97 lesabre ghost stall wont start for about 1 hour

sorry in advance for the long typing and strange layout of words.

my 97 lesabre will stall out going down the road iv decided due to loss of fuel.
lights go out power windows stop. The only thing in the car that will work is the stereo, climate control, and starter. Witch makes me think its a ground problem.

The car doesnt prime when you turn the key to on as it should. After about 1 hour she will fire up and do fine.

This seams like a pump harness or ground buss problem. I had the pump replaced, but i have no way of knowing if the mechanic actually replaced it because it worked when i took it in. I didnt know much about fuel pumps when i decided to let him replace it.

I also replaced the icm and coils just for fun.

Lots of people have had this problem but ive never seen a definite answer.

One guy on another thread said he even tried running 12 volts and a fresh ground all the way to the fuel pump and still had it stall out.

Anyway still has the problem. Im down to this car only now and need to get it going.

i guess i need to clean the ground buses before complaining anymore. sorry about the repost of a slimier problem.

:feedback:

Plenty of info on how and where to do this repair, your symptoms point to the ground buss issue. No problem with your added post to the old thread, glad to have you on the forum.

When it won't start, do you have fuel pressure?

Keep a can of carb cleaner handy....when it won't start, spray carb cleaner into the intake....if it starts and runs as long as you spray, it's a fuel delivery problem.....have not seen harness problems on this car......you have to check power and ground with a test light, at the harness connector outside the gas tank.......if you have power(should be constant while cranking the engine), then the problem is the pump or connection inside the tank....have seen problems with cheap fuel pumps.....should always use A/C Delco....

The key to this seems to be the the loss of power window operation at the same time, once the lack of fp is confirmed, there is a common source problem, a wiring diagram should pinpoint this, probably at the ground junction.

ill get back with you guys give me till the weekend thanks for the info. i do think the windows ground at the same place. But ill brake out the haynes manual and see about a wiring diagram

I have been looking into some schematics.....

Now if the power windows go out AT THE SAME TIME as the stalling occurs, and then then starts to work AT THE SAME TIME when the car will start, then yes, it could be a ground splice block problem.......

One thing I would check, is remove the door sill at the driver's door opening, and lift the carpet......if you find water, then you definitely have a corrosion problem.....

there is a splice block, C340, which is like a ground junction block, for your memory seat module, power seat module, LF seat switch, LF window switch, LF door flood lamp, LF side marker lamp, LH outside mirror mtor,

AND

IT IS THE GROUND FOR THE FUEL PUMP.......so if none of these are working, and you have a good ground at terminal 4 of the DLC, then that block is the problem......if you lift up the carpet on the driver's front side, you will see all kinds of wires running along the sill of the doorway.....look for a block with a lot of black wires going into it....that is C340.....

If your windows don't have a direct connection with the no start, for example they work, but the car still won't start, then you can have more than one problem.....

But water under the carpet will cause all kinds of corrosion/ground problems.....

I have been looking into some schematics.....

Now if the power windows go out AT THE SAME TIME as the stalling occurs, and then then starts to work AT THE SAME TIME when the car will start, then yes, it could be a ground splice block problem.......

One thing I would check, is remove the door sill at the driver's door opening, and lift the carpet......if you find water, then you definitely have a corrosion problem.....

there is a splice block, C340, which is like a ground junction block, for your memory seat module, power seat module, LF seat switch, LF window switch, LF door flood lamp, LF side marker lamp, LH outside mirror mtor,

AND

IT IS THE GROUND FOR THE FUEL PUMP.......so if none of these are working, and you have a good ground at terminal 4 of the DLC, then that block is the problem......if you lift up the carpet on the driver's front side, you will see all kinds of wires running along the sill of the doorway.....look for a block with a lot of black wires going into it....that is C340.....

If your windows don't have a direct connection with the no start, for example they work, but the car still won't start, then you can have more than one problem.....

But water under the carpet will cause all kinds of corrosion/ground problems..... correct, great description.

lots of wet carpet i ripped it out a while back also sitting water in the floor board. In fact the c340 was very wet. What can i do to fix the grounds at the c340. Also what is a DLC. How do i know if terminal 4 has a good ground?

Take a test light, and attach it to a good ground......now probe terminal 16....light should be bright.....now attach the test light between 4 and 16....if the light is bright like before, the ground at 4 is ok...

Not sure if you can take it apart to clean the corrosion......otherwise, you can string like three or four of them together, and solder them together with an external wire with an eyelet on the end, drill a hole in a convenient place, preferably above the water , and screw it into the body somewhere, creating your own ground....

DLC....data link connector
http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/12900_dlc_23.jpg

thanks tech 2.

pas de quoi

I started up the buick today im trying to get it to malfunction. If i get this this to mess up why am i checking the power between 4 and 16 at the DLC is that where the ground loops back to the battery? Im a little confused how the DLC comes into play. Also i remembered when its sitting in park running the lights will flash every 15 seconds maybe. is that telling us something?

after watching the lights more close it seams to be totally random flashing some long some short and some shorter. the lights flashing doesn't seam to correspond with the power windows or power seats they are all working at the moment. Maybe its just a daytime night time sensor.

Ok i partly took apart the ground bus and jangled around the wires and i was able to replicate my stalling problem. im going to make my own ground for them. but im confused where a good ground is. On another note my prong light isnt very long and i was not able to get a light at the DLC 16 with the car working or with it not working. I think i need a more expensive prong light.

Stick a paper clip in there, then touch your probe to the clip......

the reason why you go from 16(bat) to 4 with a test light, is to show that you have a good ground......terminal 4 goes directly to the ground that C340 also goes to.....if it didn't light, then you would know the ground is bad.....

You can make a ground anywhere, but you want to be higher up than the floor which is wet......find a dry spot drill a 1/8" hole......make a wire with an eyelet on the end......now just sand a little around the hole to bare metal where the eyelet will touch.....apply a little dielectric grease between the hole and eyelet(prevent corrosion), and then insert a self tapping machine screw, through the eyelet into the hole......attach the other end of the wire to your black wires, and solder them together.....

I put a wire junction block in place of the c340. We will see how long that last. Do you know where the ground for c340 is located?

Not off the top of my head.....but if you ran your own redundant ground, you don't need it...