Trouble with my Park Ave.

Hello, folks I could really use some help with some problems I am having with my 1999 3.8L Buick Park Ave. It has approx 84K miles on it and when I purchased it a few years ago it had approx 60K miles on it.

For some background, when I orginally purchased the viehicle, I had some major trouble getting it to turn over. Randomly the car would not start or even attempt to turn over but the problem was totally random. After a long struggle to figure it out, we discovered that it was a crank shaft sensor. We replaced it and never had another problem like that again. But from day one I noticed that every so often I would have a performance issue when accelerating. The car would sometimes be sluggish and struggle to shift gears. But this problem also was very random and didn't happen often. It was so infrequent that I ignored it since I could almost never reproduce it. Well recently this problem has gotten alot worse and here are the symptoms:

1) The car is very sluggish when accelerating. It struggles and even "knocks" when attepmting to shift into higher gears. When testing this problem, it struggled to shift into 4th gear while I was accelerating quickly. It took until I reached between 4-5000 rpms to shift into 4th.

2) My tacometer seems to have an electrical problem and is acting up. The gauge will "dip" and then rise back up over and over again. These "dips" will occur while idling and will be between 2-400 rpms. While accelerating or driving the "dips" are more signifigant and in the range of 500-1000 rpms. But the engine appears to be running smoothly and that is why I am thinking it is some sort of electrical problem.

3) My passenger side front window will not roll down. I have power windows.

4) Around the time I started having the sluggish acclerations, the SES light came on in the viehicle.


Here is what I have done so far:

-I took the car in to be serviced and have the oil changed and fluids filled.

-They noticed that the transmission pan gasket was leaking slightly and recommended that I service the transmission. I havne't done that yet because it is apparently a small leak.

-I put an additive in the gas tank to clean the fuel system and filled up the gas tank and re-tightend the gas cap incase this was the problem. When I did this the SES light turned off but a few days later it came back on.

-I then today took the car to a friend of mine who has a computer diagnostic tool. He plugged it in and got an error message for the crank shaft sensor. We atfirst were thinking this might have been an old message. So he cleared out the errors and we drove the car for a while.

We got one error message. It was a "P0336" Crank Shaft position sensor error. He said it mentioned something about a CKP range / performance sensor issue.

I am really not sure where to go from here or what is causing the problem. It sounds like I have maybe more than one problem? I could use some advice as I am not very skilled with car repairs. If ya want me to build you a wall or put in a window I am great with that. :wink: But I am still very inexpierenced with cars.

Welcome to the Forum. your engine type when no bugs in it will run 200k+ miles. Hang on

First your posting several problems on one thread.. not to your advantage or ours. Perhaps a moderator can straighten that up.
But anyway,

Is yours supercharged?
Is it cold when you try accelerating?
Many sensors control the mix at different times. MAF, IAT, ECT, O2.

PERFORMANCE PROBLEM
I suspect you only have one problem causing several symptoms here. I have heard of new aftermarket Crankshaft sensors acting up.
The new sensor may have come loose or clearance mis alligned..
The Tach acting up may be sign of the ECM not seeing the RPM properly, as you may have guessed. However usually the engine will suffer or surge with the drop if its the Crank sensor, unless its a wire after the ICM Igition module going to the ECM computer, then there would be less noticable RPM drop. The ECM may do some adjusting for what it wrongfully sees.

Servicing the transmission will usually get you a new pan gasket and change fluids.. Quite often just a fluid change will help those little valves work better and has cleared shifting problems. Probbly an advantage to you if the transmission has 80k miles.

If it continues to throw a new code after cleared you may think of put it through a diagnosis shop. $$ It may be the signal to the ECM from the ICM thats messin up. In my model the sensor transmits to the ICM, the ICM cable comes from the ICM goes to a connector under the Alternator and then to the firewall connector and then to the ECM. Any of which could be intermittent.. Popular problems noted by GM are at the ICM connector getting dirty and I believe they are addressing that on newer models.

NOTES
I understand the shifting is controlled by the ECM via sensors. (duh?)
Learned this by seeing ECM performance chips CUSTOM EPROMS can change the speed at which the transmission shifts.

WINDOW
You will have to check the wiring for source voltage comming into the door. Voltmeter and tracing. Opening door panel and such. There is a connector problem in forum mention to fail just inside the door as it goes in near the hinge causing your symptoms. If you tackle this you may ask the forum for color codes and be ready with a DVM volt meter.

Perhaps a little more info may help forum participants and can give you more focused direction as your next step.

There are extreme experts here as moderators and participants.
There are also shade tree mechanics.
Watch for Moderator responses..

RECHECK CODES.

Welcome and Good Luck

First your posting several problems on one thread..

Ah I was trying to give as much information as possible as I read in these forums it is important to do. Forgive my ignorance but I really don't know as much as many others about what is pertinant and isn't. I kinda figured that the window problem was different but I just mentioned it out of a desire to be through.


Is yours supercharged?
Is it cold when you try accelerating?

