Michael P. Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Hello! So I have a 1988 Buick Reatta With 110,000 miles on it. for a while I had a problem that if the car was warm, and I restarted the car, it would stall out once I put it in drive. I would have to restart it and slam on the gas for it to stay running, and after it would be fine. It would occasionally pop up code E41 cam sensor code. I decided to replace the cam and crank sensor at the same time. That's when the real problems began. now the E41 code will not go away. with the e41 code consistently on, once the car is warm it will stall while driving, and if I shut it off it will not restart until car is cold again. It also feels like it has 10HP and shakes badly when warm. I noticed that the cam magnet appeared to be in bad shape so I decided to replace the cam magnet, and while I was in there I changed the timing chain + gears. Still did not change anything. Checked wiring and the voltage was getting to the sensor (cam and crank). Replaced ECM and 10 inches of the cam sensor wiring just incase I damaged the wiring while replacing sensor. Still not did fix anything. The connectors that goes into ecm appears not be damaged, and in good shape. I am completely lost and after 8 months of trying to fix this. I don't know what to do. If anyone can shed a light on this and point me in the right direction, I would really apricate it! Other items done to car in last 2 years: replaced: IAC, MAF, ICM, all vacuum lines, spark plugs and wires, o2 sensor, intake manifold gasket, and PCV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Where the replacement parts new or used? Neither is an indication that they are not bad. The car shutting off and restarting when cold is an indication of a bad Ignition Control Module AND Coil Pack. Try a known good one. A lot of people replace the Idle Air Control but not the chamber it fits into. Get a old tooth brush and some carb cleaner and spray it in there and scrub it out with the tooth brush. Your car will idle, accelerate, and run better. Also take the screen off the air intake [it's just a large snap ring] and clean the butterfly. Having an Eo41 code will not make the car stall, it just puts the car in a factory preset mode. The magnet is either bad [broken] or the sensor is no good. Could also be the cam sensor connection or a bad wire. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Welcome to the forum! I think Dave gave you some good advice. As he said, the code 041 won,t cause the engine to stall. However, the crank sensor will, and the problem got worse when you changed it, I wonder if there might be a problem with it. If it was installed incorrectly it could be damaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-a-n-i-e-l Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 My first guesses are ICM or CPS. Second. If you have used fuel treatments such as seafoam or a few others, I would replace the O2 sensor. Many times they don't send a code. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael P. Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Okay thanks for the advise. I did replace the icm with a brand new one. I also put the old one back in with same exact symptoms. The cam sensor I changed twice with an autozone one and now an ac Delco one. Cam magnet is new and I checked and it’s still intact in the cam gear. So I will check the ide air control valve, check the o2 sensor, and cam sensor and get back to you. Thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-a-n-i-e-l Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 CPS is crank position sensor. Just to be clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dashmaster Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Michael, I also have an 88. While tracing a E41 I had in history. I found splices that tie the power and ground wires to the Cam, Crank and ICM. I found the by tracing the wires back from ICM and crank sensor. You have to open the loom to find them. I recall it being under the oil pan area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 1 hour ago, Dashmaster said: Michael, I also have an 88. While tracing a E41 I had in history. I found splices that tie the power and ground wires to the Cam, Crank and ICM. I found the by tracing the wires back from ICM and crank sensor. You have to open the loom to find them. I recall it being under the oil pan area. I don't have an '88 but I believe an '89 is the same relative to the routing of the wiring. I found a harness that had apparently been pinched under the front crossmember, perhaps from being lifted or jacked up. It also had a code E041 and repairing the harness corrected the code. I am glad this was posted as my '90, which I work with regularly, routes these connections over the top of the engine on a sub-harness, and I didn't think of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Good idea and one worth following. It does ask the question as to if the original poster did anything to cause the problem to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael P. Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 Okay so today I took a look at the wiring that goes to ICM, CPS, and cam sensor. all the wires in the engine bay do not appear to have any damage. the only concerning item I saw was the A/C compressor plug was melted. I don't know if there was a short there at one point but it doesn't seem like it would concern my problem. I agree with Dave that it must be something tied to what I did to the car. the problem started with me touching the cam sensor and crank sensor. I removed the crank sensor today and it looks like there is no damage and it was aligned with the teeth on the harmonic balancer. is there something I might be missing with installing that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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