Buick - Century :: 2001 - CEL - Burning Smell - Loud Rough Idle?
Jul 14, 2015
I own a 2001 Buick Century Limited that has 208k miles on it. A couple days ago I started the car up at a friends house and noticed that it had a loud rough idle and that the check engine light came on. When I drove the car home, the CEL would flash when I accelerated and I could smell something burning. When I released the gas pedal and coasted, the flashing CEL would return back to a solid state but I could still smell the burning. When I would accelerate, the CEL would start to flash again. Whenever I was stopped at a stop sign, the flashing CEL would again be solid and there would be a loud rough idle along with the same burning smell. Am I looking at an engine replacement or an easy fix? One problem or could it be multiple problems?
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I have a 2001 Buick Century, ~120,000 miles that a couple months ago started smelling like gas or exhaust+gas when the heat was turned on. I've changed the cabin air filter. I don't know how much that could have ever worked. I couldn't find a gas leak in the engine compartment, but I didn't give it a really close inspection. Where should I check for the most likely leak? Or could it be more of a problem with the cabin air intake?
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I have a 92' Century w/107 K miles that has a medium rough idle. This is a summer use vehicle for me. I have done the normal maintenance on this motor w/ new plugs and a good Napa wire set. Any bad vacume lines that I can get at have been replaced including the vacume tree on top of the motor. Has anybody had coil issues or ground issues with this motor?
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When damp or foggy, my 1990 Buick Century 3.3 will either not start or start and idle rough. Spraying WD-40 on coil packs and wires work. I tried click and clack's method of misting water on the 3 coil packs and wires when idling, and got arching on middle coil, # 2 wire to top of coil pack. Do I need to replace that coil, or just the spark plug wires? The slight mist of water on that middle coil stalled the engine, and it would restart after WD- 40 was sprayed on the coils/ wires.
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[URL] I even pulled the same P0170 code. And what I need to do before I spend a boatload of money and wind up sleeping in my car instead of driving it to work or lack therof is to start a troubleshooting list starting from where Sabot's update left off, i dont even know where the vacuum line is that he mentions and if i sprayed carb cleaner on it would i get a jump in engine RPM or a stall as a test?
What I have done: Cleaned MAF sensor, changed fuel filter.
What I have not done: Checked all vacuum lines, Tested fuel pressure, Tested for compression issues due to blown head gasket.
there is also a puffing noise coming from the exhaust side of the engine, im gonna grab a bottle of baby powder this afternoon and test for air leaks, i dont believe it is a misfire...
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Was driving home just now when my car (2003 Dodge Caravan SE) started acting strange. Stopped at a light, it started going back and forth a little, like the transmission was stopping and starting. As I drove I noticed that it kept doing that when I had the accelerator pressed slightly. When I pressed the accelerator more fully, the problem seemed to mostly (not completely) go away.
When I got home (after driving like that for about 2 miles), it seemed worse. When I stopped the car and had it idling in Park, the engine died. I was able to restart the engine, but it seemed like it was having trouble staying on (though it did for a minute or two until I turned it off).
When I got out of the car, I noticed a bad smell coming from the engine, like burning. Also noticed a loud sound, like knocking. My first thought was that I didn't have any oil. So I checked the oil and the transmission fluid. Both were fine. After about an hour I restarted the car, and it wasn't doing it anymore. Maybe because the car had cooled down?
What this might be or what else I can check?
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I 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?
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Last month I changed the oil and filter in my 1992 Buick Century with 264000 miles. I used a name brand (Citco) of the correct oil, 10W-30, API Service SN. I bought the oil on sale at a local supermarket. Now, I hear a loud tapping sound from the engine, especially when it's cold. It dosen't sound as loud after warm-up. The tapping increases in frequency when I rev up the engine. I don't intend to keep this old car much longer, but is this problem an immediate concern? Could it be a valve problem? Could it Could I have bought some bad oil with a conterfeit label? Other than this noise, the car runs okay.
