I have a 93 Regal custom with 3800 engine. The engine idles at a stop at about 800 rpm. At times it will idle at 1000 rpm or maybe 1200 to 1500 rpm. When the idle is very high I will shut the engine and restart, most times it will return to 800 rpm. I cleaned the MAF and this seemed the frequency has lessened.
View 2 RepliesI've read a vacuum leak will cause this problem and my wife heard a hissing noise when I applied the brakes on the way home for lunch. So I'm assuming a vacuum leak someplace in the brake system, but I've not found one yet using the carb cleaner approach. The brakes worked on the way home but on the way back to work they hardly work at all - very stiff. Could the vacuum booster be the problem?
View 5 Replies190000 miles... Driving on the highway my car began to vibrate and lose speed. I had to shift out of overdrive before I could get the car to respond again. It continued to feel incredibly impeded. I could not push the car over 65mph and couldn't remain at speed going uphill. From a dead stop, the car accelerates incredibly slow in any gear. The engine feels impeded even in P and N almost like the trans does not disengage.
The trans will downshift and kick up RPM when the pedal is put to the floor like normal. What could be causing the trouble and how much it could cost to have repaired? I have checked the trans fluid in park at op temp and it's perfect. No fluid is leaking from the car. Car feels like it's in drive and I'm holding the brakes while hitting the gas... even in P and N so I don't think it could be brakes.
1993 Buick Regal 3.1l V6 Multiport injection
Problem: The care currently has a hard start, and a fluctuating idle. I bought the car a year and a half ago it still has low miles about 94,000. The care used to start fine but had a fluctuating idle in the range of 750 to 2500 rpm. My brother who is a mechanic and doesn’t live near, do all the gaskets when he visited. Then the idle fluctuation dropped to 750 to 1000rpm, when the car rpms fluctuate there is a whirring sound I can hear from the cab, like a pump or pull system. On occasion there is a vibration as well but it is inconstant and irregular. Fuel pressure seems to fluctuate as well. If the car will not start I give it a little gas and it will run fine after a minute or two, but then the idle starts to fluctuate.
No fuse issues I can tell and relays seem to be fine.Checked for lose wiring connections found, none. I have replaced:
- Hoses and gaskets
- Starter motor
- Battery
- Fuel Pressure regulator
- Fuel Filter
- Spark plugs and wires
- TPS
- Idle Air control Valve
- Crank shaft sensor
- PCV.
Right now I’m thinking it could be the fuel pump (a nightmare to change on this car), a fuel injector failing, and the ignition switch.
I have a 1993 Regal Custom. The friction pads on the transverse spring had worn off. I replaced with the aftermarket isolator pads. These work well. The problem I am having is that after a few months they tend to shoot out. You will hear a large bang and then see the pad shoot out in the rear view mirror. This seems to happen when their is a load in the rear of the car. What can be done to prevent this.
View 4 RepliesI have a 1993 Geo Prizm (Toyota Corolla) that idles roughly and lopes only when the engine is fully warmed up to operating temp. I changed the plugs, and wires are only 1 year old and seem to be in good shape. I suspected a vacuum leak, but have not been able to find one.
View 4 RepliesSometimes the check engine light comes on and truck will not start,the fuel pump runs non-stop.. when check engine light goes off,the fuel pump runs for a few seconds and stops,truck will start.... driving down the road check engine light will come on and truck runs bad....
View 2 Replies1993 Geo Prizm, manual transmission: Intermittent failure to start over a two year period, gradually becoming more frequent. The engine turns over every time the key is turned to start the engine, i.e. the starter motor/battery/battery connections work flawlessly. Once started the engine runs flawlessly without misses or shut downs. The only possible problem may be the engine idle speed that seems at times to be too high even after the engine is warmed up. Without predictability, the engine may fail to start when the key is turned.
Remember the engine still turns over normally. It just does not fire up. Two options exist for my predicament. That which is resorted to the most because of the speed of recovery: step out of the vehicle and push start the car by popping the clutch. The other alternative which I have been forced to utilize before because of the physical impossibility of push starting (i.e. if I had been able to push, I would have popped the clutch to start) at the time has been to wait for a protracted period and re-attempt to key start the car. This has been successful a couple of times.
I start it cold then drive two miles, 1 in town 1 on the freeway. It is almost warmed up. For the last three days it dies when I stop at the light on the freeway off ramp, which is down hill. It always restarts but yesterday it run a little rough, some white smoke then it was OK. It runs normal when its warm.
No check engine or any lights. Today however I decided to let it warm up before I left the house. I'm in Arizona it was near 60 degrees. It idles slightly fast since it was cold. I went inside then when I come back out it died before it warmed up. It restarted & I warmed it up, no white smoke & never had a problem taking my usual route.
