Hello! I just purchased my first car, a 1995 Pontiac Bonneville SSEI for $500. The car is in pretty nice shape on the inside, the clear coat on the outside is peeling a bit but other than that nothing too bad. Battery wouldn't hold a charge so I jumped it and drove it home, went inside and 45 minutes later went to start it again and it wouldn't start but was turning over. I hooked the battery up to my truck and tried jumping it but it wasn't going. I went to the local auto store and bought a battery, as well as some other crap. The positive terminal was in very poor condition (very corroded) so i cleaned it to the best of my abilities and hooked the new battery up. Got in and it started right up, turned my headlights on and my dash had no lights what so ever. All my interior dome lights and door lights were working but not the dash. Checked the fuses and they were alright.. Might need to replace a bulb? Any who, turned the car off after about 10 minutes. Tried to start it back up a couple minutes later and won't even turn over now. So I went inside and opened my laptop and now i'm here. From what i read it might be related to the security system in my car (the security light was indeed flashing with the key on) but i'm not too sure. It drove like a champ and for $500, I certainly wasn't expecting any smooth sailing at first. Excited for the future of this car though, i'm pretty optimistic so my chin is up!!

hi, welcome to the club and congrats on your girl
about the dash lights, please be sure the dimmer switch is turned all the way clockwise - it may be that simple.

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poverty forces one to do unorthodox things

2000 SSEi
past rides:
1996 SSEi
1992 GTP
1987 Grand Am

Welcome to the club! That's not a bad deal at all.

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-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

where would I find the low pressure port to recharge my AC at? It's simply too hot to not have the AC working? Also thank you!! Im excited to be an owner of my own Bonneville!!

It's on the passenger side A/C lines.

But I also am a firm believer that if someone has to ask where it is (It's painfully obvious on these cars), they probably shouldn't be touching it. A/C systems should not be blindly (or ignorantly) fiddled with.

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~Randall~


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

The car won't be my daily driver for a while so i'm not too concerned about the a/c for now. Still need to find out the culprit behind the dash not being illuminated. I'm not too sure which fuse WOULD be responsible for the issue, but i did check the fuses I thought it could be and they all were ok. All my interior dome lights work as well as the two information screens (the compass and the odometer/trip) but when I pull the headlight lever back halfway or the whole way, the two info screens dim severely and the electronic climate control screen dims out completely. I listened and turned the dimmer switch all the way clockwise and still nothing. My twilight sentinel isn't working either, although that isn't a huge deal to me. When i bought the car, it was during the day so of course i didn't even think to check the dash lights. do I need to replace a bulb or possibly replace the headlight switch? any help is appreciated.