I've got a recurring problem with my 91 DeVille (76k miles) that's getting worse. On occasion, the engine cranks but will not start. A few minutes to several hours later it fires right up and runs fine. Lately it's happening more frequently. I've never noticed any problems driving...no misses, hesitation or stalling. I bungled my way thru the OBD procedure and came up with a error code E.9.5. What does this mean? I should add that the distributer was replaced a couple of years ago but it was only a couple of thousand miles ago - I just purchased the car from an elderly couple who didn't drive it much. Could this be an old code that wasn't cleared?

 

Hi norton;
First let me tell you that I am not a expert in any way on cars, however I have had a simular problem with mine and after a long long time of assessing what the problem was it turned out to be dirty battery conections. I couldn't believe it but it worked. Hope it works for you too. Phil

 

Hey Phil

I read your post and my heart sank. I've become fed up with the lack of reliability andhave an appointment at the dealer tomorrow. What's worse,while cleaning fuse, relay and connectorcontacts with no apparent results I've had this battery connection thing nagging in the back of my mind but never quite got around to it. I'll mention it to the dealer and regardless, I'll post my results for whomever may be interested. Thank you

 

We are all interested in the results. Cleaning and checking battery connections and starter conections should be done before going to the dealer.

 

So Ok, after 2 days at the dealer I'm out $103 and no closer to solving the problem. The folks at the dealer tell me there were no codes, everything they checked seemed fine and it started up everytime they tried. They checked grounds, starter connections and all the usual suspects. They tell me that until it doesn't start when they have it they have no clue were to begin. Highly trained technicians huh? Saturday I cleaned the battery terminals and connections, found a little corrosion on the positive side. A freind of mine, a electronic controls designer,thought just disconnecting the battery for a awhile may clear the computer and perhapshelp rid the software clitch if indeed that could ne the problem. So far no starting problems...here's hopeing.

 

Even highly trained techs can't find the elusive electric ghosts. Hope your problem was solved so easily just by disconnecting battery and rebooting. Thanks for the post and keep us advised. Best of luck with your ghost.

 

They're baaaack. 3-1/2 weeks with no problems then blam-o, cranked like a champ but wouldn't start yesterday morning. Back to the house, glance thru the paper, have a smoke, try againand she started right up. 6-7 starts since then with no problem. I really hate this crap.