I know I've said it before, but I think I have finally solved the Herky-Jerky problem I posted about here over the last several months.
As a final effort to diagnose the problem, while we were on vacation for a month I left it with an independent garage noted for their diagnostic talents. Naturally, they found nothing concrete, just like my other independent and the Buick dealer. However, they did say it sure seemed like ignition break-down. Some of you may recall that I replaced plugs and wires early on in the ordeal, using the OEM AC plugs but Federal-Mogul wires from a local parts store. Someone on this listed said at the time that "new wires are sometimes worse than the ones removed," and the Buick dealer complained mildly about "non GM parts on the car." Finally, in desperation, I decided to follow up on these thoughts and replace the wires again, this time using the genuine GM set, which by the way were cheaper than the Federal-Moguls. As you have probably already guessed, the problem seems to have gone away. I'm hedging a bit since there have been times in the past when I thought it was fixed only to have it come back. However, over the months I learned it would always happen if I drove the car about 20 miles, stop for a Starbucks, and drive back, all in the warmth of a Southern California afternoon. I've now done that twice since putting the GM wires on, and got absolutely no herky-jerky, so my confidence level is higher this time.
Just to review, here are the other things done, none of which fixed the problem:
Coil packs Ignition module MAF sensor Coolant temperature sensor Throttle position sensor Did not replace it, but ran with the EGR valve disconnected Fuel filter Fuel pressure sensor Tested rail pressure Gasoline additive to displace water Spark plugs (twice) Spark plug wires (non-GM)
In the meantime, we bought a new Avalon. So, the Park Ave is up for sale and I will probably never know if the GM wires really fixed it in the longer term.
Ed