I am not sure if it is supercharged or not. I am happy to check if you can give me an idea as to how to check.

And when it is cold or hot while accelerating, I am having the same problem :banghead:

I do thank you very much for the advice and help. It is starting to sound to me that I need to atleast service the transmission either way to hopefully elminate that as a possible problem and for general maintinence.

Hello,

I have a 99 Park Ave non-supercharged, you can tell by the left rear of the car. It will say supercharged on the body if it is. I've done so much on our car that the problems you encountered may/may not be related, but here's some tips. The tach acting up may be you need to get that tranny serviced to make sure it has enough fluid and to clean the old, possibly burnt, fluid out. We had a shifting problem with ours at one point. I swore it was tranny related, but turned out it was the plugs/wires. May not be your case, but doesn't hurt to tune the vehicle up.

Window not working could be the window switch, the toggle switch used to put window up/down. You could get another one cheap by going to a junkyard and see if it does the trick.

Most times when I get the code for Camshaft sensor, it means two things. Either the Cam sensor is bad or the Crankshaft sensor is bad. They are usually located on the left side of the 3.8 engines. To identify parts such as these, I found it very helpful to buy a Haynes manual($15). If you got the code for this, I would replace that part first and then rescan to check current codes.

So two things I'd do first;

1) get cam-crank sensor replaced then rescan for codes

2) get another window switch

Ironically, some parts aren't as much as you would think new, but you'd have to check.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Bass & 82Stang, you pretty well covered all the bases here. I agree with the CPS theory, since several things mentioned here seem to be consistent with it loosing the signal. First, the code pointing to the CPS, is a significant indication that something is defunct in that circuit. :uhoh: Next, the tachometer showing random and fluctuating rpm’s.:sunglasse Finally, the sluggish engine performance.:screwy:


In addition, do not forget to check for loose or corroded wiring connectors that can cause a sudden loss of voltage in the ignition circuit. This would include the battery, positive & negative terminals and all grounds on engine and chassis as well as all ICM, CPS, terminal connections.

If your car is an Ultra, it is supercharged, if not, it is NA.:smokin:

Ok here are some updates.

1) My PA is definetly not supercharged :rolleyes:

2) I went ahead and had the tansmission serviced and I have noticed some drastic improvements. I have re-gained my acceleration, the tacometer sputtering has stopped and the SES light has not turned back on at all.

3) Now I did still notice some "knocking" when shifting just after the transmission was serviced but since then I haven't noticed any. I am gonna keep my eye on it incase it is still an electrical problem or incase there are other possible transmission problems but I am really hoping this is fixed.

4) I examined the window not lowering issue a bit closer. Both the driver and passenger switch for the front passenger window are inoperative. When I click the driver side switch to either raise or lower, I hear a distinctive "click" from somewhere over in the passenger side door near the window. I can reproduce this "click" over and over again by pressing the button again and again. Am I right to assume that I have a bad connection somewhere or maybe a window motor problem?


side note: I have to say that this is the third Buick I have owned. The first was a 1993 Roadmaster (which I loved) and then it was a 1997 Lesaber. But on all 3 of these Buicks I have had wonderful luck with great quality engines and horrible luck with shoddy electrical probelms. I do believe that all 3 of these cars I have owned have all at one time had a window electrical problem of some kind. And I have had other electrical problems with them as well. I am just wondering if I am cursed or if this is a common problem.

I hate to be the one to say it, but this is the first Tranny service that I have heard of, fix a random electrical problem. Could it be a mere coincidence! Let's hope for the best and I guess time will tell!:screwy:

Electrical problems are the #1 problem with GM products. Most problems are brought on by moisture in humid or rainy climates. After a heavy rain, some cars just go bananas and you never know if the windows, or some other component will work or not, until you try it. My thoughts on electrical problems in later model GM cars is, that in order for any accessory to work, a ground circuit must be completed. The newer designed ‘micro-switches’, cannot carry much current and so therefore, they only complete the circuit to a ground! Usually, there will be several terminals or wiring connectors in a circuit between the switch & component and before making contact with the source that needs the ground. All of these connections are subject to corrosion in the same way as the battery terminals.
Corrosion = Resistance = no ground = no function!:uhoh:

Well just an update here. The problem "seemed" to go away for a bit over a week and then slowly it reared it's ugly head again. So I took my car to an Authorized Buick dealer. They replaced my sparkplugs, "high voltage" coil, wire set.

Total materials: $200 approx
Total labor (3 1/2 hrs): $300 approx

So far it seems that the problem is completely solved now. I wish I hadn't spent so much money on it but atleast it is working now.

I'm glad it is fixed now. As I said earlier, our car had a "tranny related" problem I thought and it turned out to be just the plugs and wires. When I run into problems, I'll usually check the basics first. i.e. plugs, wires, cap, rotor, if it has the last two, (DIS distibutorless ignition systems don't have cap/rotor) and then go from there. And although it cost you more than expected, your tranny will thank you in the long run for servicing it. So many people overlook this until the fluid is burnt and symptoms of tranny related issues arise.

Good luck!