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I have a 1995 Buick Century with 149,000 miles that will occasional and randomly idle rough when started warm. Also, on several occasions it will idle so rough it kills the engine and I'm unable to start the engine until the thermostat reads completely cold. I've taken it to 2 separate mechanics who both are unable to pull any error codes (even after the engine has died) and are unable to duplicate the problem. When it does idle rough most of the time I can rev the engine, put it in gear and drive it for a few minutes and the problem disappears. Other times I try to put it into gear and it kills, I put it into park and try to restart the engine and the engine will start for a brief second and then die and will die faster each time I restart until the engine doesn't turn over at all. Then once the thermostat reaches 'C' it starts up like there was no problem at all.
Here is a list of recent pertinent repairs:
- Replaced Battery 12/2/11
- Replaced plugs and wires 4/11/12
- Throttle Body Gasket and Fuel Filter Replaced 3/18/13
- PCV Hose replaced 2/19/14 (last mechanic's guess on the problem)
I don't notice any signs of a rich fuel mixture or abnormal exhaust (there was a discussion with a Buick with no start that had this).
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My grandpa's old wood paneled station wagon is sick. The idle seems to be getting rougher and rougher with every time I kill the battery (I've somehow left my headlights on four times in the past two months and needed a jump). It's to a point now where if I don't throw it in neutral at stop lights and keep a tiny bit of gas on the engine it stalls out.
Notes:*When it first gets jumped after being dead, if I stop even for a second, it dies instantly.*While cruising - it is fine. *It idles smoother stopped in neutral than it does stopped and in drive. *It seems a bit rougher with the engine is cold, but still rough and can stall with the engine hot. *Some random times it idles just fine (like for example the first few seconds on start up, and then it sounds like the engine is decreasing in rpm automatically, and then it is rough again).
Could the dying battery and rough idle be related?? The battery guy says "if it starts fine, the battery is fine" (it does start fine, although keeping the radio on for 20 minutes without it running will kill it).
Also other problems with my car in case this has anything to do with it: *I have a leaky tail pipe*my ABS has recently been randomly engaging at low speeds (next problem to work on...)
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1990 Buick Century w/3300 V6, fuel injection, less than 80,000 miles ... Vehicle may have had 200 miles p/yr put on it last 3 - 4 yrs. Was still regularly serviced. No previous problems no fluid leaks, clean motor.
Hesitated on hwy twice, wouldn't start after second hesitation, but did later & ran good. Wouldn't start for about 15 mins. after fueling once, but ran good when did start, had fuel pressure at sharder valve both times. Next trip after about 10 miles, started loosing power, finally quit, NO pressure at sharder valve. Towed in. Mechanic said ECM bad, changed it, ran idle, but would not accelerate, chk'd everything. Put different ECM in, same thing, idle, but won't accelerate, has chk'd fuel pressure, fuel regulator, ICM, CPS, everything can think of...
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1991 Buick Regal. I'm driving at night a few days ago and all of a sudden the lights on the instrument panel go out. The headlights are still on and the radio is still playing.
So I click the headlights on and off and the instrument panel lights come back on. The next night this happens again. This time I just give the headlight switch a little jiggle and they come back on. Tonight they go out again, jiggle the switch and they come back on. They go right back out. Jiggle the switch again and they're on.
I drive for another five minutes and now I smell plastic burning; it's the typical electrical/wire short smell. I turned the interior lights on and there was no visible smoke.
I'm going to try and pull the dash tomorrow and see what's going on in there, but they want $400 for an OEM replacement switch! I found some used ones online, but I'd have to get them mailed from a junk yard for about $50 bucks.
So I'm wondering, is there a easy/cheap way to rig a headlight switch in the interim so I don't have a fire in this thing? I don't understand why a headlight switch has so many prongs on the connector.
The only caveat is that the guy who had this car before me rigged the ignition through the headlights (I was told as some kind of security feature?) so that the car will not crank unless the headlights are on. Maybe/hopefully some shoddy wiring on that is just causing an arc.
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I have a 2001 Buick Century that started making a noise from what seems to be the engine. It sounds like a jet engine when I accelerate. The noise is still there when I cruise, but it evens out. It is loudest when going between 40 and 50mph. The car is not overheating, and other then the noise it drives fine. My husband at first thought it sounded like the catalytic converter had been stolen, but he rarely knows what he is talking about. What could it be?
