Buick - Century :: 1994 - Complete Loss Of Power With Key Turn
May 10, 2011
My daughter drives a 94 Century (120+ K) and it was running great, no issues to speak of. Thursday morning she was advised that her brake lights were stuck on when the car was parked in school lot. This drained the battery. The battery was very old so she got a new one properly size & installed; the car started up and drove fine. Later that evening it started up and drove again with no issues.Next morning; NOTHING; No Start. I checked and when door is opened interior lights come on, insert key and door chime rings. Turn key and there is nothing at all, a total loss of power, lights go out, door stops chiming but nothing. Starter never engages, no noise, no attempts of the engine to turn, remove key and lights return and door chimes!
1994 Buick Century 3.1L SFI OHV 6cyl .....
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I have a 1994 Buick Century Wagon with a 3100 SFI V6 engine that I can't get to fire at all. I have read many posts with the same problem but haven't been able to find a follow up fix from them. My Buick just wouldn't start one day after running fine before. I came to this site and tried some of the suggested troubleshooting and found, while testing for power to fuel pump, that if I jumped from the battery to the gray wire on the fuel pump relay the car would start and run fine. So that rules out any fuel pump problems or fuel filter problems. I then swapped fuel pump relay to a different similar relay on the car and still wouldn't start. I have read on this site about the oil pressure/ fuel pressure switch being a possible cause and I believe I have found that switch. It is in the side of the block toward the front of car and has three wires, (orange, tan and gray) going into it.
I was going to try to jumper the orange to gray but didn't want to do the wrong jump in case of negatively effecting the EMC controller, usually green/white wire? I also heard of the crank shaft sensor located on the back side of block but am not sure of which of three sensors I'm seeing back there to test. I guess first I'm looking for proper jumping procedure. I tried jumping the gray to orange in the fuel pump relay but no good. I get 12 volts at that orange and for a couple of seconds 2 to 3 volts at the green/white wires at the fuel pump relay when ignition is turned on, so when I jump the orange to gray at the relay it should start as it does when I jumper from battery to gray. I had relay apart when I jumpered the orange to gray, do I have to jumper with relay together and use a pin/needle wire jumper so rest of relay wires are connected? The same would apply for jumper testing oil pressure switch and crank shaft sensor? If it's not the switch or sensor then it looks to maybe be the EMC?
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1994 Grand Cherokee Laredo, 100,000 miles:
Driving out to see my BF this afternoon I noticed when I accelerated it hesitated a bit. I didn't think anything of it so I let it go. Driving home was another story. I was about 5 miles from home coming up to a red light and I started to brake, the light turned green and I hit the accelerator and I got no juice, I got across the highway and started to brake and the brakes locked up, the steering wheel locked up and then I lost all power. I got the Jeep to stop (right at the exit to a train station ) I tried to turn it back on and got no juice. I just got a new battery about 3 weeks ago. I called 911 since I was stuck in the middle of the road right outside the railroad station. Officer asked me to try to crank the engine again, asked if I had gas (have 1/2 tank) and then got me pushed into a spot until I can get a tow to my house in the morning.
The car has been fine, I never put "off" gas in, try not to let the gas get below half a tank.
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I am having a very tricky problem with my Buick.
For approximately the last 4 months, it has been (at least according to the heat gauge on the dash) running pretty hot. Not overheating, but getting close. And it doesn't take long for it to get there. This all seems to have begun right around the time that my father and I flushed the coolant system.
Since then, I have replaced some parts, and learned a few things in the process.
I learned that there are bleeder screws which can be opened to let air bubbles out. And I have heard that the 3.1L is especially susceptible to them.
New parts which I have installed:
- thermostat
- coolant temperature sensor
- radiator cap
- upper radiator hose
- lower radiator hose
I have checked the water pump and it seems to be perfectly fine. No leaks. No signs of bad bearings. And it circulates coolant just fine. I have not been witness to either cooling fan, primary or auxiliary, switching on in a while.
