Buick - Lesabre :: 1996 - Intermittently Won't Start / Seems Getting No Gas
May 30, 2012
1996 Buick Le Sabre. About 1 time in 10, the car will not start. The starter is fine; seems to get no gas. Took it to garage for diagnosis. They could find NO problem: but replaced plugs and wires anyhow. Car still refuses to start -- just about 1 time in 10. It seems to have a bigger problem if the car was parked going UPHILL. This is not always the case. Is it likely to be the fuel pump? Is there no way to check this without simply replacing the fuel pump?
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My son's car overheated yesterday due to a sudden crack in the radiator. He had it towed to me. There was no evidence of a blown head gasket or cracked block, so I replaced the radiator. Since the battery was dead, I put the charger on it. When I did that, the heater/AC fan began to blow. The only way I could get it to stop was to disconnect the battery. Even the ignition switch had no bearing on the fan.
I do not know if the overheating and this problem are related. It may be just a coincidence, but it is odd.
This car has a slide to regulate the blower speed. It is not one of those "Select a temp" automatic ones. It will blow cold air out the AC vents when AC is selected, but when the OFF button is selected ambient air goes to the DEFROST vents.
I suspect a relay is stuck, but what relay, and where is it located?
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My friend has a 2003 Buick LeSabre 3800 with approximately 80000 miles. He complains that the car will die while he is driving. I work at a local parts store and have access to code reading scanner. We've checked the fuel pressure at fuel rail several times and is okay. The only thing that seems odd to me is that he says the tach will quit working. It dies like the switch has been cut off. He can wait, sometimes 10 to 30 minutes, and the car will restart. I had him to come by work when the car acted up so I could scan it. It gave crank sensor out of range, and indeed the tach was not working. I turned the car off to scan, and restarted. The tach was working.
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In Oct. my wife took the car 40 miles from home, lost the brakes, and limped into a gas station. The guy there gave her a bottle of brake fluid and some stop leak. He suggested equal amounts of both and limp back home. She drove back and went to the machanic in town. He wanted $365 to replace all of the brake lines. He said there may be brake pressure problems and he will address them later. Recently I loaned my son the car so that he could deliver newspapers.
After 2 weeks we needed new front brakes. I had brake pressure problems. If the brake pedal did not feel spongy then the brakes felt inconsistent-sometimes high and sometimes down to the floor. There was a sticky passenger front caliper that was replaced. The brakes were bleed and are still spongy and inconsistent. I noticed that the reservoir cap is not good. Could the cap be the cause of the sponginess? There are no leaks around the master cylinder and there are no leaks. Should I replace the master cylinder? 1996 Buick LeSabre 3.8L....
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1996 Buick LeSabre 3.8L... Under the pcv valve housing is a short plastic 90 deg. elbow, about 3/4inch wide. The elbow looks like it comes from the upper plenum and goes into a metal housing behind the belt tensioner. This elbow leaks from behind the belt tensioner side. My question: what is this elbow called? How do I fix it?
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I have a 1996 Buick Le Sabre. There is a bad water leak onto the passenger side back floorboard. I have taken it to the dealer and two repair shops. They are stumped. A hard Florida rain can get 2 inches of water on the floor. Tried re-gluing the rubber seal. That did not work.
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My 1995 LeSabre (3800 v6, 62K miles) has a stalling problem, no engine power, but still has electric. It happens randomly and intermittently. Most times it will restart but has been increasingly difficult to restart. The only indicator prior to stalling is the speedometer "surges" and then the loss of power. Dash lights come on (oil, voltage, CEL). Sometimes the CEL will flash in time with a fast clicking that I believe comes from the fuel pump relay under the right side of the dash. Until this clicking stops the engine will not restart. I have replaced ignition control module, and then the crank and cam sensors. Replaced PCM with rebuilt and it was worse (defective?) and put the old one back in. Mechanic can't find any codes to determine what is causing it to stall, except possibly PCM is bad.
