Is there an additional ignition lockout?

[Juggernaught]

I just had something strange happen with my Bonneville this morning. I pulled into the parking garage at work and shut off the car. I opened the door and noticed that I wasn't pulled into the parking spot evenly. So, with the door ajar and my foot on the brake, I tried to start the car. The engine would crank and crank but not fire. I tried to start it 3 or 4 times and then stopped. I then closed the door, turned the key off, opened and closed the door again. This time with the door closed, I tried to start the car again, and it fired right up! I was afraid that I might have flooded the engine during the no-start situation, but the engine ran just fine.

Is there some sort of ignition interlock that prevents the car from starting with the driver's door open? If so, I'll make sure I don't repeat this mistake. If not, what might have caused the issue? I hope it will start when it's time to leave this evening!

[ddalder]

Nope. That seems like a really odd coincidence. I've started my car endless times with the driver's door open, especially in the summer to initially let some of the accumulated heat out. I'm not sure exactly what would have caused that. If it was some sort of safety interlock I would expect that the starter would not engage. Even if you try turning the key to start while it's already running, the gauges will sweep and some of the other components will reset but it will keep running but the starter will not engage.

[Juggernaught]

Thanks for your response ddalder. My car has only 41K miles but still has the original plugs. Not sure if replacing them would help this situation if it was some sort of warm start/flood situation. I did floor the accelerator on the last no-start crank to see if that would clear possible flooding. Are Northstars susceptible to warm start flooding?

[ddalder]

Under normal circumstances the plugs shouldn't be a problem at that mileage. The replacement interval is 100,000 miles (160,000 km). As for warm start flooding, I don't think that's a big issue either. My car has never missed a beat. Starts up right away cold, warm, hot or anything in between. This may just be a one-off. Hopefully it won't occur again.

[CMNTMXR57]

My guess. It was simply a classII communications issue between something on the network.

Plugs, tune, etc, shouldn't be an issue even IF they were worn. Either they work and it's smooth, or they don't and there is a misfire at idle.

[ddalder]

I wondered about that since it seemed to correct itself after he cycled the ignition.

[Juggernaught]

Thanks again for your replies. This evening when I left work, the car started fine and then restarted fine at the store. Hopefully it is a one-time hiccup as you've said. I do appreciate the input and experience that are on this forum!