I have a 92' Century w/107 K miles that has a medium rough idle. This is a summer use vehicle for me. I have done the normal maintenance on this motor w/ new plugs and a good Napa wire set. Any bad vacume lines that I can get at have been replaced including the vacume tree on top of the motor. Has anybody had coil issues or ground issues with this motor?
View 2 RepliesWhen damp or foggy, my 1990 Buick Century 3.3 will either not start or start and idle rough. Spraying WD-40 on coil packs and wires work. I tried click and clack's method of misting water on the 3 coil packs and wires when idling, and got arching on middle coil, # 2 wire to top of coil pack. Do I need to replace that coil, or just the spark plug wires? The slight mist of water on that middle coil stalled the engine, and it would restart after WD- 40 was sprayed on the coils/ wires.
View 2 RepliesI own a 2001 Buick Century Limited that has 208k miles on it. A couple days ago I started the car up at a friends house and noticed that it had a loud rough idle and that the check engine light came on. When I drove the car home, the CEL would flash when I accelerated and I could smell something burning. When I released the gas pedal and coasted, the flashing CEL would return back to a solid state but I could still smell the burning. When I would accelerate, the CEL would start to flash again. Whenever I was stopped at a stop sign, the flashing CEL would again be solid and there would be a loud rough idle along with the same burning smell. Am I looking at an engine replacement or an easy fix? One problem or could it be multiple problems?
View 9 Replies[URL] I even pulled the same P0170 code. And what I need to do before I spend a boatload of money and wind up sleeping in my car instead of driving it to work or lack therof is to start a troubleshooting list starting from where Sabot's update left off, i dont even know where the vacuum line is that he mentions and if i sprayed carb cleaner on it would i get a jump in engine RPM or a stall as a test?
What I have done: Cleaned MAF sensor, changed fuel filter.
What I have not done: Checked all vacuum lines, Tested fuel pressure, Tested for compression issues due to blown head gasket.
there is also a puffing noise coming from the exhaust side of the engine, im gonna grab a bottle of baby powder this afternoon and test for air leaks, i dont believe it is a misfire...
I have a 1992 Buick Century with a 2.4L 4-cylinder engine with 68,616 miles on it. It was running fine yesterday. Today I went to back up and I no longer have a reverse gear. I drove all the way to work in forward (10 miles) but get no reverse. What am I looking at here?
View 4 RepliesI just had the crank sensor replaced in my 1992 Buick Century (3.3L V6) because of abrupt hesitation and failure to restart. Because I had the sensor replaced twice before (10 years ago & 6 years ago), I recognized the symptoms and had my mechanic replace it. After running some local errands, I left the car outside for 2 hours before putting it away in my garage. I cranked it but couldn't restart it. I took the transmission out of park and put it back into park and the car restarted. Could there be some kind of transmission-connected safety switch that's intermittent? My mechanic says it's highly unlikely for the ignition module or computer to be intermittent. Once an electronic circuit malfunctions, it stays inoperable. That's why he replaced the sensor.
Also, what this trouble code means: "26 Quad-driver sense voltage shows a low voltage when battery voltage should be present or if the sense voltage shows battery voltage when a low voltage should be present."
My 1992 Buick Century frequently shuts down when coming to a stop or slowing down to make a sharp corner. I'm always able to restart it. I thought it was a torque converter lockup problem, but my transmission specialist said the transmission is okay. Last month, after the car died completely, I had the crankshaft sensor and harmonic balancer replaced by Firestone. Could it be the same parts that malfunctioned? Or, could it be another issue?
View 12 RepliesSO, my Buick has given the code for bad TPS, and it was replaced a little over a year ago...and now after the same symptoms, replaced again.. However, this time, right after replacing, it gave the code again, and still stalls out /doesn't want to stay running especially when put in gear. My regular mechanic also recently just put on a new catalytic converter and a new fuel pump and fuel filter. I'm at a loss, and desperately need my car back.
A little back history...about 3 years ago a 'friend' was to work on my car to install the thermostat and power washed the engine...which shortly after started having all kinds of electrical issues. Right after that, my mechanic had to install a coil, spark plugs, new ignition panel and the 1st tps.
