# 1983 Buick Riviera shuts off on right turns **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** riviera, buick\ **Created:** [August 14, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1983-buick-riviera-shuts-off-on-right-turns/122939 "2018-08-14T13:37:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LarryDenton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@LarryDenton](https://community.cartalk.com/u/LarryDenton)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1983-buick-riviera-shuts-off-on-right-turns/122939/1 "2018-08-14T13:37:43Z")
My 1983 Buick riviera engine stops without turning off the ignition while it seems while making right turns, it starts immediately when I turn the ignition switch to start. Any ideas what causes this to happen? It’s not fun tying to steer and brake going around a corner ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1983-buick-riviera-shuts-off-on-right-turns/122939/2 "2018-08-14T14:02:34Z")
Likely this is an electrical problem that will take some serious investigation. On a car this old, wires become brittle and corroded. The act of turning the car right makes the engine (a big heavy lump) shift left and that may cause a wire on the left to touch ground or each other. Conversely, it may tug on wire to the right and disconnect the ignition. Start searching and good luck! ---
**Author:** ![NoelleBrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@NoelleBrown](https://community.cartalk.com/u/NoelleBrown)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1983-buick-riviera-shuts-off-on-right-turns/122939/3 "2018-08-14T16:59:04Z")
Used to have a 1973 Pontiac LeMans that did that if the car wasn’t warmed up. If the car had time to warm up after starting it then it wouldn’t do. It needed a carburetor overhaul which I think may have had something to do with it. I used to have to rev the car up for a few minutes or take it up over 100 mph out on no traffic rd roughly about two weeks to blow the carburetor out. ---
**Author:** ![NoelleBrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@NoelleBrown](https://community.cartalk.com/u/NoelleBrown)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1983-buick-riviera-shuts-off-on-right-turns/122939/4 "2018-08-14T17:00:29Z")
Try letting it warm up for a while before putting it into drive, more so on cold days in winter ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 1:24am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1983-buick-riviera-shuts-off-on-right-turns/122939/5 "2018-08-15T01:24:47Z")
Somewhere in here one of the folks had the same thing with a customer’s car and turned out to be a loose battery cable, but yeah someone will need to start taking a look. My Morris Minor used to honk the horn when I was making a right turn. A little black tape on the turn signal switch stopped it from grounding out. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 1:47am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1983-buick-riviera-shuts-off-on-right-turns/122939/6 "2018-08-15T01:47:04Z")
Remove the distributor cap and wiggle the rotor. If the rotor wiggles, replace the distributor. Tester ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1983-buick-riviera-shuts-off-on-right-turns/122939/7 "2018-08-15T02:06:43Z")
Try driving w/just the one key in the ignition. If it helps, replace the ignition switch. Sometimes a dangling key chain can put enough force on a worn ignition switch during turns that this symptom is the result.