Buick Park Aveune

[90 convertible]

Driving to the lake last weekend, I was doing about 60 (so the posted limit was 45), I went to turn the wheel to negotiate a curve, and realized the car had stalled, I coasted to the side of the road, and restarted it. No prob, sounded ok, I proceeded to the house. Only stayed long enuf to rescue the canoe from the lake, (Isabel just passed through), and got back in for my 2 hour ride home. Got up to around 65 on the interstate, and noticed the tach just descend to 0. No fast drop, just a slow downward fall, shifted to nuetral, and restarted while still coasting down hill.

Now, this car is usually only used around town, (I work less that 2 miles from home) so I'm thinking it wasn't used to the hard driving.

Drove it to Hershey this last Thursday, not a single problem.

Should I just let it go and figure it just needed a good run, or should I start looking for a day off to get it checked out.

Thanx

Jack

[NTX5467]

Might get it to a tech that has a GM Tech 2 (or similar) that can pull a data stream out of it (hopefully) to see what might have happened. If there was a check engine light, there should be some stored data about why it happened. The short trip driving should have nothing to do with it.

About the only thing I can think of that would tell the ECM to stop the fuel pump would be if there was a loss of signal from one of the engine sensors (oil pressure, crank position, cam position) that would be reestablished when you restarted the vehicle.

Might also be from lack of fuel pressure as it usually takes a certain amount of fuel pressure for the injectors to "fire". This issue could be the result of a clogging fuel filter or a fuel pump that was getting weak. If you hear a somewhat loud high-pitched whine from the fuel tank area, that can be an indication that some attention is needed too. Usually, a weak fuel pump/restricted fuel filter will result in an extended crank time when starting.

Hope this might help,

NTX5467

[Guest Shaffer]

My 92 Buick Park Avenue (3800 V6) did the exact same thing. Turned out to be a cam shaft sensor (also known as crank sensor?). I had posted my problem here or somewhere and someone said to try that first. I had that replaced and it has been fine. I think the part was $29. and labor was $40. It only will get worse until it is replaced. The stalling will become more frequent. I do not think there is 100% way to tell if this is what it is- as there is no warning and my check engine light never illuminated while running to indicate any other problem. My car would just stop running- just as if I had turned the ignition off. Initially- it would start back instantly- but as time went on- it would take it longer to start and at the end- it would sometimes have to set for 10 minutes before it would start again. Good luck.

[GMPARTSMAN]

One correction to the above post, the camshaft position sensor is a different sensor than the crankshaft position sensor.

I had my '92 Bonneville with the 3800 engine with the same symptoms, down to losing the tach signal, and a easy restart to a ten minute wait for restart. Changed the crank sensor, seems to have fixed it.

There were no trouble code stored in the ECM, we checked it after each incident as I hate to do "shotgun" diagnosis and change parts until it's fixed.

Also, there is a specific Kent_Moore tool to align the crank sensor to the balancer,I don't recommend doing the job without it as you can damage the sensor if it is not correctly installed. Access to the tool is definitely one

advantage to working in a dealership!

[Guest Shaffer]

It was the crankshaft sensor that was also replaced on my car. Sorry for any confusions.

[NTX5467]

I concur, the alignment of the crankshaft sensor is very important. I wasn't aware that Kent-Moore/SPX had a tool for that, but it doesn't surprise me. If the alignment is NOT exactly right, it'll probably knock the sensor off of its mount and then there's more to fix. Earlier model sensors came with the mounting bracket as part of the package, but later model ones are just the sensor.

Like the mass air flow sensors of the later '80s, most of the problems with the 3800 (few that there are) are reasonably easy to diagnose and fix.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[Guest Shaffer]

Since you mentioned it- I recall one repair shop say that it required a special tool to replace. I called them, because the shop I usually take it do was backed up. However, that place I called said they did not even have the tool- so I had to wait.