I have a 1995 Buick Century with 149,000 miles that will occasional and randomly idle rough when started warm. Also, on several occasions it will idle so rough it kills the engine and I'm unable to start the engine until the thermostat reads completely cold. I've taken it to 2 separate mechanics who both are unable to pull any error codes (even after the engine has died) and are unable to duplicate the problem. When it does idle rough most of the time I can rev the engine, put it in gear and drive it for a few minutes and the problem disappears. Other times I try to put it into gear and it kills, I put it into park and try to restart the engine and the engine will start for a brief second and then die and will die faster each time I restart until the engine doesn't turn over at all. Then once the thermostat reaches 'C' it starts up like there was no problem at all.
Here is a list of recent pertinent repairs:
- Replaced Battery 12/2/11
- Replaced plugs and wires 4/11/12
- Throttle Body Gasket and Fuel Filter Replaced 3/18/13
- PCV Hose replaced 2/19/14 (last mechanic's guess on the problem)
I don't notice any signs of a rich fuel mixture or abnormal exhaust (there was a discussion with a Buick with no start that had this).
My grandpa's old wood paneled station wagon is sick. The idle seems to be getting rougher and rougher with every time I kill the battery (I've somehow left my headlights on four times in the past two months and needed a jump). It's to a point now where if I don't throw it in neutral at stop lights and keep a tiny bit of gas on the engine it stalls out.
Notes:*When it first gets jumped after being dead, if I stop even for a second, it dies instantly.*While cruising - it is fine. *It idles smoother stopped in neutral than it does stopped and in drive. *It seems a bit rougher with the engine is cold, but still rough and can stall with the engine hot. *Some random times it idles just fine (like for example the first few seconds on start up, and then it sounds like the engine is decreasing in rpm automatically, and then it is rough again).
Could the dying battery and rough idle be related?? The battery guy says "if it starts fine, the battery is fine" (it does start fine, although keeping the radio on for 20 minutes without it running will kill it).
Also other problems with my car in case this has anything to do with it: *I have a leaky tail pipe*my ABS has recently been randomly engaging at low speeds (next problem to work on...)
1990 Buick Century w/3300 V6, fuel injection, less than 80,000 miles ... Vehicle may have had 200 miles p/yr put on it last 3 - 4 yrs. Was still regularly serviced. No previous problems no fluid leaks, clean motor.
Hesitated on hwy twice, wouldn't start after second hesitation, but did later & ran good. Wouldn't start for about 15 mins. after fueling once, but ran good when did start, had fuel pressure at sharder valve both times. Next trip after about 10 miles, started loosing power, finally quit, NO pressure at sharder valve. Towed in. Mechanic said ECM bad, changed it, ran idle, but would not accelerate, chk'd everything. Put different ECM in, same thing, idle, but won't accelerate, has chk'd fuel pressure, fuel regulator, ICM, CPS, everything can think of...
I've got an "on- and off-going" problem with my '92 S10 Blazer.
Car specs:
Year 1992
Blazer S10 4.3 Tbi
4- doors 4WD
Mileage 200k miles
Symptoms:
As cold, every now and then it will start right up, but the idle is wery rough, and seems like its running on less than 6 cylinders. When giving gas, it revs up, but runs roughly and still seems to be running on less than 6. Won't stall though.
When engine warms up after a couple of minutes, the idle gets smooth and no issues what ever when driving.
So just to be clear, this issue is so far only happening when staring cold.
Parts (new off course) changed recently (less than 500miles on them):
Distributor
Spark plugs + wires
Alternator
Battery
IAC valve
Fuel filter
This symptom came up now and then before changing any parts. I am quite handy with cars (pure amateur though), but can't really afford solving the proble by changing loads of parts with no effect..
I just bought a 92 Toyota Celica for something to play around with. It's got just over 200,000 miles and everything seems to run alright except there is a really rough vibration at idle. The vibration is so bad that it's almost visible. You can still feel the vibration in drive but it isn't nearly as bad.
Any clue at what could be causing the vibration? I'll try to get a sound clip or video uploaded ....
