Need Help

[grnadnasty84]

ok, heres the story. my car started to just die randomly for no reason, about 2 months ago. so i left it at my fathers house and he wen't through the entire 52-53 circuts to check what the problem could be. he fixed alot of random crap that was worn out, but i took it out today and it just died again. the symptoms: drives fine for a while and then just cuts out( power is still on) and then it comes back. does this for a while and then seems to be fine. we're looking at the steering column now, the pop's thinks it is in there somewhere. if anybody knows anything, please help. by the way i found a random set of wires under there (blue,green,yellow,and red), can't find where they plug in. :frown:

Thanks in Advance

 

[mybuick]

see if there is another person with a buick near you and ask if you can try thier computer and see if it dies with theres.

 

[grnadnasty84]

i forgot to mention that the computer and module have been replaced. along with a variety of sensors.

 

[Jerryl]

ok, heres the story. my car started to just die randomly for no reason, about 2 months ago. so i left it at my fathers house and he wen't through the entire 52-53 circuts to check what the problem could be. he fixed alot of random crap that was worn out, but i took it out today and it just died again. the symptoms: drives fine for a while and then just cuts out( power is still on) and then it comes back. does this for a while and then seems to be fine. we're looking at the steering column now, the pop's thinks it is in there somewhere. if anybody knows anything, please help. by the way i found a random set of wires under there (blue,green,yellow,and red), can't find where they plug in. :frown:

Thanks in Advance

Right before it dies out, if you pump the gas pedal, does it still die or try to keep running?

 

[cool 84]

Are you losing total electrical power as in headlights go out, etc, or is the motor just dying. Mine did the same thing with a loose starter wire and again when the positive cable got fried by the headers over the years and grounded out once it got hot and I hit a bump.

 

[Dwayne]

Are you losing total electrical power as in headlights go out, etc, or is the motor just dying. Mine did the same thing with a loose starter wire and again when the positive cable got fried by the headers over the years and grounded out once it got hot and I hit a bump.

I have also seen that a few times.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Grndasty84- I experienced this situation once and it turned out to be a bad negative battery ground. My car would throw a code 52/55 Mal code and then recover without storing the mal code because power was lost to my ecm. Just an idea. Brad

 

[grnadnasty84]

i know its not the starter b/c we had it out a couple of days ago. i'm not losing total power, lights and ac is still on. It does seem to die when i try and punch it but it also dies just pulling into the driveway. i'll check the ground to the battery but i can't believe it would be that easy, atleast hope not after all the work that has been done to try and fix this thing. well, live and learn. thanks for everything.

 

[johnsTT]

Does your steering column have any play in it? If so read what novaderrik has to say in this post:
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/ge...car-randomly-dies.html?highlight=loose+column
This these little screws backed out on me before and caused a stalling condition.
Just thought I'd say something because you mentioned the steering column.
If you do a search on "loose column" you will come up with alot of info on it.

 

[grnadnasty84]

ya, its not the ground wires. it's not the steering column. i don't know what it is but it seems that everything has been checked and re-checked and it is still acting up. i'm not giving up just yet but if it keeps this up i might just turn it into a demolition durby car to take out some frustration. thanks again for all the replys.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Where are you located? If I were in your shoes I would locate a local car that is tuned and start swapping known good parts one by one until you locate the problem. Some items would be ECM, MAF, Coil, Coil module, TPS, ..... What is your fuel pressure in park at idle vacuum line off? What are your scan tool reading? Brad

 

[Jerryl]

Right before it dies out, if you pump the gas pedal, does it still die or try to keep running?

:biggrin:

 

[T-CHRGD]

Had a similar problem with my '99 Regal, would go around a corner and the car would die. A new ignition switch solved the problem. Just a thought.

 

[grnadnasty84]

my father and i have replaced almost all the parts you listed(Brad), i'll check the fuel pressure but if i remember correctly it is something like 40lbs. as for scan tools, i have turbo link 3 but it never seems to work correctly for me, i don't know if that has to do with switching the ecm and module to 87 or if that just means my ecm is messed up. we just replaced the ignition switch and it died again. through process of elimination my father is convinced it is either the c^3, computer contoled ignition. well see what happens when we can get a chance to work on it.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

What coil and coil module are you running? I hope it is an 87 coil and 87 coil module with the Caspers 84/85 conversion to the 87 coil and coil module. If you are running a stock 84/85 with the stupid sticker on top this may be your problem. Another 2 cents. Brad

 

[grnadnasty84]

ya its got an 87 coil and module. is it possible that the conversion is messing the whole car up, i know it would be a shame to go back to the 84 set up. also, could it be that the prom and/or cal pack are fried and thats the whole problem?

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

Are you using the Caspers 84/85 to 86/87 Ign coil conversion? Are the wires from the coil to the coil module hooked up correctly? I ran into this problem. Let me know and I will post PICS. Brad

 

[grnadnasty84]

i don't know which conversion unit it is, i bought the car with this part already installed. i believe the wires are hooked up correctly, all the letters match up.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

The connector looks like this. Old connector plugs into the adapter which plugs into the coil module. If this does not cure it we need to verify the proper wiring between the coil and coil module. Here is a PIC. Brad

 

[grnadnasty84]

yep, thats what it looks like. do these ever fail to work? i believe all the wires are set up correct, we used a ohm meter to check them and they all added up.