Toronado.org

I bought my 1979 oldsmobile tornado a few weeks ago with the intent of restoring it to its past glory and for having a dependable 2 and from work car. It has 97k original miles on it and pretty much everything was still original when i bought it. So far all ive had to do is basic things on it(oil change , spark plugs/wires, etc.) , and the body is almost in perfect shape except for the rear bumper is missing that trim piece.

Most of the time it drives beautifully. But it has had a couple times where i park it , and i go in to work and come out and it wont start or even turn over. The most recent time i went to the store and came out 5min later and it wouldnt even turn over (was running beautifully before ) i have lights and radio when this happens , and if i wait and try again later it works and runs great .

Do you hear anything or just silence? I had one that wouldn't start until I jiggled the shift handle--once I figured it out I considered it an "anti-theft" device.

intitislly there was a sound coming from under the steering wheel that sounded like crickets then silence then i waited and it started right back up.. i didnt jiggle anything

Is the battery new or old? Check the connections for corrosion and make sure the starter wires are clean and secure. Start there to rule out that.

already started there...

Might be the ignition switch--haven't had that problem with a Toronado but I did with a Mercury. See if it will start consistently when you isolate it from the circuit.

It might be the module under the distributor cap! GMs are notorious for running fine then all of a sudden when warm they drop dead and wont start (NO SPARK). If you let it cool down 5-10+ minutes they often restart and run perfectly (till the next time). when you encounter this problem next time, pull one of the spark plug wires and have someone crank the engine while you check for spark. Be sure to use Insolated gloves when hold the spark plug wire and ONLY use one hand as its high voltage. You do NOT want this voltage to travel THROUGH your body thus why I said use ONE hand to hold the wire! Keep the other away from ground!

beastgod wrote:it wouldnt even turn over

pr129tbird wrote:It might be the module under the distributor cap! GMs are notorious for running fine then all of a sudden when warm they drop dead and wont start (NO SPARK).

"Won't crank" is TOTALLY different from "Cranks but won't start".