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My car would not start yesterday, and I realized the fuel pump was not running. So I bought a new fuel pump today and put it on, the car still won't start, the fuel pump still does not run and I have been told to check the relay. I cannot find the relay for this car.
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I have a 2002 Buick LeSabre. Back information is this. the car has had a coolant leak for years, very slow though. Last night while working (I drive for a living) the thermostat climbed up to hot and then immediately went back down to the middle range where it normally goes, so I thought I was fine. It then climbed back up and staled out. It started again nearly immediately and I made it back to my work. About 30 minutes later I began to drive home. The temperature gauge started to climb up again, and then immediately went back to normal running temperature. I kept an eye on it.
About 2 minutes later it shut off completely. I had dash lights, head lights, and emergency flashers. Trying to restart it killed my battery and I had it towed home. This morning I put water in it (it was a gallon low even though I had filled it three days prior). I got a jump start but the car wouldn't start. It cranked and cranked but would not start. I did notice a leak of water from near the bottom of the engine. I am curious as to what the problem may be and why it is not starting now.
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The car (97 Buick Le Sabre with 3800) ran fine and started fine until one day last week it did not turn over. After about 10 minutes it was tried again and this time it did start. It was used regularly with no issues for the next few days. Then one morning it didn't start (or turn over) and hasn't really been successfully started since. The battery is good and cable connections too. So my mechanic figured it was probably the starter. Since I had this weekend free, me and my friend replaced the starter. But it still did not start. We then turned the ignition to run and crossed the solenoid terminals with a metal tool and then the engine turned over and ran for a brief period (around 5 to 10 seconds) but then killed.
This procedure was duplicated a few times. So we figure it wasn't the starter, the battery, or most of the larger cable connections. The tension wheel had failed on it in the recent past so we wonder if when the belt blew out if it had hit and weakened a wire somewhere that has now failed but difficult to locate. We also wonder if the car's security system maybe failed and it thinks the car has been stolen. This might explain why it won't start or stay running when ignition is circumvented. Note: the panic button on the key fob works properly. All of the fuses were checked and none were found to be blown out. What the root cause of this problem might be and how to repair it?
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I have a 2001 Buick LeSabre (Limited), with 101,000 miles. It runs great and a very reliable car except:
After going for some driving in town during a warm day (60 F or above) doing business, the engine gets warm but within normal temperature range, and after making a stop to get groceries for eample, I have to be very careful when starting the car again. If I let the starter go for more than a quarter tourn (crank), the engine gets week and acts like it is flooded with gas, just like when we had carburators in old car and it dies after a few shakings.
So I have to wait for 15 minutes at least before I restart the engine but doing so I have to be really careful again not to let the starter crank for more than a quarter turn. However, this problem does not happen during cold weather days (say below 40 degrees F). What is going on with my car?
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My buick has a weird problem, basically it wont start the security light comes on, nothing and i mean absolutely nothing works inside of the car and the power window circuit breaker under the back seat is burning hot, obviously its an electrical problem but I am thinking its the body control module but I want to be sure .... what it could be?
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My dad has a 98 Buick La Sabre that will shut off at times. It once shut off as he was turning on the air cond. last summer. Right after it stalled and would not start he attempted to open the windows but they would not work. After a few hours and cooling off it started and the windows worked again. He took it to a shop who said it was the map sensor. They changed it but the problem happened again a few weeks after. The fuel pump has recently been changed along with the fuel filter.
One mechanic suggested it could be the ignition control modular or knock sensor. He recently got a different car so I an going to test drive it for a while. If it shuts down I will test for spark to confirm it is not a fuel problem. I will also try swooping relays to see if that is not the problem. I will be cleaning all the connections I can find with contact cleaner as it can't hurt.
What could be the problem. Could it be a short, a bad wire that once it gets to much of a load on it cuts the engine off?
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I have a 99 Buick LeSabre and it died while I was pulling into a parking lot. It wouldn't start back up. I tried listening for the fuel pump and nothing. It's not priming or making any noise. Once I got it home I replaced the fuel pump relay. Still nothing so then I changed the fuel pump. Still nothing. I'm stumped. I'm going to check all the wires tonight to make sure I got them on right. Is there any other relay or fuse on these cars that I can check?
