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1997 Oldsmobile 88 LSS won t start

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retcol
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 109 Barron,wi
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2008-06-07          154375

My mother has a 1997 Olds that will not start all the time. Tonight it failed for me. When I turned the ignition on all the dash light were on but it failed to even turn over. I could hear a click each time below the glove box area when it failed to start. Any ideas as to what could be causing the problem?

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1997 Oldsmobile 88 LSS won t start

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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2008-06-07          154377

Dead battery? I'm pretty sure the car's engine management computer won't operate below a certain voltage - 9 volts I think. Is the car in a position to try to start it with jumper cables?

//greg// ....

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1997 Oldsmobile 88 LSS won t start

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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2008-06-08          154404

Greg I'm pretty sure it's ten volts, at least the ones I've seen. And it sounds to me like the battery is toast,butit could be the starter too. But it could be a hundred different things. ....

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1997 Oldsmobile 88 LSS won t start

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candoarms
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 1932 North Dakota
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2008-06-08          154407

Retcol,

Maybe you could help explain something for me.

Are you saying that the car will start just fine one time, and then the starter won't turn over the next?

If this is the case, we can rule out most electrical problems. However, the starter could have a bad spot on the armature. If you're unlucky enough to have the starter stop turning on the bad spot on the armature, the starter won't spin on the next attempt to start it.

This is easy to check for.

Joel ....

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1997 Oldsmobile 88 LSS won t start

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retcol
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 109 Barron,wi
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2008-06-09          154410

The car will start sometimes but not the next. However, my mother will wait a little bit and then it will start. My mother had a small accident about three months ago. The damage was only in the front bumper area. The local GM dealer thought the problem could have something to do with that but I don't agree. ....

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1997 Oldsmobile 88 LSS won t start

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2008-06-09          154426

Before jumping to any conclusions, the first thing I would do is remove the battery terminals and clean them and reinstall. Second, if the battery is the type that water can be added, I would do that and then put a slow charge on it if any cells were low on fluid. If that doesn't solve the problem, after it has been charged, I would take it to an auto parts store and have them check the battery. They will do it for free. They can tell you if you have a dead cell. Like was said, you may have low voltage resulting from a partially dead battery. ....

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