92 Buick dies

fixerupper · Feb 5, 2009

A bunch of you guys are are car experts and I need to tap your expertise.

My son's 94 Buick with 3800 engine dies going down the road. Usually he can get it re-started before the car loses more than 10 MPH but sometimes he has to let it cool five minutes before it re-starts. Sometimes it won't die again for the rest of the day and sometimes it'll die again in five minutes.

The car was doing this only sporatically when he bought it two years ago, and at the time he was blaming the add-on remote start the previous owner had put on. Remote start was removed but it still died. Then he replaced the crank sensor and fuel pump to no avail. Then a new mass air flow sensor went in but that didn't solve it. Throttle position sensor has not been touched.

At first the cruise control would quit working right before she died and would not work for awhile after the car was re-started. I don't know if it still does that or not.

He's still blaming the butcher job done to the wiring connected to the remote start. Is this a possibility? Thanks in advance. Jim

glennster · Feb 5, 2009

could be a wiring problem. before throwing any more parts at it, you got to find out what is happening. see if you can find a shop that can put a scanner on it and check the car while driving. a fuel pressure gauge would be a good idea too. that way, when the problem surfaces, it will get you in the ball park as to what is happening.

Mike M · Feb 5, 2009

The wiring being hacked up can cause problems from corrosion.

You may also just have a bad ignition module.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2009

I have a 94 pontiac with -3800, the bad throttle postion sensor caused cruise not to work, and set check engine light off.still running it as is for 2 yrs now. I used a code reader to determine it was throttle p sensor

Goose · Feb 5, 2009

I'd go with an ignition module.

My '92 Olds 88 would quit intermittently a couple of years ago. After sitting for a half hour, it would start right up and run normally. After it did it a half dozen times, it dawned on me it would do it when conditions were such that heat built up under the hood, like idling in line at a drive-up bank window. Never on the open road with plenty of air flow under the hood.

The next time it did it, I jumped out and held a handful of snow under the ignition module. It started right up without the wait. Replacing the ignition module cured it. Apparently when the module reached a certain temp it would act up, and after it cooled off it was OK.

fixerupper · Feb 5, 2009

So a bad throttle position sensor can cause the cruise to act up too! I'm going to give him a buzz and tell him that. I just talked to him on the phone to get the real low-down, and the ignition module is replaced. Someone put a hand held scanner on it a while back and it came up with a bad crank sensor so that's why that part was replaced.

Another person just told him to get the ECM loose and let it hang there, then tap on it. Sometimes if it's going bad, tapping on it will kill the engine.Jim

plow hand · Feb 5, 2009

My 97 Buick Lesabre would die when it would get hot. GM dealer put it on a scope and they said it was the catilatic converter...$750... it was collapsed never did fix it sold it to some guy I was up front about it..Some guys have did a home cut out job stick a long drill bit or bar in there hollow it out..dont remove the converter.You could get in trouble for removing it $$$$$

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2009

First, buy an H.E.I. spark plug which makes the secondary ignition jump about a 1/2 inch gap. They look like a spark plug with a clip on the side and cost about $12. Use this IMMEDIATELY after the car stalls and confirm spark. Next, buy a fuel pressure tester and see what kind of pressure you have when the car dies. It should be about 40#. They cost about $20. Before any of this go to Autozone and they will check computer codes free. If all this checks ok, take a plug out and check for moisture on it. The plastic intake manifolds are notorious for leaking.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2009

First, buy an H.E.I. spark plug which makes the secondary ignition jump about a 1/2 inch gap. They look like a spark plug with a clip on the side and cost about $12. Use this IMMEDIATELY after the car stalls and confirm spark. Next, buy a fuel pressure tester and see what kind of pressure you have when the car dies. It should be about 40#. They cost about $20. Before any of this go to Autozone and they will check computer codes free. If all this checks ok, take a plug out and check for moisture on it. The plastic intake manifolds are notorious for leaking.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2009

First, buy an H.E.I. spark plug which makes the secondary ignition jump about a 1/2 inch gap. They look like a spark plug with a clip on the side and cost about $12. Use this IMMEDIATELY after the car stalls and confirm spark. Next, buy a fuel pressure tester and see what kind of pressure you have when the car dies. It should be about 40#. They cost about $20. Before any of this go to Autozone and they will check computer codes free. If all this checks ok, take a plug out and check for moisture on it. The plastic intake manifolds are notorious for leaking.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2009

Sorry for the triple post.

Howard H. · Feb 5, 2009

Around here, Autozone quit offering free computer diagnosis on anything older than a '97.

I've been to three of them and they all said the same thing...

I know they used to, because they had checked my old '94 pickup before...

Howard

bradk · Feb 5, 2009

What year is it.Your heading says 92 and your message says 94. Big electrical differences between the two years.

lucas boy · Feb 5, 2009

check ohms on each injectors, should be about 9-12 ohms. lucas

fixerupper · Feb 5, 2009

It's a 94. Sorry about that. He was told the ECM for that year is the same from 92-96. Jim

davpal · Feb 5, 2009

Does this car have the computer chip in the key? My friend has a grand prix that gives him grief all the time. I think it has to do with the security system not reading his computer chip in his key.

Brian Jasper co. Ia · Feb 5, 2009

I have seen problems with the wiring between the crank sensor and ignition module. They can be recreated with new terminals for the connectors available from your local GM dealer. Also, the pellet in the key, if I remember correctly, is a resistor and if it is worn and the lock cylinder is worn, they loose contact. I have heard of some guys adding a resistor to the circuit and bypassing the lock cylinder circuit completely to fool the theft deterrent system.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2009

I had a Olds that I sold this summer had a similar problem. Once it was going down the road warmed up...poof engine quit, start again and run rough and eventually shut down again. Let it cool, start up and run like a champ.

Bad coolant sensor and relays.

I would take it to autozone like someone posted.

bradk · Feb 5, 2009

OK,I've installed plenty of throttle pos sensors on these for stall conditions.Yes,the cruise gets info from the tps.Sounds like the culprit.

The screws are tough to get out w/out removing the throttle body first.Make sure to get a new throttle body seal to go with it.Also recommend a GM sensor.

jack harmon · Feb 5, 2009

I may be overlooking it here but do you get a fault code when it dies?looks to me like he's already spent enough money on it to replace the whole car.save your money,go to autozone get them to check it.if their reader wont tell you, most dealers around our part of the country will hook it up and tell you for 50 bucks or so.if your not getting any fault codes I'd suspect,cam or crank sensors.also check for vacuum leaks that can really mess with some of them,but I wouldn't think it would cause it to die only run bad.

El Toro · Feb 5, 2009

Could be ignition module. Hal

El Toro · Feb 5, 2009

Could be ignition module. Hal

glennster · Feb 5, 2009

is this a lesabre with the battery under the back seat by chance??? we had one a while back come in the shop with crazy problems. cruise quit, power windows quit. then the heater quit. check engine lite, ect. turns out the ground cables from the battery going to the body up by the package shelf were corroded, causing ground problems. this affected the body control module, causing all kinds of problems. cleaned up the grounds, disconnected the battery for an hour to reset the bcm and hooked er all back up. worked good. when i tried to hook the scanner up to communicate with the vehicle originally, the ecm would not respond to the scanner.

Rob Hartman · Feb 5, 2009

My dad has a 92 Lesabre that was doing the same thing, ended up being the ECM (computer). It now runs 100 times better and gets alot better gas milage.

92 Buick dies

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