pontiacfreak142 Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 2000 bonneville, 3.8 v6. had to do lower intake and valve cover gaskets on it yesterday. got it done, changed the oil, filled with coolant and ran it until it was up to temp and got all the air out. drove it around for a little bit last night, all was good. got up this morning and drove it about a mile up the road and back, and parked it for about a half hour. when i got back in, you could hear the starter click, but nothing, tried again, just clicked again. figuring maybe it was the security system acting funny (the light likes to come on from time to time), i pulled the key out and gave it a minute. fired right up. drove the car about 40 miles without a hitch, kept my eye on the temp gauge as well as had the torque app on my phone open and watched it on there, all was well. car sat for about 4 hours, went out and it fired right up. drove it about 30 miles this time, stopped for gas, then it went back to just clicking. again pulled the key for minute, fired right up. about half way home from here, i stopped to make a turn, and as i started to accelerate, i felt a slight hesitation, and let off for a sec, but all seemed ok, so i figured i get home and kept on going. pulled into the parking lot and wife thought she heard a weird noise, i shut the car off, and all you hear is what sound like something spinning like crazy, so i pop the hood, see smoke coming from the starter area and ran for a wrench to disconnect the battery. by time i made it back to the car it had stopped, but was still smoking from the starter and from the hole thats just to the right off the head in the block. now the car wont even attempt to start. any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky31186 Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 Sounds like the starter was going bad and finally stuck in the engaged position. Then finally died before you got back to the car. Check the starter relay to make sure its not melted and clicking when you turn the key. (or check for voltage at the starter) but I would just swap a stater in. I've done a ton of those lower intake gaskets. Maybe you somehow got coolant inside the starter solenoid and shorted it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patterson Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 My vote is starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifford Automotive Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 Its common for the 3.1 and 3.8s to needs starters because of the leaking intake gaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robochan Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 Natural Pontiac thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifford Automotive Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 Yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontiacfreak142 Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Lol, i figured maybe i fucked up a wire or something stupid, but realized later on, i dont think anything to do with the starter runs over the intakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifford Automotive Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Nope nothing at all. Its the anitfreeze that goes down and gets into the starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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