1988 Buick Park Avenue with 138,000 miles on it. The ignition coil went bad on it a couple of weeks ago, and I replaced it; which fixed that problem. Then, a couple of days later, it ran hot, with no warning from the dash. The car barely had any power, but luckily I was about to pull into my driveway. The next day it started fine, and I went to do some errands. When I came back to start it up, it wouldn't start.

Had it towed home, and it wouldn't start. When I turn it over, it'll turn for a second and act like the motor locks, and I hear the starter whining or disengaging. If I pull off a spark plug wire, I can get it to start, but it runs kinda rough. It also had some white smoke and a little bit of water coming from the tailpipe. The white smoke didn't smell like gas, so I thought it was steam. I figured it was the head gasket. I pulled off the heads, but the gasket was fine. I turned the motor manually via the balancer, and the pistons moved just fine. I couldn't see any cracks with the piston or the walls. So I put everything back together with new gaskets.

So it still has the same problem as before. I also noticed that when it tries to start, it sounds rough, like a mechanical tinging noise or something. It's hard to explain. I know before this happened, the car had a noise, like the timing chain or something. I don't know if it's ever been replaced. I'm exhausted from working on this car. Thanks for reading this lengthy plea for help.

edit:
The fuel is reading 40 pounds, and I don't have any trouble codes. The spark plugs looked normal, but I put new ones in.

Ok, I replaced the timing chain, cam sensor, and crank sensor. the car now works! I also replaced the starter which fixed the starting problem.


I have one slight problem. I'm getting a check engine light, and I tried clearing it with the disconnect battery solution. I'm getting a code 41 (cam sensor voltage). But I put a brand new cam sensor in it. Should I just wait to see if the light goes out, or should I replace the new sensor?