Thread: 98 oldsmobile doesnt start!

so my dad tells me my mom's L36 oldsmobile intrigue doesnt start. so i went out and looked around. when i turn the key to run nothing happens. o clicks or anything. i plugged the LS1M and scanned the ignition voltage and it was registering 11.6 which is ok. my dad told me the battery was new and he tried to troubleshoot it himself by unplugging both neg and pos and reconnect them to ensure it was making contact. my only though to check or diagnose are starter wires being loose or the ignition control module is fried. any thoughts on what it may be? TIA

its in park. i tried using my 300amp jumpstart but that didnt do anything

So nothing happens at run or start? Does the fuel pump prime?

If when you go from run to start to start the car, and nothing happens at all, I would suspect either a loose connection at the battery, bad or incorrectly set safety switch, or loose connection at the starter, in that order...

If the terminals at the battery are tight and making good contact (try wiggeling them when someone has the key turned to start), then try to start the car is neutral. I was having trouble awhile back with my shifter cable, and when I could get the car into park, I couldn't start it. and I had most trouble when it was cold out. The neutral safety switch was getting messed up. So try starting it at different spots throughout the shifter movement.

i'll try those ideas out. yea yesterday was freaking cold when it happened and its cold nonetheless to work on it now >.<

I was having the same problem with my car not starting. I would turn the key and all i would get was a relay clicking in the passenger dash. It turned out to be a bad ignition switch.

lights are on in the car. the battery's new. i was thinking it would be the ignition switch, but when i would turn the key to run i believe i would hear no click(s) whatsoever.

well i tried what derek suggested since it was somewhat cooler and not colder or snowing. i first tried to start the car still in the park position and no go. then i shifted the lever to nuetral and it started right up. i let it idle for a bit then turned the car off in the park position. i waited maybe 2 seconds then tried to start it again and it did w/o issues. does this sound like a bad shifter cable? anyway for me to find it and hopefully repair this? TIA for everyone's suggestions! im still not out of the woods yet.

Id suggest sending trannyman a PM, because he will most likely have the cause and solution for your problem.

Originally Posted by fst

well i tried what derek suggested since it was somewhat cooler and not colder or snowing. i first tried to start the car still in the park position and no go. then i shifted the lever to nuetral and it started right up. i let it idle for a bit then turned the car off in the park position. i waited maybe 2 seconds then tried to start it again and it did w/o issues. does this sound like a bad shifter cable? anyway for me to find it and hopefully repair this? TIA for everyone's suggestions! im still not out of the woods yet.

My shifter cable, when it went bad, was a bear to shift. I would have to pull as hard as I could to shift the car from park. It was just really stiff. So I was slipping the cable somewhere. If the car shifts easily, I wouldn't think its a bad cable.

Rather I would think its a bad, or mis-adjusted Neutral Safety Switch. If it were me, and the car starts in park now, I would drive it. But show your mom how to put it into neutral and get the car started. If it continues to do this, then try replacing the switch. If it doesn't do it again, or very little...let it go.

yea the shifter felt fine. prolly leaning towards the neutral safety switch. where's that located? got a schematic?

The neutral safety switch attaches to the top of the transmission. Follow the shifter cable to the trans, and where it attaches, that box looking thing is the neutral safety switch. Looks like
that in your mom's intrigue. It might be bad.

Or, I was thinking, the shifter cable could just need to be adjusted. I don't really have a good way to tell you to adjust it because I don't know what it is like. But I know on my GP, the shifter cable is in 2 sections. You can take it apart in the middle. I can't find a picture of the shifter (detent) cable for an Intrigue, so I don't know if it is the same or not. But on my GP, there is a clip holding the two together. I would just make sure the shifter is in park. Remove the clip that holds the two together. Reach my hand down, and make sure the transmission is in park. And then reinstall the clip without moving either cable. Again, not sure if this is the proper way to do it. But can't hurt to play around with it and see if it helps.

Again, I would drive it for a couple days and see if it acts up again. If so, then start looking.

Originally Posted by Toasty

are you talking about the two halves of the cable that join near the intake? yer not supposed to separate those and re-connect-- at least service manual says so. if the shifter cable is not in the right spot, i'd suspect that the car wouldnt start in neutral either, but maybe R and D instead. (offset by one spot)-- if the shifter cable is not adjusted properly, it will affect all gear positions...

it's likely the switch.

Yeah, you have a point about it being off a position. But...If the shifter cable isn't adjusted properly to the switch, then the transmission might still go into park, but the shifter would appear to be in reverse. So, put the shifter so it appears to be in drive, and the transmission would auctually be in neutral. And the car would start. Or, other way around. With the shifter appearing to be in park, the transmission is still in reverse. Put the shifter to reverse, and the transmission would be in neutral and the car will start.

Also, as far as the cables coming apart. I didn't read the service manual because I don't have one. But I took mine apart, replaced half of it, adjusted it like I said above, and it works fine. Maybe your aren't supposed to...but I did and it still works.