The exact symptoms are these:
The heat gauge does not take long to get to mid-way point, but will sit at that point for a bit if the vehicle remains stationary. Once the vehicle is in significant motion, the heat gauge will climb fairly quickly, especially with moderately high RPMs. It WON'T touch the red though, but will get very very close to it. The car runs fine. It does seem to be a bit underpowered, but I am comparing it to my fiance's 1996 Olds Cutlass Ciera, which I believe has a different transmission. My Buick does not seem to have lost power since this problem arose. The cooling fans no longer kick on. The oil appears fine. The coolant as well. With the radiator cap off, coolant does not bubble out or shoot out.
I made sure after changing upper and lower hoses to fill the radiator, let the car run long enough for the thermostat to open, and then slowly poured more coolant into the radiator until it was full again. And the reservoir is at proper level and the the reservoir hose s not clogged.
I am not SURE, but I don't believe the radiator is clogged. I believe that covers it, at least as well as I can.
BTW, I do not know where the fan relays are, otherwise I would test the fans to see if they still work.
What the heck is up with my Buick? Also, it has 97,xxx miles on it, and the transmission fluid is at proper level and looks normal.
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1994 Buick Century 3.1
Fuel pump relay is not powering the fuel pump. I was able at one point to jump the orange wire to the gray wire but it will not even do that now. I know the fuel pump works because I can jump from the battery to the gray wire and it will turn on.
I used a multimeter and tested the volts from the orange wire on the relay to the neg post on the battery and it is only reading about 1.3 volts. Is this normal?
Checked the fuel pump 15a fuse and it is ok. I am getting spark. Could it be the crank sensor? How can I test that? (It is above the start I believe). Could it be the ignition control module? How to test? Location? What else can I test with the multimeter and post back with the results to further diagnose?
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The car is a 1994 Buick Century, 3.1L V6, ~ 80k miles. Four months ago she wouldn't start, so I got a new alternator and battery put in. A month later, while on a short road trip, the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree the whole drive home (ABS, airbag, check engine, battery) and the voltmeter bounced around from mid-high to red-zone high. Thinking it was a bad reman, the alternator was replaced again when we got home. A few weeks went by and all seemed to be going well with the new alternator until, after driving around the city for a while, the airbag light started blinking intermittently.
Accompanying the blinking, the battery gauge again was bouncing around. Eventually, when accelerating from a stop, the car stuttered when moving forward, the battery light flickered, and the ABS light stayed on. Worried that I'd burn up another alternator, I had a mechanic look at it before my next trip. He checked the alternator/battery loads and pulley and said that nothing looked wrong. On the next trip, the intermittent airbag light blinking and voltage fluctuation returned as well as a single episode of stuttering from a stop... these things all only seem to happen after at least an hour on the road.
TO RECAP: Voltmeter gauge steady sometimes, bouncy other times... but usually too high. Airbag light blinks intermittently (seems to happen only after car is warm). Sometimes (rarely) the car will jerk from a stop, at which point the ABS light stays on. No check engine lights. Battery and alternator are new. Same problems (voltmeter in red, warning lights) occurred with last alternator until it burnt up. It seems like a voltage regulation / alternator problem, but the same symptoms occurred with two different alternators (with two different internal voltage regulators). I suspect that there is some electrical problem (short?) that is causing the fluctuating voltage and the tendency for the car to burn up alternators so frequently. However, I don't know much of anything about cars. Does that sound right? If so, where do I even start?
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Currently I have a 1998 Buick Century Custom having turn signal issues.
The front left blinker is not blinking. Understandably, with this malfunction, the rear left blinker blinks rapidly when the turn signal switch is in the left turn signal position. However, when I put the hazard lights on, BOTH rear blinkers blink normally as does the front right blinker.
When the headlights are on, the amber-colored blinker bulb remains lit (left front).
The right side front and rear blinkers work great.
I have checked the fuses, replaced the bulb and cleaned the socket of the front left blinker and still have no results. While my next guess would be that the flasher unit is the problem, I don't believe the rear, or front right blinkers would blink if that was the problem.
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Usually, the interior lights ( e.g. over rear doors ) will turn off after a while...but now they stay on as well as the two lights on the rear view mirror.
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I have a 96 Buick Century Special with the 3.1 six cylinder engine. Starting on March 18, 2015 my car has started blowing the Injector Coil fuse any time I take a fast left-hand turn. It never does it during a right-hand turn. I have now replaced the fuse a total of 5 times since March 18.