So it appears it is a cold problem until its warmed up. I have ohm/volt meter but I'm not sure what I should check? I spoke to a repair shop & he said maybe I should leave it overnight & they would check it the next morning.
I would like to check what I can before I leave it with them.
1995 Buick Regal, 128k miles, 3.8L V-6.Problem: When running errands around town, car will temporarily not start after 3rd or 4th stop. Vehicle cranks, has spark, has fuel pressure at fuel manifold. No codes on computer (Wish it was a '96). Car will start normally after cooling off (generally takes at least 45 minutes). No problem driving to work, parking all day, driving home. Have not tried long distance driving since problem arose, due to concern about being stuck for awhile far from home. Have determined at EGR valve is NOT a part of problem.
Sample situation: Drove 5 miles to town. Shopped for 15 minutes. Drove 2 miles further with 5 minute stop. Drove another 2 miles with 5 minute stop. Drove 1 more mile and stopped for 30-40 minutes. Car would not start. Cranks strongly, has spark and fuel pressure (don't know if fuel getting to injectors). Still would not start 30 minutes later. Left car for several hours. Started promptly and ran normally on return. Weather conditions - 90 F, low humidity. Problem has been occurring for several months. No computer codes to dive guidance.
1998 buick regal gs. My problem is when i throw my turn signal on at a stop or coming to a stop the car completely shuts off. Also now I have the problem with when that occurs I try to start it and now it won't do anything! Then once started the brake light and the anti lock light with the trac light is on and wont let me move the gear shifter out of park!
View 5 RepliesI have a 1995 Buick Regal, with a 3.8L engine. When I start the car sometimes it rough idles and I have to give it a lot of gas and then it runs fine. This is completely random. Sometimes it runs just a little rough, other times really rough. The rough idling when starting the car happens about 1 out of 25 times. Sometimes when this happens I get a check engine light, most of the time not. When I am driving around I also will randomly get a check engine light, but I can't tell anything common to it. It has come on while braking, while coasting with foot off the gas and brake, normal city driving, highway driving. Also my CEL always turns off when I turn off the car and doesn't come back when I restart the car. Always.
I haven't been able to figure out what is wrong and since my car is transition OBD1 to OBD2 I can't use a OBD2 code scanner (it is an OBD1 port), nor will shorting the pins in my OBD1 type port give me codes. Being this the case I took it to a local mechanic and they scanned the computer and said they got 16 error codes. They reset the codes but couldn't get the CEL to come back on. I took it drove it for a couple of days the light came back on so I took it back to the shop and they got 18 codes out of it, but they were mostly different, with some of them giving the opposite readings of before (O2 sensor high one time, then low the next check). They said they didn't know what was going on but wanted 3-4 hours to diagnose the PCM (Powertrain control module) and would probably replace the PCM (~500 on top of the diagnostic fee). That was a bit much for me, so I took the car back.
The things I have checked are fuel pressure (seems fine at idle and revving the car in park)Vacuum is 19 and when I rev quick it drops to zero or so then up to 25 and slowly goes back to 19 (I think that means vacuum is ok). I put the gauge in the O2 sensor before the CAT and I didn't read any pressure, so I think the CAT is ok.I put on a new fuel pressure regulator, and a new fuel filter. I got the same PCM at a Pick-n-pull place and put it is my car 3 days ago. Yesterday I got a check engine light while driving again. The mechanic will charge me to check the codes, but I think it is just doing the same thing as always. I am sort of at a loss as what to do. I though it I was to dive around with a scanner hooked up and the light went on then I could see what the sensors were doing when all the trouble codes fire. I was looking at the Actron CP9190, but it doesn't log the data stream for OBD1 cars, only for OBD2.
The equipment:1995 Buick Regal Custom 3.8
I noticed a year ago that my car would randomly stall out coming into work after a 20-25 minute drive. It then started to idle really high, very rarely. So i cleaned the throtle body, new air filter, new fuel filter, sparks, and wires. This is about where my expertise ends.
Its seemed better, however, it would act up now and again (stall) but I was fine with it.
Recently I have noticed that the car idles really high 1.5 in drive (compared to 900) and 2k in park after I have drove for 20-25 mins. So I put the computer to the car and all I have is transmission error codes which I have had since I owned the car at 80,000 miles and I am now to 160,000 miles. This car has been pretty good to me because it starts, goes forward, and backwards! What else can you really ask for. A better idle maybe?
2001 Buick Regal with approx 250,000 miles. 3.8L V6. Non supercharged It's my son's car. Used to be mine, I bought it with 19,000 on the clock.