I have been having some recent issues with my 92 bird lately. It started minor but now the car will not stay on. It originally started out as I would need to press the gas to get it to start and it would stay on, but now if I let my foot off the gas for anything it will just idle rough and die out. I took it into a shop and they said that I had a bad idle control valve and the pigtails need to be replaced. They also said that some wires were shorted out and they would replace those as well. They replaced the Pigtails and the idle control valve and the car started to work fine again, for about 4 days only. I drove to the store and when I came back out to start it back up it wouldn’t stay on unless I gave it gas.
I had to drive it home giving it gas and using my other foot on the brake so that it didn’t due out. I checked the job they did and doesn’t even look like they did what they said they did. I looked at the botched shrink tube job they did and it just doesn’t look that professionally done. I did call the guy and he gave me an excuse and said that they short must have traveled further and he was surprised that the car was even running when they were done. I of course just hung up the phone after hearing that. I did a little looking around the engine and I noticed that if you unplug a vacuum tube and press on the gas and hold it at 2000 rpm for a few seconds and let off the car will stay on, but the moment I plug that hose back up with my finger or plug it back in the tube slot, the car idles rough for a few moments and dies.
I have a 1995 Buick Regal, with a 3.8L engine. When I start the car sometimes it rough idles and I have to give it a lot of gas and then it runs fine. This is completely random. Sometimes it runs just a little rough, other times really rough. The rough idling when starting the car happens about 1 out of 25 times. Sometimes when this happens I get a check engine light, most of the time not. When I am driving around I also will randomly get a check engine light, but I can't tell anything common to it. It has come on while braking, while coasting with foot off the gas and brake, normal city driving, highway driving. Also my CEL always turns off when I turn off the car and doesn't come back when I restart the car. Always.
I haven't been able to figure out what is wrong and since my car is transition OBD1 to OBD2 I can't use a OBD2 code scanner (it is an OBD1 port), nor will shorting the pins in my OBD1 type port give me codes. Being this the case I took it to a local mechanic and they scanned the computer and said they got 16 error codes. They reset the codes but couldn't get the CEL to come back on. I took it drove it for a couple of days the light came back on so I took it back to the shop and they got 18 codes out of it, but they were mostly different, with some of them giving the opposite readings of before (O2 sensor high one time, then low the next check). They said they didn't know what was going on but wanted 3-4 hours to diagnose the PCM (Powertrain control module) and would probably replace the PCM (~500 on top of the diagnostic fee). That was a bit much for me, so I took the car back.
The things I have checked are fuel pressure (seems fine at idle and revving the car in park)Vacuum is 19 and when I rev quick it drops to zero or so then up to 25 and slowly goes back to 19 (I think that means vacuum is ok). I put the gauge in the O2 sensor before the CAT and I didn't read any pressure, so I think the CAT is ok.I put on a new fuel pressure regulator, and a new fuel filter. I got the same PCM at a Pick-n-pull place and put it is my car 3 days ago. Yesterday I got a check engine light while driving again. The mechanic will charge me to check the codes, but I think it is just doing the same thing as always. I am sort of at a loss as what to do. I though it I was to dive around with a scanner hooked up and the light went on then I could see what the sensors were doing when all the trouble codes fire. I was looking at the Actron CP9190, but it doesn't log the data stream for OBD1 cars, only for OBD2.
1992, shory 3.0 130K MILES
On start up runs very rough, will stall if not power braked or revd a little on start up/out of the driveway.
VOLT METER STARTS GOING NUTS!!
After a mile/warm up,,, runs great. But sometimes even when its hot, it will still try to do the rough idle briefly after just a few minutes restart. Give it a few revs at that point and its good. And once in a blue moon it will do it randomly at a stop light,, out of the blue. Very rare
I own a 1996 Buick Regal with 132k miles on it, 3.1L six cylinder. The other day I was doing some general maintenance and noticed that the exhaust smelled like sulfur (rotten eggs). Now, I am loosely familiar with the causes of such a thing but not well enough to diagnose it properly the first time. The car has been idling rough since I got it (almost a year ago now), I have a feeling that it could be the O2 sensor causing the rough idle and the sulfur smell but I am not completely sure. I should have one of those fancy three-part injector cleaners done?
