Trim: 1993 Buick Park Avenue
1994 Buick Regal Custom
NoShowCar wrote:
This was not an ignition failure. It was a total electrical shutdown like I had pulled off the main battery cable. But it restarted normally not a minute later and ran normally. Now I can't trust it not to die at a critical moment in traffic or a distance from home.


This was information that we didn't have previously. I was under the impression it was a simple stall.

The list of failures that can cause this is relatively short thankfully, major things like the ignition switch, or one of the ignition power paths.

If it was a simple key off, key back on restart, I would check circuit breakers and ignition switch.

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1993 Buick Park Avenue - 197k - Some odds and ends done - Simply won't die
1994 Buick Regal - 78k - Bone stock - Always ready for a good kicking
1990 Oldsmobile 88 - Gone to a better place


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 Post subject: Re: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 3:20 am 
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Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 3:08 am
Posts: 29
Location: Redmond, OR
Year and Trim: 89 Pontiac Bonneville SSE
Thanks to all the suggestions. I think I have this resolved. My first thought when battery connections were suggested was - no way. New battery, new cables (I thought) and recent major engine work. Well, I tried wiggling the battery connections and, by golly, it wiggled. Shouldn't! So I disconnected both of them and found that one of the positive cables was not new and had a bit of thin oxide on the contacting surfaces. So, of course I cleaned all the surfaces I could reach and reassembled good and tight with anti corrosion lube where I thought it should be. Now it cranked smartly and started instantly before, so I never suspected a poor connection. Because it was just a little loose and a little corroded, I believe it was the problem.
I have noticed other examples of shoddy electrical service on this car by a local dealer.
Thanks again for the key info.

_________________
'89 Bonneville SSE daily driver (prior 3800 was '90 Buick LeSabre - solid car)
'06 Suburban 5.3 280,000 miles (now 308,000 and running fine - May,'22)
'67 Corvette Coupe 427/435, 1 owner (motor in storage, now running with 4 bolt 327)
'38 Chev Business Coupe, all original (wife won't let me "improve" it).
'80 BMW R100 Frankenscooter from a basket case.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 3:49 am 
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Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 3:08 am
Posts: 29
Location: Redmond, OR
Year and Trim: 89 Pontiac Bonneville SSE
Recently completed about a 600 mile trip. No further glitches. Only issue was I got about 23 MPG avg. My old '90 Buick LeSabre with the same power train would get 29 on a trip quite consistently.

_________________
'89 Bonneville SSE daily driver (prior 3800 was '90 Buick LeSabre - solid car)
'06 Suburban 5.3 280,000 miles (now 308,000 and running fine - May,'22)
'67 Corvette Coupe 427/435, 1 owner (motor in storage, now running with 4 bolt 327)
'38 Chev Business Coupe, all original (wife won't let me "improve" it).
'80 BMW R100 Frankenscooter from a basket case.


Last edited by NoShowCar on Mon Sep 03, 2018 3:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Sudden shut down
PostPosted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 12:26 am 
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A suggestion: If (when) you think you've got the problem licked, tack "[SOLVED]" to the end of your post's subject.

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