I have a 1991 buick regal with a 3.8. last night it died. it was very smooth just died. then it wouldnt start for 10 mins throwing the temp light. ever since it has run extremely rough. had no horespower very sluggish. and i get a burning smell comming from the car. after a lot or research I spent 300 dollars today and replaced the Cat thinking it was plugged. well that didnt fix the issue. Im not loosing oil or coolant. obd picks up a mis fire. but wats the burning smell aswell. i need help bad. i just put 300 into this for nothin...
Replace the timming chain, gears, and magnet. With that cat getting that hot it has to be out of time. When the cam sensor picks up no signal, ecu can't control timming and reverts back to a preset,fixed base # .
You might have to check you coolant to see if exhaust is leaking into it. I had the same problem and melted my water pump. just from a bad header gasket.
good luck
612 views
Usually answered in minutes!
118,350 ish miles. i have replaced the collant temp sensor, thermostat and water pump myself. Yeah the engine has always ran very hot for some reason. thats why i did the cooling system. or what i could do myself for some reason still runs very hot. after i drove it 3 miles the cat was visually red hot. my biggest fear is it is the heads. and yeah its an obd 1 system but was hooked up to a snap on scanner. the burning smell comes only after 1-2 minutes of running and the exaust smell is bad aswell. smels like under the car but possibly under the hood. havent ran the heater. and i was never able to explain why it ran so hot. camshaft sensor light has been of for 2 years. i replaced the sensor so its the magnet thats messed up. but i drive it due to it can be driven on a bad camshaft sensor. as for the spark. plugs, wires, are a yr old. and ignition control modual is 6 months, could be coil packs. but yeah the vibrations and burning scare me most. but still loosing no oil or coolant. I need to drive it about 4 miles a day to get to the bus station for work
That comment is me despisedicon btw^^ im just not logged in
it was the ignition control module. i didnt think of it because i had already replace it once
If there is a lot of miles on engine its possible it has jumped the timing chain. I believe temp light is controlled by its own sensor usually a single wire one near thermostat housing.Did it actually get hot? If so it could have hurt the cylinder heads/gaskets.You mention a OBD misfire?? Was it just a code reader or a actual good data scanner?Also look at data for coolant temperature sensor for ECU, MAP/MAF sensor,TPS sensor.The 'burning' smell has me concerned, is it from under the hood, out the heater vents, or out the tail pipe?
×