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G. F Posted on Jun 06, 2015
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1988 Buick Century 3.8 stalling issue starts back up. fuel pump/filter replaced it stalls out randomly at all driving conditions. I am stumped on this one. anyone have help for me on this?

I just replaced timing chain as the tensioner was wore out. when the car starts to stumble the check engine light does come on, yet when it stalls, car starts right back up and no check engine light. I have even tried to retreive codes while driving to no avail.

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Dan Hooper

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  • Buick Master 4,521 Answers
  • Posted on Jun 06, 2015
Dan Hooper
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Does it seem to do it more once it runs for a bit? It could be a bad DIS module. They are known to fail once they get hot. Either that or the ignition switch located at the top of the base of the column.

Testimonial: "I thought about that yet i am perplexed that if it is getting hot and shutting down, how is that I can start car right up and go? sometimes it is fine for awhile, other times it will stall repeatedly, I just put in a new ignition switch. Usually when it stalls, there is a strong gas smell. just serviced fuel injectors."

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  • G. F Jun 06, 2015

    I thought about that yet i am perplexed that if it is getting hot and shutting down, how is that I can start car right up and go? sometimes it is fine for awhile, other times it will stall repeatedly, I just put in a new ignition switch. Usually when it stalls, there is a strong gas smell. just serviced fuel injectors.

  • Dan Hooper
    Dan Hooper Jun 06, 2015

    You need to figure out what it is loosing when it dies. Put a fuel gauge on the fuel rail with enough hose that you can shut the hood down and keep the gauge sticking up in front of the cowl so you can read it while you drive. Just keep it there and keep an eye on your fuel pressure. If you still have good pressure when it dies then you know it has to be something in the ignition system. I had a 1995 camaro once that the ignition switch was going out. One time you would start it and it would hit on all 6 and run fine, other times it would only hit on 2 cylinders or maybe 4. I still can't explain how it did this as it just sends power through the switch, but it did.

  • G. F Jun 29, 2015

    Finally able to pinpoint the problem.
    1, not enough fuel pressure out of new pump which turned out to be defective; it was leaking at the check valve on the fuel pump, thus not allowing enough pressure to build up. 2, The oil pressure switch was bad and since the circuit goes thru this switch to the fuel pump, it was sending erratic signals to fuel pump saying there was no oil pressure thus the car would shut down.
    #. The MAF sensor was dirty, actually bad as I cleaned it prior: the tapping on MAF sensor had no effect.
    4 And the final defective part in this string of problematic issues was a defective coil pack.
    Now the car is running better than it has in a long time and my milage went up big time. Getting 23 now compared to about 17 before if I was lucky.
    Thanks for your help and advice. I hope others find this useful and I recommend starting with cleaning the MAF sensor.
    Also a note, check the wiring going to the power steering pressure switch.

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Robert Wood

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  • Buick Master 6,139 Answers
  • Posted on Jun 29, 2015
Robert Wood
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May be PCM/ECM going bad.

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