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1991 Buick Regal GS Problem - Please Help

Hi all,

Just purchased a beat up '91 Regal with the 3800 motor. Mechanically, the car is sound, just needs some new rubber and shocks.

The owner told me that it had an intermittent problem with starting, specifically that when the car is warm (assumed when it is warm from driving) that it won't start.

I have since found that the car has the following problems:

  1. When idling (found while checking A/C pressures) will die with no warning or expectation.

  1. If car is warm (whether from driving or just sitting in the August sun) it will more than likely not start.

  2. Once engine is warm to driving temperature, it will more than likely stall as in incident 1 above, even while accelerating. The motor just stops.

What to do? Could this simply be an instance of a bad coil pack? The motor has 161K on it. I just replaced air filter (was pretty dirty), pcv (was completely burnt), plugs and wires are obviously a recent addition.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your help!

BuddhaLite

Reply to
BigBob
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Reply to
Shep

@#@ The only sure way of finding an problem with newer cars is to scan engine ECM. then address issue of codes first before any other repair work. I know this is an pain but there's no other way.

Rey

Reply to
Reynaud

Bob, I had the same problem with an '88 Regal I once owned. I spent a lot of money trying to find the problem and the codes from the ECM were no help at all. I finally took it into a performance shop where they found the problem. Over the years, when testing the electrical system, various shops had used testers that punctured small holes in the wires of the electrical system and they hadn't sealed the wires with silicone afterwards. The end result was that moisture seeped into the wires and severely corroded them at numerous locations. When the problem was finally diagnosed, I couldn't believe the number of breaks in the wires that were removed. There was a buildup of that nasty greenish crud inside the wires at every spot that had a puncture hole from testing. Your symptoms are identical to the ones I experienced and it gets even worse as the corrosion worsens. I'd check all the wiring in your ignition system for signs of punctures and spots of green corrosion at those sites.

Reply to
StingRay

BigBob wrote in news:Xns96BF581B72105abcbuddha123@65.24.3.135:

coil packs (3 coils bundled on top of ign. module). pricey to replace all components on a guess... if it were one coil flaking out you would just lose 2 cyls. at times. if ign. module has intermittant complete failure you will lose all 6 and die. many times the module will 'bench test' good at your favorite auto parts store because your not at the right temp. for failure. first and formost determine if its fuel or fire thats giving u gray hair. in agreement with prior posts on correct CPS input needed and wire penetration/corrosion ....kjun

Reply to
KjunRaven

Random parts replacement until you find the bad one can be very costly. You need to do some basic diagnosis when it quits:

  1. Is there spark?
  2. What is the fuel pressure at the rail?
Reply to
=?x-user-defined?Q?=AB?= Paul

"Shep" wrote in news:1125147173 snipped-for-privacy@spool6-east.superfeed.net:

Sorry, forgot to put this in the original post. When it dies, it will not start again for an hour or so.

Crank sensor, eh?

Thanks in advance, Bob

Reply to
BigBob

Reply to
Shep

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