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Really scary, had my son in the car. Dash read "Check hybrid system". Reading some posts make me think that it may just be the 12V. Had it towed to my house.
60k GEN3 2010 Prius III
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My son is primary driver of our 2011 Limited with push-button start. He phoned me a few minutes ago to tell me he was driving--everything normal-- when there was suddenly a complete loss of power, mechanical and electrical (engine died, dash lights out, nav screen dark, etc.). There was no advance warning of any kind.
The power loss was total but brief, two or three seconds, and then reactivated on its own. My son said he pulled off the road into a parking area, stopped the engine, waited a few seconds and then restarted and is on his way home with everything working normally so far.
First issue with the Sonata--61k miles ....
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I own a 02 fwd v6 Santa Fe that just lost power on the interstate. It will go about 20 miles an hour and basically does not change gear unless it is in manual mode. I was able to drive it to a local repair shop but they are having trouble figuring out what is wrong with it.
First, they told me the plugs and wires were bad, changed those and still no power. Next, they told me it was the fuel pump, change that and still no power. Next, they said it was the catalytic converters but the said they unhooked them to test the theory and it still had not powered. They said it may need back pressure from the cats so that may not work. They want me to buy them but they are very expensive especially on a guess. Next, they told me if that does not fix it is must be the transmission. Will the cats off keep it from running due to back pressure? Does it sound like a transmission issue or could it be something else?
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This first occurred about 2 weeks ago, I had a complete loss of power when stepping on the gas pedal. The engine did not rev or anything, completely unresponsive and the car was just gliding. I've had loss of battery power in the past where the engine was still going, just straining hard, but this was not like it as now the engine was completely not responding either.
I can't recall if it was going up or downhill -- it was around time the incline changed in a freeway ramp that began up and then moves down. At first I thought it was me accidentally putting it on neutral as I have a habit of resting my hand on the shift knob, but putting it in/out of drive did not work initially but after the 2nd try everything was back to normal so I thought nothing of it afterwards.
But if happened again this morning, again on a hill transition, either right before the top of a hill or right as I was coming down it. This time I know I did not have my hand on the shift knob. It resolved itself about the same, I had to shift in/out of drive a few times and it worked fine again a few seconds later.
I've been good with maintenance and changing out everything that they recommended, and also did the IMA battery recall upgrade.
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About three nights ago I had a complete power loss on the highway and the car began to bog down alot under throttle (and surge at points as well although with no boost). It also idled very rough/erratically. When I unplugged the MAF it cleared up right away; Idle was smooth and it ran without hiccup but in safe/limp mode so very tame (again, without boost really, gauge shows it stays in Vacuum and never passes "0" or goes into boost).
I scanned it this evening and got 2 misfire codes and a MAF code, along with a code related to traction control which I noticed had activated as a result of this and could not be turned on (by activated, I mean the light came on, disengaging T/C). These things make me think it is MAF related, especially because I have bolt down Hitachi coil packs so I do not think that is what it could be in relation to the misfire codes (which I think may be old and needed to be cleared).
Fast forward to last night: I can pretty confidently say my MAF is not the problem and I think I saved an unnecessary expenditure. I was able to meet a friend with a 337 as well and his MAF did not change my car at all and my MAF ran fine in his car so I think my problems are something else. Although with the MAF plugged in my car runs very poor and unplugged it clears up and just runs "limp" (no boost and slow but stable) from what I tested this evening the MAF unit seems to not be the issue.
I think there must be a vacuum leak of some sort between the MAF and the engine which allows more air in than the MAF signals when plugged in which causes the issue. Also, I know a common thing to think is "coilpacks" but I have bolt down Hitachi coil packs so I would imagine that would eliminate those from being the failure they tend to normally be. Agreed ??
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Background- 2000 Ranger, 3.0L 2WD 170,000mi. This truck is not my daily driver, i try to drive it once a week.
I've never had this issue before... I drove all over town yesterday; multiple stops, no issue. Today i go to do the same thing and upon accelerating out of the driveway i lose all power for about 3 seconds. I get power back for about 3 seconds then lose it again. This continues for as longs as i'm driving. Also, no CEL. I go back to the house to look things over, can't find anything staring me in the face really.
