kurtflaitz Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 I just got a Seville STS with 160,000 miles on it (2 weeks ago) . The car runs great, but I am having problems getting it to start occasionally. I will try to start it 3 or 4 times and it wont click or anything everything works fine the radio, the heat, and everything work when I try to turn the key over. I know its not the battery or the starter or anything. From reading a post maybe I should check the battery cables for corrosion and clean them up . I ran the codes and I got 4 codes in the history. I am new to these cars so bare with me. I have always liked these cars and have wanted one for a long time. I came to this site two or three months before getting the car I have found alot of good information here and I really love the site. I am not mechanically inclined at all and like I said I do not have the owners or repair manual for this car. DDM U1301 HISTORY DDM U1225 HISTORY IPC U1301 HISTORY RIM 41255 HISTORY Change brake pad is coming up on the dash which I will change It said something about ID I ran those and these came up I am not sure what it means I do not have the manuals for the car. ABS 7208 AMP 838C DDM 0812 DIM 8270 IPC 8088 IPM 6719 IRC FB97 RFA 8070 RIM 8412 SDM 9810 VTD 8190 RSS 8061 The car runs great when its on. Before I start putting a bunch of money into it I want to fix this problem. I hope you guys can help me and I appreciate your time, help, and advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Welcome aboard. As you noted cleaning the battery connections would be the first thing to do. Focus on the positive cable, take the insulator off and clean the two cables and lug between them. Make sure the cables are tight when the bolt is tight and that the bolt is not bottoming out. These cars are very sensitive to battery, power and connection problems. Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 If the battery cable is the same as on my 1997, there are actually three cables running into the red plastic positive terminal for the battery. There are separate cables for the starter, for the alternator, and for the car's electric system. The three cables are sandwiched together inside the red plastic. Pry them all out and make sure that they are all clean and make good contact with each other. What BodybyFisher said about the battery cable bolt bottoming out is very important. When the cable gets old, corrosion will make the three terminals inside the red plastic over thinner. If the cable will turn easily on the bolt after you tighten it (torque is only 11 lb-ft, don't overtighten or you will strip the threads in the battery terminal, which is lead), add a copper washer. The best place for the washer is clear inside the red plastic cover; pry all the terminals out and put the washer in first. Using copper is important because anything else will corrode very quickly. You can make a copper washer by clipping off the end of an old battery cable terminal if necessary. After doing that, I would clear all the codes, check out and drive the car, and see which codes come back. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Jim, there are three cables but only two connectors plus a lug between them in there is that correct? I am more concerned with the conductors in the connection not necessarily with the number of wires. You don't have THREE CONDUCTORS in yours DO YOU? Some place I have a photo of this joint. Its TWO blade CONNECTORS with a LEAD LUG between them, that is what needs to be cleaned. The number of wires is insignificant. AM I CORRECT HERE JIM? Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtflaitz Posted December 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Jim, there are three cables but only two connectors plus a lug between them in there is that correct? I am more concerned with the conductors in the connection not necessarily with the number of wires. You don't have THREE CONDUCTORS in yours DO YOU? Some place I have a photo of this joint. Its TWO blade CONNECTORS with a LEAD LUG between them, that is what needs to be cleaned. The number of wires is insignificant. AM I CORRECT HERE JIM? What should I use to clean them? Probably a dumb question just thought I would ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Jim, there are three cables but only two connectors plus a lug between them in there is that correct? I am more concerned with the conductors in the connection not necessarily with the number of wires. You don't have THREE CONDUCTORS in yours DO YOU? Some place I have a photo of this joint. Its TWO blade CONNECTORS with a LEAD LUG between them, that is what needs to be cleaned. The number of wires is insignificant. AM I CORRECT HERE JIM? What should I use to clean them? Probably a dumb question just thought I would ask. The ONLY dumb question is the question you don't ask You can use a couple of methods 1) you can buy battery terminal cleaner spray from you local parts house 2) you can use baking soda and water and brush it on and pour water on it to flush it off Lightly use a wire brush Watch your eyes and hands, acid burns. Don't wear rings and ALWAYS take the NEGATIVE cable off FIRST and install the NEGATIVE cable LAST Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 I cleaned my battery cable several times but replaced it in 2002. I can't say for sure that it had three lugs. The new one seemed to have one lug, so they changed the part design for the 1997 and I'm not sure when they changed it for the factory installations. I did think that it had all three lugs in the red connector. I remember thinking at the time how dumb it was to have more than one because corrosion problems and bad connections are a predictable result. In my car's first year a tech pulled the terminal out of the battery with an air wrench, which drenched my cable in acid until starting problems emerged. The positive terminal was thoroughly saturated in acid and I knew then that I would eventually be replacing the cable. By 2002 I was looking for good mechanics outside the dealership and one that didn't make the cut replaced the battery but did NOT clean the cable, and was starting to try to talk me into replacing the starter. That's when I replaced the cable. I would clean the battery terminal with ordinary battery terminal cleaning kits from an auto parts store. BodybyFisher has the right idea; I've used baking soda, too, in the past. Be sure and rinse it off thoroughly when you're done because its end products of reaction between battery acid and baking soda are sodium sulfate, carbon dioxide, and water. I don't know what the sodium sulfate will do if it is left in there, which is reason enough for me to rinse thoroughly. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Typically here is what that joint looks like: Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lothos Posted December 11, 2008 Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 I used Quick Drying electrical contact cleaner to clean my cables. I also picked up a 9mm gun brush from walmart for like 2 bucks, it fits inside the connector nuts pretty well. WARNING: I'm a total car newbie, don't be surprised if I ask a stupid question! Just trying to learn. Cheers! 5% discount code at RockAuto.com - click here for your discount! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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