Wanting to start but doesnt.. bah

My 1993 olds 88 is having its share of problems at the moment. The car would not start any longer.. Would crank but no start... Well after running through the usual things so far i did find today that the 3 wires to the camshaft sensor were melted.. so all 3 wires at the plug were exposed and crossing.. So i checked the rest of the harness making sure there were no more exposures.. and all is fine.. from the looks of it .. i believe the melt was from the wires being out of the heat shield.. after i get it rewired and such i get it all back together.. and the car is catching every 3 secs or so.. but it just doesnt start. So now im wondering what kind of damage that short could have caused? Could it kill the sensor or computer? or both? :banghead:

So right now i know i Have good fuel pressure and Spark to all 6 cylinders I have even Changed Crank sensor.. The autoparts store was closed by the time i did all this so i could not change the cam sensor out yet. If anyone has some ideas what else could be wrong or to check that would be great :iceslolan

Any check engine lite, do the injectors pulse, will it fire with carb cleaner sprayed into the intake, it should satart even with a bad cam senso,r but it requires extended cranking.

Any check engine lite, do the injectors pulse, will it fire with carb cleaner sprayed into the intake, it should satart even with a bad cam senso,r but it requires extended cranking.


The check engine light has been on my mom said. (its her car) Putting starting fluid into it does not have any affect at all.. So im guessing that the spark is not strong enough maybe to fire it or not firing properly... :screwy:

Get the code and post back, also hold up on the cam sensor till you determine good spark and injector pulse, other possibilities enter the picture here. Check the wires from the crank sensor to the ign module also. If possible get a scanner on it and check for rpms on the scanner when cranking.

Get the code and post back, also hold up on the cam sensor till you determine good spark and injector pulse, other possibilities enter the picture here. Check the wires from the crank sensor to the ign module also. If possible get a scanner on it and check for rpms on the scanner when cranking.

I was checking spark today.. and seen that most of the spark plugs were not bright blue.. they were very faint red.. no popping neither.. i ran a compression test on it cold and i think maybe two of the cylinders rings are pretty worn.. But.. anyways.. as i was testing each plug.. i seen one was not even working at all.. so i put in another plug.. and it sparked.. so that plug was just plain ol dead.. put some new plugs in.. and it started right up... amazing... it still does not have a blue spark.. but redish... so im wondering if some other problems besides my mom not having the spark plugs changed regularly caused an issue..

Well if it is running now monitor what happens from here, still may have history codes so try and retrieve them.

Well if it is running now monitor what happens from here, still may have history codes so try and retrieve them.

Took the car for a drive after everything was back together.. got the oil changed and all that.. It took about 20 mins before the computer relearned everything.. so it drove like crap and idled badly till then.. now it will go without problem and idle pretty good.. I am noticing though that after i come to a stop the dash lights and headlights are dimming a bit.. which in turn makes it idle hard for a sec.. so i checked the battery terminals making sure they were tight.. still does it though.. so ill have my alt and battery testing tomorrow.. and have codes pulled.. i had the battery unhooked for awhile so i think old codes are probably gone.. but then again.. the check engine light is still on.. so who knows.. will post when i find out.. thanks for the help thus far..:grinno:

well found some new problems with the car... this car has an obd2 connector.. but a obd2 scanner will not work with it.. so its gotta be a obd1 with a 2 connector.. not sure if thats considered 1.5 or not.. so i was unable to get codes.. i think i have found the reason my spark plugs died all of a sudden... i believe there is a blown head gasket on one of the heads.. the front one actually... cyl 3 and 5 have low numbers. between 80-100 psi.. all the others are 170+... Its blowing white smoke out the tail pipe and the water is disappearing like a magic show.. im gonna try a leak down test on it when i can find the attachment for it... bah.. the car ran great before we filled the water up lol.. then i guess the water started fouling out the plugs again.. and it runs like crap again... when things go bad.. they just go all at once.. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:


Is there alot involved with changing the front head of this car? it doesnt look to tough.. but i know looks can be decieving..

wow ive never herd of a 3.8 with a cracked head :(

Make sure to test the upper intake manifold (plenum) before accusing the head for leaking,this is a known problem with the 3.8.Post back and let us know,Good Luck.

Make sure to test the upper intake manifold (plenum) before accusing the head for leaking,this is a known problem with the 3.8.Post back and let us know,Good Luck.


hmm ill have a look at it.. but im not sure exactly how to "test" it?

ok i pulled the plenum off.. and sure enough there is water everywhere.. it was even in the air hose.. The gasket doesnt look to bad and i know its suppose to warp around the egr tube? I know that the water passages are on both sides of the egr tube.. Is there a way i can test the plenum for cracks? It doesnt "Look" warped.. or could it possibly be just the gasket itself?

Usually you can see deterioration of the passage next to the egr or the egr passage itself if you look closely at both ends of the uim. Warpage is not the issue. The uim is only 150.00 from Napa, so either way I would replace it.

Usually you can see deterioration of the passage next to the egr or the egr passage itself if you look closely at both ends of the uim. Warpage is not the issue. The uim is only 150.00 from Napa, so either way I would replace it.

thanks! there was some crud covering the holes.. but both passages are going into the egr tube ! Doh! :banghead: atleast i didnt tear my head apart for that.. so im seriously happy about it.. thanks for all the help guys!

Just a thought,if it was me doing the replacement,after the job was done I would replace the oil and filter and pressure test the cooling system before starting the engine,if it is good I would then start it and let it run for awhile because it will probably smoke and run rough for a little bit but then will run better also it may run a little rough untill it relearns itself,Good Luck.