The battery succumbed to the cold weather last Monday. On Tuesday, I put a new battery in, which itself now works fine. However, since then, the car refused to idle decently. It'll idle right after startup, but once you put it in gear, it'll die. When you start it, it seems to idle normally, you can let it warm up a bit and it'll settle down to about 900 rpm. BUT! Once you put it in gear, it'll stumble and die.
This problem started after battery replacement, so I have to wonder if it's somehow related to that. It ran fine before the battery died. I checked everything over thoroughly, and visually everything looks OK. No loose wires or hoses, etc.;
Today is the first time I've had to work on it since the new battery, so I thought I'd get it out there. I'm getting ready to go put a scan tool on it and will report back with those results.
I now have an annoying "clatter" sound coming from my supercharger cone housing ONLY when the car is in gear and at idle (i.e.,: stop light,etc.).. Had a new serpentine belt replaced 6 months ago with new water pump.114K miles, great condition otherwise.
View 1 RepliesI own a 1996 Buick Regal with 132k miles on it, 3.1L six cylinder. The other day I was doing some general maintenance and noticed that the exhaust smelled like sulfur (rotten eggs). Now, I am loosely familiar with the causes of such a thing but not well enough to diagnose it properly the first time. The car has been idling rough since I got it (almost a year ago now), I have a feeling that it could be the O2 sensor causing the rough idle and the sulfur smell but I am not completely sure. I should have one of those fancy three-part injector cleaners done?
View 6 RepliesI have a 95 Buick Regal, V6 3.8 Liter. The symptoms are the following: stuttering idle. And lack of response at times when I try to accelerate. Like sometimes I'll be driving on the highway, and having no problems. Then I'll be going up a hill at around 55 mph, and then the car will shudder as I try to maintain a speed of 55 mph. So I have to ease off the accelerator and slow down. At first I thought this was a transmission problem, but I am guessing it's the same problem that causes my choppy idle.
So I had this acceleration problem on the highway when I was going up a hill. And a weak idle. These problems have been going on for several months now. They were annoying, but didn't seem that serious. Then all of a sudden, on a rainy day, the car was really responding poorly to acceleration at all speeds. I was able to drive around, but I couldn't count on the car responding right away when I hit the gas pedal. And the car would shudder at times. Then, I didn't drive the car for a few days, and then it was dry, no rain, and the car ran better. So I am thinking humidity makes the problem worse.
I have also noticed over the past few months, that the car runs best when I start it up after a few days of not running it. Then if I drive the car a few miles and let it sit for about 2 hours or so, it would idle weakly when I would start it up again. The car's been doing that for several months now, but it wasn't really affecting the drivability or the response of the car when I hit the gas pedal.
Now it's gotten much worse. So, I've already replaced the following items myself to no avail: mass air flow sensor, oxygen sensor, and egr valve. I am guessing the next thing to fix is the pcv valve. But I also think it might be the fuel pump. My first guess though is the pcv valve. What else could it be? And is there any easy way to test to see if the fuel pump is going bad? Or should I just take out the pcv valve and see if it looks bad?
1991 Buick Regal, 3800 V6
Having a rough idle on a cold start. After some research and closer inspection of the vehicle, I'm quite certain I have at least one leaking injector that is flooding a cylinder and causing the car to misfire on a cold start. I'm also not at the gas mileage I should be at.
So I'm wondering, is fuel injector replacement as straightforward of a job as it looks? Any major issues I could run into in doing a replacement?
I'm planning on replacing all six injectors (I can get them for $50 each buying online with a discount code), but given that the vehicle is so old am I better off just replacing the faulty ones? I'm assuming pulling the spark plugs and seeing which cylinder is wet will tell me which I need to replace.
And one more question: Is there a way to depressurize the fuel system when I park the car for the night, thus preventing fuel (or most of it) from leaking into the engine until I get this fixed? I've read that just unscrewing the gas cap can depressurize the system.
I have a '95 Ford F150 with a manual transmission and when I come to a stop light, the engine will either idle down more then it should then go back to normal or it will idle down and then stall out. And when I accelerate, I have to gun the engine for it to go forward or it will stall out again. I replaced the fuel filter and cleaned the air intake area and it still happens.
View 2 RepliesMy 2002 passat engine shakes when in idle or stop at light. When running on highway, it is smooth. what could it be?
View 3 Replies2009 Ford Explorer - 6cyl -4L - 36K miles. This morning driving it, I came to a stop sign and as I was braking, the idle starting going up (and up and up) to the point where I had to shut off the engine. When I restarted it, everything was fine and of course, I can't reproduce this. I have the shop manual and couldn't find an IAC valve on this vehicle which I'm assuming it doesn't have. I'm sure I didn't accidentally hit the gas (as opposed to the brake which I know I was pressing down on when it was happening). Years ago I had a different Ford which had the exact same symptom and replacing the IAC solve the problem.
View 3 Replies