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I was wondering my buick a 1995 lasbre it cranks up fine and the engine light comes on and off when i start driving it cuts off and cranks right back up people say its the crank sensor...
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Having a problem with my 1997 Buick Lesabre. It's a v6, automatic 4 door, and I live in good ole HOT Florida.
Anyway for about two weeks ago I went to start up the vehicle and it would turn over, run for about 2 seconds, and then turn off and did that about 5 or 6 times. Knowing very little about cars I had a friend try to jump me, and nothing, still wouldn't turn on. So I left the car there, came back five days later. It started and ran, and I drove straight to the mechanic. I had noticed my belt whistling a little so he put on a new built, fix a power steering pump fluid leak, and put on a new belt tensioner.
Anyway, I pick it up a week ago and it starts up no problem. Today the problem has started again. Some times now though it will start up, run for a little while and then just shut off. Doesn't seem to make a difference whether I am idling or not. Sometimes now though it will turn over, but not actually fire up and start.
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I have a 1994 Buick LeSabre Limited with a 3800 engine.When the engines cold,it starts fine and drives fine.When it reaches operating temp,if you shut it off. It will crank but not start back up until its cold again. I've replaced the crank and cam sensors but no change.
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Every once-in-a-while I've noticed a "security" light is illuminated on my dash-board. When this happens, I can't start my 92' Buick LeSabre for about 5-minutes or so. Aggravating, to say the least. Is there something I can do? Including "disabling" it?
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I have a 1997 LeSabre with 180000 miles. I can drive the car for 4-5 miles before it stalls and then dies. the car will start to idle fast, then bottom out a couple of times before it dies. It also makes a horrible noise under the hood and sounds like the rods are all clanging together. Once it dies, it will not restart until it has sat there for 30-40 minutes. After sitting for some time, it will crank right up and then repeat the process again. My oil pressure is off the chart high and it stays there all the time. Does this have something to do with the problem of is that another problem all together? What is causing my car to die like this and how do i fix it?
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I have a 96 buick regal thats been giving me problems for over a year now. it from time to time acted like it was out of gas even though it might have a half a tank. Turns over fine but won't start after it sits for a couple of days then it starts fine. Last summer my son replaced the fuel pump after doing a pressure test and getting a low reading. No more problems until jan then it started doing it again. Well about 3 months ago it wouldn't start so I had my wife turn the key on and I stuck my ear in the fuel fill tube and I could not hear the fuel pump.
I checked the fuel pump relay by putting my finger on top of it and I can feel it click when the key is turned on. Also the air relay next to it is the same so I switched them no change so I replaced the fuel pump again and also the sending unit so every thing in the tank is new. Car still won't start can't hear the pump running and i checked for spark no spark now. My other son has been saying he thinks its the ecm so I just put a reflashed used ecm in. Did the security relearn procedure still nothing. whats next? Somebody told me check the cam and crank sensors and wiring. I also replaced all the ignition coils last summer.
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Because my car would intermittently start with the key (it would run fine if I jumped the relay at the starter) I just put in a new Autozone lock/cylinder in my old '96 Lumina LS. Prior to the install, I took the new lock/key and old key to the locksmith, who told me he has the tool to read the resistance on the key which corresponds to the computer in my car and I wouldn't need to go to GM. Also, the brake lights weren't working right so while I had the steering wheel off I replaced the turn signal switch too.
I went to check to make sure the turn signals/brake lights worked before buttoning everything back up so I reattached the battery, with the key in the new lock; the dash lights came on, the chime went off as they should. I then put the ignition key in the 'run' position and the chime died and the lock mechanism will no longer turn and I get no lights at the dash. The car won't shift and I'm effectively screwed! FYI - The headlights and brake lights both now work but I can't turn the key in the ignition. Did I just get locked out? Did my locksmith hand me a line of bull?
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