Starting to lose my mind with going from intermittant no-run to no start issue

[turbotroy]

Just tossing this out. I had a no start/intermitent start on mine a long time ago, and after changing out a lot of the things you have changed, it ended up being the tps. I don't advocate "throwing parts" at it to make it run, but if you can't find anyone to help locally thats what you have to do at times. The only difference was this was the early '90s and I was getting all the parts from GM so had a pretty decent chance the replacements were "good". Also figured since I was never going to sell the car that I would use those spare parts eventually. Good luck and remember to breathe

 

[Pronto]

So did this car ever run correctly and be able to go past that 10psi boost? turbo89's suggestion is easy to test, just wiggle the wire and see what happens...

 

[davelostmissing]

Didn't Eric Ruybalid have a shop in Las Cruces- Sr Performance? (early OP's question)

 

[Nascar83Fan]

So did this car ever run correctly and be able to go past that 10psi boost? turbo89's suggestion is easy to test, just wiggle the wire and see what happens...

Yeah she ran correctly and was able to go full boost for quite awhile, just recently she started misbehaving.


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[Nascar83Fan]

Just tossing this out. I had a no start/intermitent start on mine a long time ago, and after changing out a lot of the things you have changed, it ended up being the tps. I don't advocate "throwing parts" at it to make it run, but if you can't find anyone to help locally thats what you have to do at times. The only difference was this was the early '90s and I was getting all the parts from GM so had a pretty decent chance the replacements were "good". Also figured since I was never going to sell the car that I would use those spare parts eventually. Good luck and remember to breathe

That's one of the few things besides cam sensor that under the hood hasnt been swapped out with another.
I'll try wiggling the harness side of cam sensor wiring and see if it's that before i pull off the tps & put a new one on.
I haven't heard of a shop out in Las Cruces that did work on turbo buicks, but i've only been in el paso for almost 6 years and still don't know where every shop etc is. I can try looking that up and see if they still exist. Just would be a fairly expensive tow bill to get it over that way if they are still in business. Jim Burek that has worked on various cars and trucks who has a shop out on the edge of the east side of town here didn't have any parts for our turbo cars anymore & he was fairly busy working on a couple other vehicles when i stopped by last month prior to her actting up.


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[Rustyregal]

If I read correctly this did all start after you had your starter replaced. No issues before?

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[turbo89]

That's one of the few things besides cam sensor that under the hood hasnt been swapped out with another.


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Stay on target .. there are only a few things that will cause a NO SPARK issue ... the key is when it Doesn't start to start troubleshooting ... also

please update this thread when you find it ... as if it happens to someone else it may help them

 

[Nascar83Fan]

Had the 10+psi boost issue prior to starter going out, the bucking at around 8psi started the day that the starter eventually went out in the evening hours. After the starter change, around 10-12 psi was when she'd miss so right after i left the shop i went down the road to the oreilly's.


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[turbo89]

Had the 10+psi boost issue prior to starter going out, the bucking at around 8psi started the day that the starter eventually went out in the evening hours. After the starter change, around 10-12 psi was when she'd miss so right after i left the shop i went down the road to the oreilly's.


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when the car was running did you ever disconnect the cam sensor and see if it ran better in batch mode ?

 

[hiboom]

the ses light should come on with the key to on unless the bulb in the the dash is burned out it verifies the ecm is getting power what chip is in the ecm is it possible to be in anti theft mode or does the car have a theft deterrent system on it that mite be malfunctioning

 

[whitehot1]

I suggest looking at the ground wires and fusible links as the causes of your problems.

I don't mean just looking to see if they are tightly bolted down or connected but disconnect them and pull on the ring terminals to see if the wires are broken / deteriorated inside the outer covering of the wires or if they feel hard and brittle to the touch.

The one and only time i had with a bucking problem with my regal was caused by a ground wire being broken.

 

[Nascar83Fan]

I never tried unhooking the cam sensor when it was running, so i can't say if it'd ran better or not in batch mode.
The ces/ses light does light up with key on engine off.
The chip is a TurboTweak 5.6 no anti-theft features on the car.
I do have a scanmaster 2.1 as well, in-case anyone wondered if i had any kind of monitoring device installed.
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[Nascar83Fan]

Stay on target .. there are only a few things that will cause a NO SPARK issue ... the key is when it Doesn't start to start troubleshooting ... also

please update this thread when you find it ... as if it happens to someone else it may help them

I had planned on sharing the fix once i have her fixed. So others could benefit from the info if they ran into a similar issue.



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[Chuck Leeper]

When all this is happening, what's the fuel psi doing??
Is the tank vent line open?

 

[Nascar83Fan]

The fuel pressure guage i have isnt one i can leave hooked up to the shrader valve all the time, just for short term use with the pressure relief tube attached. It is steady at 38-39 psi during cranking and stays there until i push the pressure relief button on the pressure gauge.


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[Chuck Leeper]

Suggest you add a hose, put it under the wiper arm, and see what the psi does when the engine starts showing the problem.

 

[wb's87]

The fuel pressure guage i have isnt one i can leave hooked up to the shrader valve all the time, just for short term use with the pressure relief tube attached. It is steady at 38-39 psi during cranking and stays there until i push the pressure relief button on the pressure gauge.


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I'm thinking a fuel issue. Pump, filter, etc.

 

[Nascar83Fan]

The fuel pressure gauge tester i have does have a long enough hose to run to the windshield where the gauge can lay for me to see.
If i was getting spark ( which i'm not ), if i had injector pulse ( which a noid light test shows i don't have ), she'd run or at least would try to kick over. All i am getting is just the motor rotating during cranking, constant fp just under 40psi mark on the gauge and after a few cranking attempts can smell a flooded fuel smell. I'm looking thru the service manual on pdf, which opening up the pdf named
sec06-e has section a3 with diagnostic charts that alot of what i have checked is under.


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[Pronto]

Did you jiggle that cam sensor wire?

 

[Chuck Leeper]

"cranking attempts can smell a flooded fuel smell."
"if i had injector pulse ( which a noid light test shows i don't have ),"

Kinda makes me wonder: "where is the fuel coming from???"