Buick - Lesabre :: 1997 - Stalls Out When Hot Outside Preceded By A High Pitch Whining Noise
Jul 23, 2014
My sons 97 LeSabre runs and drives like a top most of the time. Twice now though over the last three months it has died on him. Both times the car stalling out has been preceded by a high pitch whining noise that seems to be coming from the fuel pump. The first time, it would restart and run for a few minutes with the whining sound then die again. We towed it and let it sit a couple days and found that cleaning the MAF sensor may fix it. We did this and it worked.However, yesterday afternoon he and a couple friends ran into town, about a 20-mile drive, to run a couple errands. Drove around in town for about 30 minutes and it started the high pitch whine from the tank again and made it a couple miles across town before it died again. Pushed it around the corner to a gas station and parked it. A few hours later, my wife and I went to go get it, didn't know if I would have to push it or tow it, but I turned the key and it started immediately with no whining noise, so I drive it the 20 miles home without incident. The outside temperature yesterday was in the mid 90's and humid, and thinking back to the first time the car did this, the weather and circumstances were almost identical? When used to go to work out, or to work, or just little drives around there seems to be no problem. The car has even run this 45-50 mile round trip without incident numerous times, but at different times of day with cooler temps, and some lengthy waits between driving times.Does this sound like a fuel pump or sensor that could be failing? And why would it only act up under high temp situations? Almost like it was vapor locked, it had plenty of fuel, and didn't make a difference earlier in the heat even opening the gas cap to relieve any pressure? Completely stumped here?
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I hear a noise that sounds like a bad wheel bearing when I hit 68 mph, and it gets worse when I go faster. I've had both bearings replaced, but still hear the noise. It is directly related to speed...the faster I go beyond 68 mph the worse it gets.
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My 07 SCREW 5.4L 4x4 has 77,000 miles and has a high pitch whining noise on front right side of engine. Sounds worse in the cold,increases with RPMs.
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I have recently noticed that my car will stall out when I get up to about 20 mph. My car starts fine, no check engine light on. I has a tendency to just die in the middle of the road at times too. I have changed the spark plugs, spark plug wires, and a new fuel filter. Do I need to change the mass air flow sensor? Or the crank position sensor? I have no problems starting the car either. Runs good when it runs.
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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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Last November my car began stalling while idling at stop lights. It didn't happen all the time, just occasionally. The car would start back up without too much difficulty. I took it to a GM dealer who cleaned the throttle body and decarburized the intake and exhaust valves. They also removed an aftermarket security system which had been installed by the previous owner which they claimed may have interfered electrically with the engine. They reported a history of code P0128 (thermostat sticking open) being stored in the ECM. I did not have the thermostat replaced.
The work the dealer performed did not resolve the issue. During the winter, I've been letting the car warm-up for a few minutes before driving. While warming up, the rpms will sometimes increase or decrease 200-300 rpm then return to normal idling a few seconds later. Sometimes when the rpms dip down low enough, the engine sputters and either recovers or stalls. On most days I don't have any issues and the car runs fine. The check engine light sometimes comes on while this happens, and sometimes it doesn't.
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I'm driving a 95 buick lesabre, good condition, clean, 130k miles on it. 2 months ago the car started stalling and then it died. Took it to a shop, replaced all original fuel pump and fuel lines. Repeat this about 3 more times, all in all, the fuel pump, fuel lines, map sensor, mass airflow sensor have been replaced. Yesterday, the same thing happened. Took it to a different mechanic, he says he drove it for two days and couldn't find anything wrong with it. Is there anything specific in a 95 lesabre that could be causing this? It drives fine for a while, and then out of nowhere it starts to stall, then the car dies and check engine light comes on. Gas is kept above half a tank due to winter conditions and the fact that it's an old car.
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Car wouldn't start, would just kind of do a high pitch whining. Bought new battery and still does it. It might crank right up or take up to 5-6 times. I'm a second owner and I believe it is the starter.
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My GF drives a '05 Camry V6 with 82k miles on it. Just the other night, out of no where my GF's car starts to have this high pitch whining coming from the engine.
I was about 20ft. away when she started the car and from there it sounded like the power steering was out of fluid.. made the exact same sound (any guy worth his whit knows the sound). After I opened the hood I realized it wasn't the PS. After a little trouble shooting the noise seems to be coming from the left side... thought it could be a belt at first, but after playing around I swear it's coming from the heater core/AC lines.
I can feel the vibration in them and when I was pinching them together and putting pressure on them sometimes the noise would lessen or completely go away. I had my GF rev the engine and one time (when I was holding the lines) the noise was completely gone for a few minutes.
I can't pinpoint the exact place the noise is coming from... but after googling it it seems that most of the time strange noises are coming from that area it's either the water pump bearing, alternator or TB.
I took a video, but you can't really hear the noise cause it's a crappy cell video.... but the noise is really loud.
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After I start my Lesabre when cold, after about 15 minutes or so it starts idling high, usually about 1500 , but sometimes it's as high as 2300 while stopped at a light. And a few times it has been 3-4000 rpm after putting it into PARK. After it starts idling high it starts shifting late. If you shut the engine off and immediately restart it, it usually starts idling fine again temporarily. Engine has normal power and runs smooth and idles smooth. It has also randomly died a couple times while driving at 30-40mph but then immediately restarted as if there was no problem.
