[nicolecorinne79]

I have been having problems starting my car for the past 2 weeks, only in the past 2 days its gotten worse. Now Every time I start my car, I have to hold it for about 3-9 seconds before it "catches" and starts up. Once its running, it doesn't stall or anything, its just the getting it started that is the problem. I don't have any check engine lights on. Its not making any ticking noises when its cranking. A guy at my child's daycare who helped me out said that battery is fine, and he thought maybe I needed a tune up. I have had the car for a year and never had a tune-up. The guy who owned it before me had the car sitting for 2 years without driving it. So, I'm not sure what to think... Firestone wants to charge me $80 just to check it out, because he said it could be something less involved, like a fuel line cleaning (sorry I don't know the correct terminology!). Any ideas as to what this could be?

[TxGreaseMonkey]

It's likely something as simple as installing the same ACDelco spark plugs that originally came in the car. Only use ACDelco platinum plugs in your Buick. The rear plugs may never have been changed. I would also change the fuel filter.

[nicolecorinne79]

Thanks for the response! Any idea how much replacing the plugs and the fuel filter will run me? Also, and I don't know if this changes things, but every time I go to start my car, the time on the clock goes back to 1:00. I could set it to 4pm, for example, shut my car off, then start the car again, and the time has changed to 1:00. So, what could that mean? Does this sound like a starter problem at all?

[helpfixitplease]

If it's not catching, you mean cranking? If that's what you are saying it is not the spark plugs! With you saying that the clock resets, I would first clean my battery terminals, you should have 2 cables on the positive, there is a lead spacer between the 2 cables be sure to pull that out and clean everything, then put it all back together and try it and see if it catches like it should, if not I would have the battery tested, walmart and advanced test them for free so you aren't out anything to clean and test if the battery fails replace it, they can also at either place test your starter to see if it is high draw. I would not guess that it is a "s" terminal that is dirty only because your clock is reseting