Sure it could. It could be any number of other things also. Someone needs to do so electrical testing to isolate where it's losing power in the circuit.

problem is that it happens maybe once a week or sometimes once a month and usually at grocery parking or driveway. Is there a way to do that testing when the car performs normally? By thew way mechanic already changed the starter, but that did not help.

Unfortunately, there is not unless you can find a way to trigger the failure by manipulating wire positioning.

No, you can't. Nothing is wired that simply any more. Your car has an immobilizer that will prevent it from starting when bypassed. It just has to be tested during the failure.

Just a maybe spencer: Can you see a connection with corrosion? As HT said, if it works fine in front of about any tech it's tough and guessing without replacing everything possible - stinks.

Car wants proper amp and volt delivery. When nothing things throughout vehicle may/can reset and old fart get home fix you could just tug on a battery cable for one more start that might work,

T

Amsoil was one of the first synthetic oils ever offered and it has survived all these years although it has a lot of high tech competition these days. The reason you see the logo up there is because the site owner was a distributor, although I don't know if he still is.

Seeing the logo just made me think of it and how everyone seems to talk about it on other online forums. Seems like most treat it like some kind of 100 year old bottle of wine (yuck) and didn't know if it lived up to all of the hype. I'm using it in my rear diffs in both the Envoy and Sierra. Since you said it was one of the first synthetic oils that explains why it's talked about so much and is still used.

The first time I used synthetic engine oil was maybe 8 years ago or so. I think at the time I used Penzoil in a 98 Blazer. I still changed the oil at 3000 miles and noticed it still looked somewhat new. It still had some of that golden color to it. Regular oil would've been black after 3000 miles. After seeing that I was hooked and have used it ever since in all of my vehicles. I figured if the oil was still clean after 3000 miles then the engine probably was too. Too bad I've never owned a brand new vehicle so I could use it from day one.

One other question HT. There's an Envoy forum I've visited a few times. There are a bunch who swear by using seafoam in the engine. Some of said that their vehicle ends up running better and getting better mpg's. They say it smokes like crazy, which is supposedly the carbon burning off and is suppose to clean up the engine. I've never had the balls to attempt it cause I'm afraid it may screw something up. What are your thoughts on that stuff? I trust the advice given here so don't do anything without asking first. It just seems like it would be a good way to really mess an engine up.

If we head south for vacation again I'll be sure to swing by and buy you a beer (or two, or three, or twelve). Nick's sol on that one. My wife likes the beaches in the sunshine state, not cheese in the cheese head state. As long as I can fish I don't care what direction we go.

Thanks for all of your honest, solid, and straight forward advice. It's always appreciated.

Seafoam is a very popular gum cutter. I believe it was introduced first in marine applications and has a lot of uses there. Gummed up throttle bodies, IACs and injectors are an ongoing problem with today's cars so cleaning them will always be helpful but obviously it won't help if it isn't dirty in the first place. I don't really see a benefit of putting it in the the engine oil though.

Amsoil is/was primary site sponsor and TMK was the first synthetic oil product. Also TMK synthetic oils/greases are still some concoction made from fossil oil products.

Any of this boils down to opinions. Most magic stuff isn't so magic. Some things do help for specific purposes. I alone will just say synthetic oils do hold their stated ratings longer but not an excuse to not go by the book for regular maintenance intervals. Customers choose, I don't,

T

Yeah, even using synthetic I still change every 3000k. If I didn't I'd probably be saving what, $60-$80 a year? For around $6 a month I'll go ahead and continue changing it every 3000K. Who knows, it may save me an expensive repair one day down the road.

I went back and read that forum on the seafoam in the engine. I guess they don't only put it in the engine but also any vacuum line that feeds all cylinders. They recommend using the one that feeds the brake booster. Supposedly it's suppose to clean the piston tops and the valves. There are a handful of steps that they list to follow. You're suppose to let it drip in slowly. I guess the engine starts to stumble on each little drip so you're suppose to keep the engine around 2000 rpm's. Once you pour half the bottle you shut it down for 30 minutes. You then go for a 5-10 mile drive. That's when it smokes like crazy.

It would just make me nervous pouring anything into the engine that will make it stumble.

I think the only way Seafoam actually does some good is when it is slowly misted into the throttle body using a pressurized can with a mist nozzle like BG products. That way it cleans the IAC and throttle plates which would give you the most benefit. Feeding it through a vacuum line bypasses all the important areas.