1997 Cadillac Catera problem?

Question

Now i know most of you would automatically say get rid of this car. I know I know, but i can't i love it, so please help. I have this little problem where my car, after being driven about 15 minutes or more, won't start back up until after about an hour or two. Especially if being driven in hot weather. And i've also noticed that if i run the A.C. while driving, this makes it take even longer to start. My car doesn't really run hot, sometimes it runs a little hotter than normal when i turn the A.C on, but not all the time. What does this sound like to you? My mechaniv thinks it could be the starter that's getting hot and refusing to turn over the car until it cools down. But i can't go by could be's. I want to know for sure. My pockets are not that deep to just be fixing things that aren't broke. I heard it could be many things, such as solenoid switch, or crank shaft position sensor, and many other things. What does it sound like to you? Please help, i'm tired of being stuck in the sun for hours out of the day, especially when i have to stop for gas. Thanks for the input.

Answer 1

I wish you would have been a little more specific with the information you provided.  You could be having two different problems at the same time.  when you say the car won't start, I(we) need to know if the engine cranks over or not, and if it cranks over but won't start(just keeps cranking without starting).  If the starter engages and the engine turns over but does not start, the first thing that comes to my mind is the crank sensor.  It could also be the engine computer, depending on where it is located.  I've seen several technicians have a car that fails to start or generally acts up after it warms up.  First they cooled off the engine computer with ice packs.  After chilling it down,.the engine starts or starts and acts normally.  heat it up with a blow dryer and bam! it acts up again.  Computer replacement would be necessary if this is the case.  If the starter fails to engage in order to crank the engine over, most likely the cause would be a faulty solenoid, which generally results in replacing the entire starter.  If the this is the case, the engine not cranking, you should be able to check for voltage being applied to the starter solenoid wire at the solenoid.  that is, of course assuming you can gain access the the starter.  Besides telling you to get a new car, I would rather recommend you take it to a reputable auto repair technician for them to diagnose the situation.