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Hot start problem with 90 buick century

I have a 90 Buick Century (3.3 v6) that has just developed a problem.

It will run fine for quite a while until I shut it off. When I come back later; 20, 30 minutes, it will have trouble starting and stall when put into gear. At this point the check engine light comes on. The first time it did this, the temperature light came on. Fortunately, this was a block from home and was able to shut down about 30 seconds after the warning. The coolant sounded like it was "boiling" in the reservoir.

About an hour later I started the car with no problem and let it idle for about 15 minutes. I then shut down and attempted to restart and encountered the pinging rough idle and check engine light, if I tried to put it in gear, it died.

The car had been sitting for about a month.

Am I looking at a contaminated fuel problem, or something major?

Thanks for any input,

Jp

Reply to
Jp
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Thanks for the suggestion.

I turned up a code 12 and a 42.

Any guesses? Would some injector cleaner help?

Jp

Robert Hancock wrote:

Reply to
Jp

12 - No distributor reference signal (normal because the engine isn't running) - confirms diagnostics are working 42 - Electronic Spark Timing Circuit - for code to set: Engine speed greater than 600 RPM with no EST pulse for 200 msec (open or grounded EST circuit) ECM commanding Bypass mode

This will cause the engine to run on module or bypass timing.

Please repost the symptoms.

Reply to
saeengineer

Engine starts and runs fine until it is shut down for 10-20 minutes. Upon restarting, engines idles really rough and check engine light comes on. Stalls if put into gear. Wait a bit, restart, engine runs fine again, no check engine light.

I did notice today that if, when the problem shows up, I continuesly start and restart, sometimes the engine is fine, sometimes it's rough and the check engine light comes on!

saeeng>

Reply to
Jp

Reply to
Andrew Paule

Classic symptoms of electronic parts failure during hot soak. This would agree with the codes you are getting. You need a good DVOM or even better a scope to check this out. Obviously start with the codes that you have. If these don't check out, I'd look at the ignition module and crank sensor.

There is a remote possibility of a fuel system problem (leaking injectors or low fuel pressure) but so far, there is no indication that these are the cause of the problem.

Reply to
saeengineer

Had it in one of my cars - fuel rail (I put in a new one) was too close to the head - the gas percolated in there, and it was hard to start when hot - move the fuel rail a little and it got much better - cured.

Electronics fail like this too, when the potting compound starts to go. Do these things run the famous GM coilpacks????

Andrew

saeeng>>

Reply to
Andrew Paule

I believe it *could* happen. It's just extremely rare.

I'm not sure, don't have the reference in front of me, but I believe so.

HTH

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Reply to
saeengineer

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm not quite sure where to start but I'll keep you updated.

Jp

Robert Hancock wrote:

Reply to
Jp

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