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1993 Olds Cutlass won't start and stalls
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rose701
User
Nov 19, 2007, 3:56 AM
Post #1 of 2
(1938 views)
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1993 Olds Cutlass won't start and stalls
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1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera S-
About 6 months ago I took a short drive (less than 5 miles) - parked the car and 40 minutes later it would crank but not start. That first time I returned to the vehicle about 7 hours later and it started right up. This has happened repeatedly in the last 6 months. It was completely random and the short drive theory went out the window when it would happen after a long drive. I determined that if I waited 15 or 20 minutes that the car would start. I took the car to a local shop and the proprietor told me it could be one of many things - probably a sensor or fuel pump related problem. This after the car started uneventfully all day for him. We decided to just leave it alone and hoped that it was just a fluke and wouldn't happen again.
Four times in the last four days the vehicle just stalled while going down the highway. I pulled over - turned on my flashers - rolled to a stop and the car restarted like there was nothing wrong. Last night the vehicle stalled and would not restart. I waited for a ride and abandoned the vehicle on the roadside. Any theories? The engine is a 3.3 liter (160 jp) V6.
-Thanks, Chris
(This post was edited by rose701 on Nov 19, 2007, 5:34 AM)
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DanD
Veteran
/ Moderator
Nov 20, 2007, 5:39 AM
Post #2 of 2
(1920 views)
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Re: 1993 Olds Cutlass won't start and stalls
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To over simplify the problem, it is lack of spark or fuel; the best thing you could do towards finding the problem is to learn how to check for these two basic items. By doing this you’ll reduce the playing field that this gremlin has and have a better chance of catching him.
Get yourself a spark tester, they are fairly inexpensive and are found at almost any parts store.
Here are a couple examples of testers.
What you would do is the next time the car stalls and or won’t start. Unplug one of the spark plug’s wires and connect it to the end of the tester that looks like a spark plug’s wire terminal. Then using the pinch clip, attach the tester to anything metal on the engine. Have the tester situated in a way that you can see the end with the air gap, which is where the spark if there is any will jump. Now try starting the car; watching if you can see any spark at the tester.
If there isn’t spark, there’s no sense check for fuel; the computer will not allow the fuel pump to run, if the computer doesn’t see a rpm signal (spark).
If there is spark, you should also be able to hear the electric fuel pump running inside the fuel tank, while cranking the engine. You may need a helper to crank the engine, while you’re listening back close to the tank.
Before I get any rebuttal from the other techs here, I know that just hearing a fuel pump running doesn’t mean that it’s producing adequate fuel pressure. But I did not want to tell this person too start spraying fuel all over a possibly hot engine; by depressing the schrader valve at the test port.
Doing the above doesn’t fix anything but it’ll give you some ammunition to take to your local repair shop; which will help them to find this intermittent problem.
Dan.
Canadian "EH"
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