1998 LaSabre won't start

Technical aspects of automobiles, et. al., post #20,912
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Sara Brown
 2008-06-25 17:33:23
 1998 LaSabre won't start
Hello all..You guys usually have some good insight so here goes..My
brother has a 1998 Buick LaSabre 3.8 V6 automatic.Last week he sais
when he went to start it it started to crank like normal and then
there was a noticble clunk and everything just stopped...Any attempts
to start it after that the starter motor sounded as if it was engaging
but nothing happened.I went down and looked at it and thought maybe it
was the starter as you could here a loud click coming from it as if
the solenoid was working but had bad contacts..Took the starter off
and took it to the big auto electric place near where I work and they
tested it and said it was fine..Just to be on the safe side I
scrounged a second starter up and had that tested and they said that
too was fine..So back I go with 2 good starters but neither one would
start the car...Battery was fine...I put the engine in neutral and
found I could turn it with a socket and ratchet with no problem so the
engine isn`t froze up..When you try to start it you can see all the
accessories make a jump foward as if it`s trying to turn but the
engine just won`t turn over from the starter motor(s)...Assuming the
starter motors are good and the engine isn`t frozen up any ideas what
to look at to make it crank over or what could be keeping it from
doing so?..Thanks in advance for any ideas
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 sdlomi2
 2008-06-25 21:57:47
 Re: 1998 LaSabre won't start
"Sara Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:56632eb2-b1ba-4d3b-a186-f9cbbb59bb53@y38g2000hsy.googlegroups.com...
> Hello all..You guys usually have some good insight so here goes..My
> brother has a 1998 Buick LaSabre 3.8 V6 automatic.Last week he sais
> when he went to start it it started to crank like normal and then
> there was a noticble clunk and everything just stopped...Any attempts
> to start it after that the starter motor sounded as if it was engaging
> but nothing happened.I went down and looked at it and thought maybe it
> was the starter as you could here a loud click coming from it as if
> the solenoid was working but had bad contacts..Took the starter off
> and took it to the big auto electric place near where I work and they
> tested it and said it was fine..Just to be on the safe side I
> scrounged a second starter up and had that tested and they said that
> too was fine..So back I go with 2 good starters but neither one would
> start the car...Battery was fine...I put the engine in neutral and
> found I could turn it with a socket and ratchet with no problem so the
> engine isn`t froze up..When you try to start it you can see all the
> accessories make a jump foward as if it`s trying to turn but the
> engine just won`t turn over from the starter motor(s)...Assuming the
> starter motors are good and the engine isn`t frozen up any ideas what
> to look at to make it crank over or what could be keeping it from
> doing so?..Thanks in advance for any ideas

So many possible causes, but I'd start by (easiest and quickest first)
checking for coolant in crankcase; if it has coolant mixed in oil, then
there's a leak, either from head/gasket or manifold/leak. Then check the
voltage available at the starter, and compare to voltage at the starter
while attempting to start it. If voltage drop is too great, you have a bad
battery or bad connection, pos or ground. Check battery with a load-tester.
If good, start tracing wires from starter back to battery to find weak
connection. If voltage drop is not too great, try removing spark plugs and
then see if turning engine with starter forces coolant out. If so, same
problem as water/coolant in crankcase. Next check would be to bypass the
ignition switch and try starting to determine if ign. sw. is bad. (A couple
of tests you may wish to change their order if a 'later' one looks easier.)
HTH, s
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Mike
 2008-06-25 21:24:32
 Re: 1998 LaSabre won't start
"Sara Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:56632eb2-b1ba-4d3b-a186-f9cbbb59bb53@y38g2000hsy.googlegroups.com...
> Hello all..You guys usually have some good insight so here goes..My
> brother has a 1998 Buick LaSabre 3.8 V6 automatic.Last week he sais
> when he went to start it it started to crank like normal and then
> there was a noticble clunk and everything just stopped...Any attempts
> to start it after that the starter motor sounded as if it was engaging
> but nothing happened.I went down and looked at it and thought maybe it
> was the starter as you could here a loud click coming from it as if
> the solenoid was working but had bad contacts..Took the starter off
> and took it to the big auto electric place near where I work and they
> tested it and said it was fine..Just to be on the safe side I
> scrounged a second starter up and had that tested and they said that
> too was fine..So back I go with 2 good starters but neither one would
> start the car...Battery was fine...I put the engine in neutral and
> found I could turn it with a socket and ratchet with no problem so the
> engine isn`t froze up..When you try to start it you can see all the
> accessories make a jump foward as if it`s trying to turn but the
> engine just won`t turn over from the starter motor(s)...Assuming the
> starter motors are good and the engine isn`t frozen up any ideas what
> to look at to make it crank over or what could be keeping it from
> doing so?..Thanks in advance for any ideas


A bad battery, dirty battery posts/cables, bad battery cables(high
resistance), bad ground connection from battery to frame and/or engine block.
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Steve B.
 2008-06-25 22:56:23
 Re: 1998 LaSabre won't start
On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:33:23 -0700 (PDT), Sara Brown
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Hello all..You guys usually have some good insight so here goes..My
>brother has a 1998 Buick LaSabre 3.8 V6 automatic.Last week he sais
>when he went to start it it started to crank like normal and then
>there was a noticble clunk and everything just stopped...Any attempts
>to start it after that the starter motor sounded as if it was engaging
>but nothing happened.I went down and looked at it and thought maybe it
>was the starter as you could here a loud click coming from it as if
>the solenoid was working but had bad contacts..Took the starter off
>and took it to the big auto electric place near where I work and they
>tested it and said it was fine..Just to be on the safe side I
>scrounged a second starter up and had that tested and they said that
>too was fine..So back I go with 2 good starters but neither one would
>start the car...Battery was fine...I put the engine in neutral and
>found I could turn it with a socket and ratchet with no problem so the
>engine isn`t froze up..When you try to start it you can see all the
>accessories make a jump foward as if it`s trying to turn but the
>engine just won`t turn over from the starter motor(s)...Assuming the
>starter motors are good and the engine isn`t frozen up any ideas what
>to look at to make it crank over or what could be keeping it from
>doing so?..Thanks in advance for any ideas

