99 Intrigue running problems

Just picked up a 99 intigue gx with the 3.8. the car will just be an additonal car to daily drive if other cars ever have problems. Anyways i kinda bought this car not knowing what the problem was. The car was sitting in a garage for about 2 years. The guy said it ran like crap so he parked it, and never had the time to fix it. To make a long story short i got it for cheap, towed it home, did a basic tune up, new battery, fuel filter, and presto the car started, had a little surge, but that went away. I let the car runf or 15 mintues, reved it, and still no problems. So i took it for a short ride around the neighbor hood, Seemed all was good except for warped rotor's, but thats no biggie, trans seemed good, engine seemed good. Well i took it out again, and this time went a little further away. I got the car up to about 50, and then the car lost all power. It just died, right now i can get the car started if i give it gas, and can rev it for a second or 2 but then it just dies. The car has some gas in it, it might be bad i dont know, but since it ran for 20+ minutes, and probably drove 2-3 miles im unsure about bad gas. Im wondering if it could be ivac, or o2 or anything else. Im pretty new to gm motors, and figured i would ask around hear to start my trouble shooting. Ps when the car was running there were no check engine lights on. Im gonna try and scan the car just to make sure. Please let me know if anyone has any ideas about what it could be. thanks in advance, Chris

Welcome to AF. Check for fuel pressure first, see if it starts spraying fuel into the intake also. Post back results. Obviously 2 year old gas is a problem, but it should still run.

Definitely try new gas. Not sure, but I think the Crankshaft position sensor can go bad on the 3.8 (I know it happens on the 3.5). That's similar symptoms.

Ok thanks for the quick replies. I am going to check fuel pressure this weekend. Probably on sunday, but im pretty sure its ok. Update, i let the car sit for a while, started it and it ran fine, idled perfect for about 5 minutes, then died. Let it sit for a while again, started it, and it ran untill i turned it off. Im sure if i let it run much longer, or tried to drive it it would have died. However the check engine light was on this time. On my acura there is a connector you can jump with a wire and then the check engine light flashes to give u the obd2 code. Im not sure if you are able to do this on the oldsmobile. Im going to try and research this. Anyways, since it seems that the car dies when it warms up makes me think its electrical somehow, some sensor, or something. Please keep the ideas coming. Thanks, Chris

Ps. Could this be the crankshaft position sensor? How hard is it to install? Thanks

Again, when it dies do you have spark, will it run with carb cleaner sprayed into the intake, these are basic diagnostic steps. You can only get the codes with a code reader or scanner.

borrow and OBD2 code reader and get those codes. $50-100 for an OBD2 reader.

You can pick up an OBDII code reader that will read and clear codes off Ebay for about 24 bucks I believe it was. All it does it read and clear, and you have to look the codes up in a book, but its very small and does the job.

If you know someone that has one you can borrow theirs, or if you feel lucky, you can drive the Intrigue up to a local major Auto Parts store and they should scan it for free. You can also rent code readers from Auto Parts stores, but you will of course need a hefty deposit that may or may not be fully refundable.

I just ordered an obd 2 scanner of ebay. I got a pro one that gives data with the code. I should have it within a couple of days, i will post the code when i get it. In the past ive always just driven the car to autozone, and they will scan it for free, but this car will not make it that far. Thanks, Chris

Ok, so i got my scanner today. IT started off having 2 codes. P0101 Which it says is Mass of Volume Air Flow Circuit, and P0300 which it says is Random Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected. I cleared the 2 codes, i let the car run for about 10 minutes, until it warmed up and died, and the only code i got was P0302 Which it says is Cylinder 2 misfire detected. Im gonna try to pull the plugs, and make sure they all look ok, the back ones dont look fun, but any other ideas or suggestions? Is it still possible the car has bad gas? The guy we bought it from says thats what he thought went wrong with it? On a day when i have more time i may try to pull off the entire tb and clean it all out good. Thanks in advance, Chris

i'd say cps or fuel screen plugged setting that long.......good luck......




scrapper...

Where is the Cps, and how hard is it to install? If it was the cps, would it throw a code? For an update, i tried to clean the maf as good as i can, but i cant remove it, because of the circle in the center of the torx bit. I also cleaned the iat i think it is in the intake tube. Both were cleaned with electrical cleaner. Today i put new plugs, and wires in since they were in bad shape, The car ran great for about 10 minutes untill it heated up again and then it died, Even if trying to floor the car it wont stay running. Im Gonna try and drain the gas one of these days i have more time, im unsure what to do with 10+ gallons of gas, but ill find a home for it. Since i did the plugs, and wires i am no longer getting a misfire on cylinder 2. Next time i get the car running decent, i will try to disconnect the maf to see if the car acts similair to when it dies. If it was maf, or iac wouldn't it sooner or later throw that code again? After gas, im out free ideas... How much are the maf's for these cars, and where can i get the special tool needed to remove it? I Dont mind spending money on the car, but really dont want to buy stuff, or do things to it unless i absolutly need it. thanks, Chris