A few quirks with '95 N/A

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wierdo124
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Year and Trim: 1995 Bonneville 3800 N/A

A few quirks with '95 N/A

Post by wierdo124 »

My sister has a 1995 Bonneville with a 3800SII N/A. Not sure what trim, but the thing is freaking loaded. She loves the car, but it's the quirkiest car i've ever seen.

First, whenever it wants, it won't start. When it's been sitting for a short period of time (half hour to 4 hours or so) sometimes it just won't go. Turn the key on, everything works, radio comes on, dash lights come on, everything works. Turn the key and it'll crank all day long. But here's the quirky part: once you crank it, if you wait 15 minutes, and try again, it'll start up just fine like nothing was ever wrong. I think i've got this pinpointed to the tranny range selector (scan tool reads the gears horribly wrong, and my sister said once it started up after she put it in neutral and rolled it out the driveway), but i haven't been able to get it to refuse to start so i could test this theory :angry7: :laughing3:

Second, the power door locks just quit working. Both sides and the remote, none of them do anything. But the trunk remote button works still. I figured fuse, so i took my test light and went over all of them and found nothing out of the ordinary :( the diagram on the fuse box door has disappeared though...could someone take a picture of theirs and post it so i can see what fuse is what?

Those are the biggest things right now - all the rest are insignificant quirks :p like i say, my sister loves her car. It's sooo comfortable, and it has balls. It just takes some getting used to, considering she stepped up from a 94 Tracer wagon 4cyl auto which ate head gaskets 3 times a year, and cracked three heads within two years. Also needed tuneups once a month or it would get 8mpg :eek: horrible car. And it only had 50k miles on it, maintained perfectly.

My other concern is longevity of parts. The car has 175k miles on it. We bought it from a dealer; an older couple had bought it new in 1995 and got rid of it to get something newer last year. Seems well maintained..no pops or rattles or squeals. When it isn't being its clever self, it starts up first try every time. Doesn't burn any noticeable oil, and has only needed the intake redone, and a valve cover gasket. How much life to these transmissions usually get? We own an 03 Grand Prix with the same motor with 150k on it, tranny is strong. How long do they typically last? And are they expensive/difficult to replace? Are there any other parts that you'd expect are on their way?

Thanks guys!
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Dutch
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Year and Trim: 1995 Bonneville SSEI 3800 Supercharged V6
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Re: A few quirks with '95 N/A

Post by Dutch »

It sounds like you might be going in the right direction with the shift position. Part of the starting circuit is that the shift selector must be in the Park or Neutral position. Might be why the scan tool is going nuts once its running.

As far as the door locks, I will try to put something up here with the fuse layout tomorrow once I get back to my shop and laptop.

My 95' has 195,000+ miles on it, and the tranny has not shown me any signs of letting me down...so that gives you about 20,000 miles of hope! ;)
Dutch
1995 Bonneville SSEI Supercharged V6 3800 (195,000 miles)
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willwren
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Re: A few quirks with '95 N/A

Post by willwren »

Your starting issue may simply be corroded battery cables, on the INSIDE of the insulation. It's a common problem with these cars, and your symptoms are classic. If the car starts normally in N, then fine, but if it does this in P and N, cut the insulation on the cables back a bit and see what you find.

Your door locks are not likely to be a fuse. You need to look into the ground busses under the front sill trim panels. This is another common problem spot if moisture gets to them. They can cause all sorts of goofy issues by increasing the resistance of your ground connections.

As far as longevity is concerned, you should be planning to replace the Upper manifold ASAP, and use aluminum framed LIM gaskets at the same time. Failure to do this in advance will cost you the motor (if it hasn't been done already). Techinfo has more information on most of these issues. Link at the top of the page.
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Dutch
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Re: A few quirks with '95 N/A

Post by Dutch »

Your right :bstooges: , checking the battery cables and ground connections should always be the first thing checked on these cars!
Dutch
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Jrs3800
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Re: A few quirks with '95 N/A

Post by Jrs3800 »

My 95 was a very early production( 94 ) 95 model.. I am on my 3rd motor... First motor was my fault, I drove it like I stole it the whole time, recently took that motor apart to find it was not a good build from the factory....... The replacement motor was a Low mileage GP motor that incidentally had a ruptured upper intake as some point due to the pitted bearings( found that out upon dissection after ir developed a rod knock after 1200 miles ).... 3rd motor is a Low mileage 96 Bonneville motor and after close to 30k is still going strong... Must have been an organ donor match, I guess the car rejected the GP motor...lol

I am on the original Trans at well over 185k tho... Still doing its job.... 3rd motor Original Trans...lol
Last edited by Jrs3800 on Wed Aug 25, 2010 7:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Dutch
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Re: A few quirks with '95 N/A

Post by Dutch »

Sorry I haven't gotten a schematic up here for your door locks...but I'm having trouble getting a picture put up here. I have to get some type of public thing like photobucket or something like that to hold the photos...then link to it. I'll try to get it done soon...

I actually hope you solved your problem already!
Dutch
1995 Bonneville SSEI Supercharged V6 3800 (195,000 miles)
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Dutch
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Re: A few quirks with '95 N/A

Post by Dutch »

Here's links to three electrical diagrams of your keyless entry system...

1 of 3... http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad15 ... s/1of3.gif

2 of 3... http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad15 ... s/2of3.gif

3 of 3... http://s931.photobucket.com/albums/ad15 ... s/3of3.gif

hope this helps.
Dutch
1995 Bonneville SSEI Supercharged V6 3800 (195,000 miles)
rr1105
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Re: A few quirks with '95 N/A

Post by rr1105 »

If you havent figured out the starting problem yet this might help: My parent's car had the exact same problem and it turned out to be a bad throttle position sensor. from what i found that is a fairly common problem with GM's 3800 series II engines. I hope that helps you
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