Truck idles fine and the issue is not present when i run up the RPMs in park. I've been reading some other threads about similar issues and most replies begin with checking the regular maintenance stuff i.e. TB, MAF, IACV, pcv, etc. It seems like a complete loss of fuel or spark...but only when in gear with constant throttle???
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Having issues with a 2014 shutting down. Was at a stop light the other day and car completely lost power and shut down. When this happened oil, engine, and battery light came on. Once I parked car and turned off, it restarted. The dealership acted like I had no idea what I was talking about and would like to have some information when I take it back to have this problem corrected the car is not even 2 years old and has 30,000 miles on it.
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I have a 2004 f250 superduty. I lost all electric to truck. No lights, radio, etc. Turn key and no click or dash lights. I put a charger directly to battery and nothing. Is there a main fuse in power line prior to the fuse box under the dash??
Also, right before this happened, I went to start my truck and my batteries were low, the truck turned over a few times, started dying, so I turned the key off, and the truck kept turning over on its own, as if the circuit remained closed for ignition due to low battery, and it turned over by itself until the battery was completely dead. But putting my battery charger on it now gives me no electric at all.
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A few days ago I posted a thread about losing power on a steep hill climb with a cold engine. I replaced the hybrid battery and all seemed well. A few days later, the problem occurred again--bummer. (The car has 120K miles and has spent most of its life in a hot and mountainous environment, and I knew the hybrid battery was failing, so that's not a problem.)
The car starts the climb OK, gains a few hundred feet in elevation, still has some charge left in the hybrid battery, then loses power, surges a couple of times, then comes to stop. The engine continues to run at idle and I get no warning or check engine lights. The "ready" light stays on. This time, the second time it happened, I turned off the car, turned it back on again immediately, and all was well. The remainder of the 1000' climb went fine. As did several other similar climbs on the same drive. Since then I've climbed this hill with a cold engine without a problem, so it's intermittent.
I hesitate to pay Toyota for a code scan since the check engine light did not come on. Should I do this anyway? My local auto parts store will scan for free, but I know that their scanner will not read Toyota-specific codes, just industry standards.
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About 3 days ago there was a complete power loss to the Driver Side Window and Sliding Door. Checked both fuse panels and everything looked good. Is there a relay that controls the entire driver side? There's no whining or noise at all when you push the buttons. Just complete loss of power. If you press the button for the passenger window on the driver door, everything works. So its not that the driver side door as a whole has problems.
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I'm trying to fix a transmission problem with my work truck. It's a company owned, 2011 f150 super cab, 2wd, 5.0 and 6 speed auto. It currently has 225K miles. The problem is very random occurring 2-3 times per week, usually happens on start up, and goes away after a hand full of engine restarts. It has happened twice on the freeway, the transmission releases and a complete loss of power and coasts to a stop. At the same time, the speedometer goes to zero regardless of vehicle speed. Normally, when it happens, the speedometer does not read, all the mpg, miles to E, and related meters show bars "-----". The vehicle starts and takes off ok, but when it tries to shift, it just releases and the truck coasts to a stop. It will repeat this for a while.
After several restarts, the truck goes back to normal. This has happened a couple dozen times now. The wrench and check engine light came on during the very first instance, but the auto shop said there were no trouble codes stored. They kept it for a week, and said it never reoccurred. I have a lousy video that shows, when this happens, the trans starts in 2nd, jumps to 5th, then 2nd, then 5th. I am past due for a new work truck and this one is on its way out, but has to last another couple of months! This truck has otherwise been very problem free and well maintained. I'm actually thinking of trying to pick it up cheap, if the repair is not too bad.
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2010 Prius, ~250k miles, pressing power button to turn off on results in a semi-regular "pulling the plug experience" instead of a graceful shutdown displaying the mileage and time, can happen a couple times in a day.
IGCT relay and both integrated relays replaced in the fusebox, as well as power switch. Takes between 2-90 seconds to recover and turn back on. Lights out and dark during that period. No codes shown in Techstream.
Sometimes is bad enough that the Nav system reloads the DVD and settings. However, bluetooth and all other functions work once it's up and running. HV battery replaced last year, as well as 12V battery.
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