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Replaced sensor, light stays on.Removed sensor, grounded the probe, light goes out.Replaced antifreeze, bled system twice, no air or oil.Getting desperate. Removed and cleaned battery to body ground strap.Removed and cleaned battery to engine ground strap.Today found out there is no error code in the OBC but the light is still!
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There's been an interesting progression of trouble with my 2001 Buick Century:
My heat/AC had been working fine for years. About a year ago, the dial which controls the force of air (off, low, high, max, etc.) broke. But the 'off' and 'max' portions still worked. I could get full blast, or nothing. I didn't do anything, because I could still get what I wanted.
Just yesterday, I switched my heat to max - and nothing! No air comes out at all now. Obviously this is problematic for the upcoming winter.
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I drive a 2001 Buick Century. Sometime last month (or maybe the month before), my digital odometer was on the fritz. There's a little sub-partition to my dash that houses my digital odometer as well as the indication as to what gear i'm in (PRND32). So it started fading a little, then on some days it wouldn't light up at all. I know the odometer is still working, because on the days when it would light up, it didn't pick up where it left off, rather it had been working the whole time I couldn't see it. And this started going in and out more and more frequently until now it hasn't lit up in about a month.
So, i take my car into my mechanic for an oil change (just had to guess at how close i was to 3,000 miles) and I ask him about it. He tells me that it'd cost so much in time and parts that I might as well not even fix it.
So now what? I'm fine just driving around without it. I know what gear I'm in without my car having to tell me, and I guess I can just estimate when to get my oil changed, although it's rather inconvenient. But what do I do when I want to sell it or trade it in? The longer I go without knowing my mileage, the farther afield an estimate will be.
You know, what I was thinking is that I really just need someone to run a red light and total my car. Then insurance would cover me and the odometer would be low on my list of worries. I just hope the airbags still work...
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I have a 2001 Buick Century which is more or less reliable. Last year the fan stopped working on the first (low) setting, but continued to work on levels 2-5. Air came out of all of the vents, using the fan, A/C, or heat with no problems. A few days ago, level 2 stopped. The next day levels 3 and 4 stopped. The fan still works on the highest setting, but it's just starting to be summer in Minnesota and I'm worried that level 5 will stop on the hottest day of the year. Is this a simple fuse problem I can fix myself? Complicated repairs are probably beyond me, but I can do basic repairs.
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My current issue is as such: I started my car the other evening after a long day at work to find that when I started the car (I always leave the heater/AC control in bi-level mode with the a/c on with the fan at low or not on at all, unless I need the floor heater or the defroster) the interior of the windshield as well as the side windows instantly became fogged up. It took close to 10 minutes for the windshield to defog. Upon arriving home from work, I checked the reservoir where the coolant is recirculated and found that it was bone dry.
After the vehicle had cooled down, I popped the radiator cap and indeed the radiator fluid level was down. I replaced close to a 3/4 gallon if not a tad bit more of 50/50 mix. The next morning I started the car and the problem was still there and it took a few minutes for the heater to heat the car. Last evening and then again this morning, after the engine cooled to ambient temp, i squeezed the upper and lower hoses and there was still coolant in both hoses and thought this was odd, but I started the car w/o the fan on and the problem seemed to go away, but I noticed it didn't take any time for the car to heat up. Taking all of these things into account, is this a heater core(no coolant in cabin) or water pump problem or simply a bad thermostat?
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My backup lights only work when I have one bulb or the other installed but not both. The other 4 mini lights in the same circuit on the trunk work. The backup lights do not work at all when the headlights are on. Could it be the backup light relay and where is that located? I checked wiring on the trunk and multiple bulbs.
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Just got a weird chemical smell on my way back from lunch and the a/c stopped working. Pulled up to the garage and there was a smell of burning under the hood, plus a fairly loud hum, and also these weird noises that sounded like electrical discharges from underneath.
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Had this problem yesterday and drove my car home about 3 miles running very rough and very sluggish! I could smell something like burnt oil or rubber when I stop but not too bad_no smoke. We are at a ski resort and will have to drive our vehicle about 70 miles to nearest vw repair shop. Is it ok to drive my passat with this rough condition? I am guessing ignition coil or spark plugs.
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