Back Again Wtih the 1995 lesabre Starts- wont Run.

You say that it will start but not run, then you say it stumbles at 45-50 mph. If it will not run how do you drive it ??

Looks like there is a hole in the hoses leading petrol into the machine somewhere. Sometimes the pipes are full but sometimes you will be getting nothing but air. The rubber hoses may be rotten and the hole may not always be open. It can be hard to find such a problem.

Well Mike, the short answer is - You Don't. Of course I was talking about the time when it WAS running up till the time it won't. Thats now. Yes it will start but will not continue to run longer than a few seconds. When it was running it would "jiggle"? at a light load like up a mild incline. I have recently been told that this may me more to do with the transmission than the engine. Something to do with the lockup converter slipping or the like. I was told by a shop to put an additive in the trany to help that. They say they found that information in the "book of common problems" I wouldn't mind having one of those books. Anyway thats more information than you wanted to hear -see? but thanks for the reply. Tom A

Before you buy a car be sure to look up the garage and put a measurement on how thick this book is for the type of car you intend to buy.

The reason for hiding that book from you is exactly the reason why GM is now failing. Too many have seen the book.

Looks like there is a hole in the hoses leading petrol into the machine somewhere. Sometimes the pipes are full but sometimes you will be getting nothing but air. The rubber hoses may be rotten and the hole may not always be open. It can be hard to find such a problem.

That maybe the problem, So how about this? To find a leak in the gas line I wrap a rag around an air nozzle and apply to the filler pipe and pressurize the fuel system a little. Mabey that will show a small leak with wetness around it. If it blows off a rotten hose all the easier to find. I will try that as soon as it quits snowing. Im working outside and it's winter obviously. Thanks for the idea I was focusing just on elect. and not considering the fuel side. Tom A

You might check fuel pressure. If you spray a little carb cleaner in the throttle-body, will it run longer? If you try that, take the air-duct loose from the throttle-body, open the throttle valve, spray a little in there, try not to spray it on any sensors. I would also check for codes. My information says your OBD11 so you need an OBD11 code reader or scanner.

If you open the throttle valve a little, will it stay running?

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Unless you want to find out just how easy it is to blow out the gas tank I wouldn't advise using air to pressurize the tank/lines.

Now that you have done some testing and discovered that it doesn't matter if you hold the key, I would start by checking the fuel pressure, Hook up the gauge, turn on the key and see what you have. Also run a flow test on it.

When was the last time the filter was changed?

I had this kind of problem. Taking it into the garage over and over. Different garages check pretty much everything. At least that is what I paid for after being towed several times when the car stopped at irregular basis. I once stopped intentionally in nice weather and went outside to look at the scenary and smelled petrol and looked at the engine. Sure enough some had been pouring out from a small rotten hose. I went to the nearest garage and had that hose replaced. The petrol use went down by 1/3 immediately. This was in a 4 year old car and the rotten hose had been put there by a bad mechanic in a garage but nobody of the experts looking at it later noticed anything.

Well it looks like I'm off to northern tool to buy a fuel pressure testing kit. And as far as the filter- do you mean the one in the tank? If so it has not been changed by me, I bought the car with 63,000 miles on it. Now has 105,000 mi on it. I had to replace the gaskets in the plastic intake plenum and all the injector gaskets while I was at it. All plug wires and plugs I changed about 10,000 miles ago, And I changed out all the hoses on top of the engine too at the same time. I have never done a flow test but I'm guessing the method comes with the test kit. If not I now have a chilton book for this car. [better than nothing]. Actually I can't rember running accross a fuel filter in that process. So I guess the short answer is I never changed any filter. Tommorrow is Sunday, hope Northern Tool is open. Thanks Again, Tom A

Before you buy a car be sure to look up the garage and put a measurement on how thick this book is for the type of car you intend to buy.

The reason for hiding that book from you is exactly the reason why GM is now failing. Too many have seen the book.

Yeah, Gone are the days when the only choice in cars was the Big 3. I think another reason for GM's problems is they keep thinking ppl want 600 hp instead of 75 MPG. Of course the govenment and the Bushes wouldn't care for that 75MPG idea either. Well got to go, TATA, Tom A.

Greetings, Yeah, i'm going to check fuel pressure tommorrow when I get a test kit. I started it with the throttle at different positions, idle, 1/4, 1/2, full. All with the same results, Starts, runs 2-3 seconds, dies. Although when done at full throttle it has a little more urgency but dies just the same. Also tried turning the key off and on repeatedly to make the fuel pump come on several times before trying to start it. - no change. BTW I was told the engine needs to run to use an OB11 to diaganose it. Did I misunderstand? Thanks for the reply, Tom A

This sounds an awful lot like an anti theft problem.

Yes.

I've never hooked a scanner up on a Lesabre, but have other makes and models. KOEO will show some information, read and erase codes for one thing. If you want to see engine running data, then the engine needs to be running.

Have you tried unplugging the maf sensor, then see if it will run? A faulty maf sensor can cause a start and die issue.

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