Pontiac Repair: 93 Pontiac Bonneville Starting Problems, pontiac bonneville, conway ar

Question
This is my daughter's car which we bought last year. It ran perfectly until 2 months ago. She is away at college and getting very frustrated over this recurring problem. It's also a pain for her Dad & I when she calls to whine about it! The problem began when she went to start the car one morning after it had sat for about 5 days. The car wouldn't start - no straining, clicking, nothing. I found a mechanic in the online Yellow Pages and she called AAA. The tow guy got it started and I had her drive it to the shop. They checked it out by looking under the hood for 1 minute and said it was fine. The next day it wouldn't start; she had it towed back to the shop and they decided the battery was bad & replaced it. A week or so later it happens again. AAA comes out and jump-starts it. Back to the shop where they kept is a few days to check it out. They said it wasn't the alternator, generator, battery or starter. They finally told her it might be a part that might have had a soft drink spilled on it? They said it might be some $200 part and would try to get a used one. She doensn't remember what this part was, of course. She took the car and it ran a few days. It wouldn't start again so she had AAA tow it to Firestone (there are no Pontiac dealers in Conway, AR). They checked the system and said it was the battery, and told her to go back to the shop that replaced it (nothing about some mystery part). She went back to the shop and they said the battery is OK, it's the $200 part that's not working. Here's what we can't understand - the car starts sometimes, but not all the time. Once it's running, it stays running. Our daughter will be home for Thanksgiving so we can take it to our regular mechanic, but we would really like to know what the problem might be.  Any ideas?

Answer
Hi, I thank it will go back to the alernator,or a loose conection between the alernator and starter. there could be a shot in the system that is draning the battery. The alterantor should be putting out 13 to 14 volts when the engine is runing. if the alernator is not doing this it is not charging.