View 6 Replies1992 S10 Blazer, 4.3L, 4x4, TBI "Z"
When I start the truck, it idles rough, like it's idling too low, and even feels like it's missing during idle. Sometimes when I put it in gear (reverse or drive), it shuts off. No codes are being thrown. It has no problems driving around town or on the highway. It's just that initial start and idle.
I've checked all the following with a shop manual:
Ignition Control Mod.- Orig and 2nd one from junk yard. Both tested good at store. Even the testing in the shop manual with an ohm meter and battery tested good.
Ignition coil- tested good using shop manual testing
TPS- Scan shows .2-.7 at idle.
Plugs, wires, cap, and rotor are good.
Vacuum is good.
Haven't checked IAC, EGR
I recently moved cross country, and about halfway through, I broke down. Engine would turn over, fuel relay would click, injectors would work, but no fuel. Pulled it in to a truck shop, and after all my testing and theirs, we determined it was the fuel pump. After they had to fix a pinched hose, it ran. I made it to Texas. I didn't have the idle issues prior to the trip. Just had the tranny rebuilt and everything was great.
I thought, at first, the ignition control mod was the problem because it got a bit warm pulling the trailer, and I know those things don't like too much heat. No dice. So, what controls idle at Park and in gear but at idle? EGR, IAC?
I did a WinALDL scan. IAC at Park/Idle ranges from 18-55. The engine never runs in Open Loop. I would say the engine runs mostly rich according to the scan. I've attached a manageable version of the WinALDL data.
Also, I need to check the thermostat or temp sensor. Scan reads the engine never getting higher than 180.
I have a 95 Buick Regal, V6 3.8 Liter. The symptoms are the following: stuttering idle. And lack of response at times when I try to accelerate. Like sometimes I'll be driving on the highway, and having no problems. Then I'll be going up a hill at around 55 mph, and then the car will shudder as I try to maintain a speed of 55 mph. So I have to ease off the accelerator and slow down. At first I thought this was a transmission problem, but I am guessing it's the same problem that causes my choppy idle.
So I had this acceleration problem on the highway when I was going up a hill. And a weak idle. These problems have been going on for several months now. They were annoying, but didn't seem that serious. Then all of a sudden, on a rainy day, the car was really responding poorly to acceleration at all speeds. I was able to drive around, but I couldn't count on the car responding right away when I hit the gas pedal. And the car would shudder at times. Then, I didn't drive the car for a few days, and then it was dry, no rain, and the car ran better. So I am thinking humidity makes the problem worse.
I have also noticed over the past few months, that the car runs best when I start it up after a few days of not running it. Then if I drive the car a few miles and let it sit for about 2 hours or so, it would idle weakly when I would start it up again. The car's been doing that for several months now, but it wasn't really affecting the drivability or the response of the car when I hit the gas pedal.
Now it's gotten much worse. So, I've already replaced the following items myself to no avail: mass air flow sensor, oxygen sensor, and egr valve. I am guessing the next thing to fix is the pcv valve. But I also think it might be the fuel pump. My first guess though is the pcv valve. What else could it be? And is there any easy way to test to see if the fuel pump is going bad? Or should I just take out the pcv valve and see if it looks bad?
'91 buick, 3 spd. 0 acceleration in 3rd, trouble code says TCC curcuit. Lopes @ idle when warm, runs rough @ times. many new sensors, timing chain & sprockets, still, the loping.
View 1 Replies1994 Buick LeSabre Custom 3.8 Litre V6 with 103277 miles.
It runs smooth when idling in Park, rough when I put it in gear when I am stopped (either drive or reverse) has hesitation when accelerating, it smooths out again when driving then it starts to drive rough at about 55 MPH.
Mechanic told me it was the plug wires. I replaced those and the plugs. This fixed the hesitation when accelerating issue, but the other issues remain (now even seem a little worse) I thought the plugs and/or wires were bad, so I rechecked the gauge on the plugs and traced to make sure I had the wires hooked up right. Everything seems in order.
I have added fuel injector cleaner, and changed the oil, oil filter, spark plugs, spark plug wires, air filter, flushed the radiator, and changed the thermostat. (For a tune up since it has admittedly been a while)....