It has a P0121 code which is "throttle position sensor switch A circuit range/performance problem". It also has a P0420, "Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1) ", which I'm not sure is related to the issue because the check engine light had been on a long time before the idling/shifting issue started happening. Like in the neighborhood of a year and a half before the current issue, but it ran fine the entire time and got 30+mpg on the highway.
First thing I did to troubleshoot was to test the TPS and it seemed ok. Voltmeter readings were .4v with throttle closed and seemed to advance smoothly up to 4.4v at WOT. But, I tested it before the engine was hot and I don't have a Oscope. I then used some carb cleaner and shot it around the injectors and a few vacuum inlets to check for vacuum leaks, to no effect. Engine runs quiet and I don't really hear any vac leaks.
Next, I cleaned the idle air control valve which was pretty dang dirty, but that didn't seem to resolve the issue, although it may have had a slight effect because the issue seems to come and go some while driving now, but I'm not totally sure. I also tested the connector at the IAC and had voltage on all 4 pins between .4v - 11.4v approximately.
Lastly, I got the engine to reproduce the problem and then pulled and then reconnected these sensors one at a time while the engine was idling high:
MAF Sensor
TPS
IAC
Intake Air Temp Sensor
This didn't have the slightest effect on the engine... I'm thinking it might actually be the TPS or IAC but I don't want to just start replacing stuff without knowing damn near certain it's going to resolve the issue. Could a vehicle speed sensor cause this? How I should proceed from here? :?
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I just drove away in a new 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan - had 106 miles when I took title at the dealership - and immediately noticed the most annoying high pitched whine or whistle. It seems to occur under 2000 RPMs and starts around 25mph. It continues until about 45 mps and then either becomes less audible behind the engine noise or stops - hard to tell. When the car slows down, it comes back -- most of the time. It changes in pitch as the car goes faster and as it slows down.
It has been so loud at times that I think it's a police or ambulance siren and I have gotten ready to pull over. It does not happen in neutral when I rev the engine - the car has to be moving. Turning the wheels doesn't seem to make a difference. I am going to take it in to the dealer but I suspect they will just laugh and say that's how the car sounds. I've never had a car that had such an annoying soundtrack - and I've rented about 5 of these minivans over the past 3 years and never experienced this, either.
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99 Buick LeSabre ... I only have one low-beam working, the other low-beam bulb went out today ... When I switch to high-beams, the high-beams come on, but I cannot turn them off via the manual light on/off switch on the door panel ... The Twilight Sentinel works properly, and will shut off the high-beams per switch setting ... During the daytime, the high-beams will just stay on till I turn off the car, manual headlight switch won't turn them off ...
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its 94 degrees outside and I take a ride then when I park the 2003 Buick lesabre v6 3800 custom , I shut it off in my driveway, then as I walked past the car I notice a rubber type high heat smell through the seam in the hood its like a combination of heater or radiator hose and belt rubber smell yet when I open the hood no leaks no extremely hot belt and the hoses just feel normal hot the car runs fine ,no noises oil is high on the mark not low on antifreeze nothing , I just got this car in the early spring and never noticed it until now mid Summer high heat weather .is this normal?
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Just bought a 97 buick ltd and no matter what setting you put it on no air of any kind will blow from the vent.
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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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What are possible causes for"check engine light" being on continuously. 1997 Buick
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I have a 2011 F-350 Diesel. It started making a strange whining sound when I start it in the morning. Very random and only does it when it's 0- -4 c. Took it to the dealership and they said its the cooler fan clutch. Got it replaced yesterday, and this morning I started it up and the whining sound was back. It also had a weird vibrating sound. What it could be?
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, My 1997 Buick Lesabre transmission slips at random when I shift into overdrive. I have my mechanics look at the transmission and have them drive the car to recreate the problem and what do you know the car doesn't do it. I made a post about this problem a while back and it wasn't the A/C that was the problem. I do not drive fast in the car and I checked the Transmission dipstick and the fluid is still red and at the full mark. I brought my car to Auto zone to check the codes but all i get is a loose gas cap.
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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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My car recently started running overtemp not much, but enough to bother me. I flushed the system with no change. after about a week with continued symptoms, my trans started shifting hard between 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd, and running rough in general, sputtering lightly in high gear. I assumed it was running over temp with the rest of the car, so I replaced the radiator and the radiator cap, yet still am having the same problem. Is it still related to the cooling system? if I replace the water pump will i solve my problems, or is it really a hidden trans problem? I'm fairly certain the trans has never been serviced, and I'm reluctant to do so given the high milage, 174,000. The fluid is full, but its very thin, and no longer red, its sort of a pale yellow.
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Pulling into work this morning I noticed my check engine light was flashing. The car (1997 Buick LeSabre, aka The Rolling Couch) was still running and everything seemed normal. I turned off the car and then went back out 3 hours later and tried to start it. It would not start, and the symptom is not one I've had any luck Googling. When I turn the key, it makes a sound, but it's not a click. It's the normal sound when ignition starts, but the engine does not crank at all or turn over. It just makes a single ignition sound and then nothing. Could this be a belt? The starter? I have not taken it anywhere or pulled the error code yet.
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