hello i have a 98 buick lesabre that i think has a ignition problem. when i turn the key to start it, i get nothing and i have no power to my dash. i have power to my windows, radio, heater, etc but nothing for the dash and it wont turn over. when the problem first began, it seemed like if i turned the key on and off a couple times it would eventually get power and start but now i am getting nothing.

im leaning towards the ignition switch under the dash but i did spray lube into the key switch cause it was kind of sticking. would that have messed up the vats? if so, shouldnt the dash and guages still come on with the key on?

Check the fuses and wires, you may have a short somewhere

Remove inspect/Reinstall your both battery cables. Then attempt to restart it.

i checked the fuses, battery, connections, and starter and couldnt find anything wrong in the wiring

How old is the battery?

less than a year old

also, something strange. yesterday while i was checking wires and such, i put the key to on position incase i wiggled something that would make the dash lights come on, nothing i did made them come on but what is weird is i was just sitting there thinking and without doing anything the dash started working, so i tried starting it and it started right up but when i shut it off and tried to restart, i again had no dash lights or power to the starter

also, i left the key on for over a hour again and still nothing

my car is similar in that i have more than one wire on my ignition to power different things. when i wired in my remote start, it said wire it to the brown wire. i had 3. i picked one at random and when the remote start starts the car all i have working is the gauges windows and heater. no wipers, heads up display, automatic lights or radio.

my best guess would be a) bad connection at the ign cylinder or b) if you follow the loom of wires down your steering column you will see them come to a big block with a bolt in the middle. sometimes that bolt will come loose allowing one of the connectors that slide into it fall out causing this problem exactly.

best of luck!