97 cutlass electrical - slow start, power locks act wierd, possessed?

[cutlass1991]

Alright, car is a 97 cutlass supreme with 3100. Here are the symptoms:

 

1. Cranks very slow for about 1 second, like when you have a dying battery, then it fires right up. It's been starting like this for about 1 month.

 

2. When the ignition is turned off and the doors unlock automatically while the headlights are on, the power locks just buzzz instead of unlocking. As soon as I shut the headlights off, the doors unlock. If the headlights weren't on to begin with when the ignition is turned off, the doors unlock without a problem.

 

 

The battery terminals are clean and the alternator is about 3 months old. I haven't checked the terminals at the starter for corrosion yet because it's really cold out and I'm lazy. Has anyone else had this problem?(with the car, not with being lazy )

[Crimson Fury Z]

i think you'll be dead for christmas. thats odd though. my car used to have an alarm, and when you started it up, the doors would lock, turn off, unlock. i removed the alarm after the fire of '04, and whenever i turn the car on or off, the locks will make a sound.

[1990lumina]

check the connection on the aux. terminal on the strut tower (if that car has one??) make sure it's tight...a loose ones casuses all types of wierd problems

[z34duck]

any loose or dirty connection can cause this problem . I had kinda the same type of problem with my 93

z34 . i took the neg. battery cable off where it bolts on to the tranny cleaned it tightend it up and no more problem.

[DiscoStudd]

Most important question: How old is the battery? It sounds like a classic case of a battery that's past its prime. If it's relatively new, then I'd check for any circuits that could be causing a drain (hook up an ammeter in series with the positive battery cable & post and pull your fuses 1 by 1 until you remove the fuse that causes the amp draw to drop...)

[sclary18]

well, obviously, the batter is having problems pushing out enough power to unlock the doors when your headlights are draining a shitload of power out of it.. just turn your headlights off before you turn the car off.. wont have a problem then right? also.. your battery is gettin weak, just get a new one, check if yours is under warranty though!

[PCGUY112887]

Next time you park the car, turn off the lights, hold on the brake then shut the car off, see if the locks buzz.

 

This will make the battery be under load with your tail lights. If it does the same thing, then you can be sure you need a new battery. Go get a free battery load test done at Autozone or something, or hook one of those portable car jumpers up to your car and see if it still does it while the jumper is attached and on.