When you turned the engine with a socket did you turn it the same
direction as the starter would turn it? These engines have a nasty
habit of warping and leaking water. You could have a cylinder that is
hydrolocked. Try pulling the plugs and see if it will crank.

Steve B.
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Steve B.
 2008-06-26 07:44:00
 Re: 1998 LaSabre won't start
On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:56:23 -0400, Steve B. <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:33:23 -0700 (PDT), Sara Brown
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Hello all..You guys usually have some good insight so here goes..My
>>brother has a 1998 Buick LaSabre 3.8 V6 automatic.Last week he sais
>>when he went to start it it started to crank like normal and then
>>there was a noticble clunk and everything just stopped...Any attempts
>>to start it after that the starter motor sounded as if it was engaging
>>but nothing happened.I went down and looked at it and thought maybe it
>>was the starter as you could here a loud click coming from it as if
>>the solenoid was working but had bad contacts..Took the starter off
>>and took it to the big auto electric place near where I work and they
>>tested it and said it was fine..Just to be on the safe side I
>>scrounged a second starter up and had that tested and they said that
>>too was fine..So back I go with 2 good starters but neither one would
>>start the car...Battery was fine...I put the engine in neutral and
>>found I could turn it with a socket and ratchet with no problem so the
>>engine isn`t froze up..When you try to start it you can see all the
>>accessories make a jump foward as if it`s trying to turn but the
>>engine just won`t turn over from the starter motor(s)...Assuming the
>>starter motors are good and the engine isn`t frozen up any ideas what
>>to look at to make it crank over or what could be keeping it from
>>doing so?..Thanks in advance for any ideas
>
>When you turned the engine with a socket did you turn it the same
>direction as the starter would turn it? These engines have a nasty
>habit of warping and leaking water. You could have a cylinder that is
>hydrolocked. Try pulling the plugs and see if it will crank.
>
> Steve B.
I meant to say that the intake manifolds have a nasty habit of warping
and leaking water.

Steve
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 HLS
 2008-06-26 07:27:36
 Re: 1998 LaSabre won't start
"Steve B." <[email protected]> wrote in message > I meant to say that the intake
manifolds have a nasty habit of warping
> and leaking water.
>
> Steve

Correct...That engine is the one that has the problem with the decomposing
plastic
fuel injection manifold. When they fail, they can do so suddenly and
without warning.

It could be other things as well, but this possibility should not be
overlooked.
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Sara Brown
 2008-06-26 16:21:50
 Re: 1998 LaSabre won't start
A quick follow up..I tried starting it again on the way home by
putting a nice fresh battery in it and noticed that the positive
terminal on the battery was getting hot after a number of unsuccessful
starts...Thanks for all the advice so far!
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Mike
 2008-06-27 13:40:54
 Re: 1998 LaSabre won't start
"Sara Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:d95bbdef-d7e7-47a0-aa3a-d4ae09152a64@c58g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>A quick follow up..I tried starting it again on the way home by
> putting a nice fresh battery in it and noticed that the positive
> terminal on the battery was getting hot after a number of unsuccessful
> starts...Thanks for all the advice so far!


Have the starter checked, sounds like it's drawing too much current.
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 HLS
 2008-06-28 17:24:51
 Re: 1998 LaSabre won't start
"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:zC99k.27007$b_3.8685@fe127.usenetserver.com...
>
> "Sara Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:d95bbdef-d7e7-47a0-aa3a-d4ae09152a64@c58g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>>A quick follow up..I tried starting it again on the way home by
>> putting a nice fresh battery in it and noticed that the positive
>> terminal on the battery was getting hot after a number of unsuccessful
>> starts...Thanks for all the advice so far!
>
>
> Have the starter checked, sounds like it's drawing too much current.


Oh Horseradish.

Sara is posting across groups and the story is somewhat different every
time.

Go to a mechanic and get this POS fixed, if you can.

Sara is just farting around, and we are getting part of the story.
Enough is enough
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Sara Brown
 2008-07-16 19:18:56
 Re: 1998 LaSabre won't start
On Jun 28, 6:24 pm, "HLS" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Oh Horseradish.
> Sara is posting across groups and the story is somewhat different every time.
> Go to a mechanic and get this POS fixed, if you can.
> Sara is just farting around, and we are getting part of the story.
> Enough is enough

What is you problem?...I was posting on various groups as obviously
there are a variety of groups which this topic is relevant and thus I
could increase my chances of input...With multiple answers one can see
if there is a common thread or pattern and thus choose the more likely
things to look at...If the "story is somewhat different every time" is
it because I would try different things to check/test/fix and would
report back the next day or the same day with the new info/results in
hopes the changing info might help narrow down possible causes...If
you have nothing positive to contribute then butt out..."Take the car
to a mechanic" is the advice of someone who has no clue what the
problem may be or how to fix it...Thanks to all the nice helpful
people who replied :-)