90 olds ciera struggles when warm

3.3 liter engine with 86,000 miles. the other day after driving all day. i parked and shut off. after sitting 10 minutes started and drove 2 miles and then cutout. would restart for just a second or two then die again each time. i then let set for about 10 minutes before trying again. finally would start and stay running will pumping the pedal. smoke would just rollout the tailpipe but made it home like that. the next morning i started it and fired right up with a smooth idle. drove it up and down the road and all was fine. let idle in driveway for awhile and then it started to blow smoke and idle rough and just stay started while pumping the pedal. again would restart and only run a second or two. the following day changed fuel filter but had repeat of the of the last day.

What color was the smoke. Black indicates to much fuel, blue is a sign of oil burning. A sticky EGR valve can cause the encine to run rough.

Get codes, follow intructions on this web site www.troublecodes.net (http://www.troublecodes.net)
Post results

black smoke. no codes stored. check engine light does not come on. in fact no lights come on while in operation. im going to check the pressure regulator next. if that is not working that would cause too much fuel right?

Yes check the regulator. check for signs of fuel on the vacuum side. Best to check with a pressure tester. Removing the vacuum from regulator, You should see an increase in pressure.

i removed the vacuum line and the car died. tried again and same result. but on a good note i cleaned throttle body, IAC, and the MAF. they were pretty carbed up. ilde is much better but still died a few times after warmed up. but would start back up and continue to idle (best its ever idled). havent test drove but will do tomorrow.

You could try to pinch the line instead of removing it and see what that does. I ended up replacing all the vacuum hoses and even though they looked good they were bad. Made a world of difference, check the EGR valve as well. Clean it up and make sure it's not stuck open.

ill do that after work. thanks

egr is clean, was alittle dirty nothing bad. drove today with the same end results. but one thing i did different today was after dying for the 8th time i tried to bleed pressure from pressure regulator. so i took off the tester tip part of the regulator(where you would plug in the pressure tester) and fuel bled out. well i put it back on and it started right up and ran fine for about 6 miles(just a mile away from home), so i repeated that and a alot of fuel poured out this time. but it let me make it home . so would this be a faulty regulator? also no codes were found only 12 showed up.

It would be a good idea to check the system with a pressure tester. Even though it seems to point to the regulator, they are quite expensive $90-$100. Did you try and pinch the vacuum line to the regulator and did it change?
Code 12 is default and will always show. Nothing wrong there.

didnt have a tester but by sound it didnt change. didnt rev or anything. ill track down a friend with a tester.

Good deal. I would hate to see you spend money without proper testing.

finally checked fuel pressure today. 41psi no change after pinching the vacuum line to the regulator

If you have vacuum to the regulator. You should have seen an increase in pressure when removed or pinched off. The readings that you posted here are on the higher side. The regulator usually holds the pressure down around 37 - 38psi. If you see no fluctuation then I would consider the regulator defective.

ok put on new regulator and well still having same problems. yesterday after putting new one on and letting idle, i noticed on the gravel was black residue left by my tailpipe. not to mention it was a very rough idle. could there be a bad sensor even if it doent trip the engine light and leave a code? got to get that pressure gauge back over here and check again. im just getting too much fuel.

going to work on today ill post what results i get.

okay, im at wits end with this. tool new regulator back and exchanged for another, still same problem. should i start looking into the ignition system? could i still have a faulty censor even if there are not any trouble codes stored?

You need to find a shop that has a computer laptop program they could hook up to your vehicle's ecm connection under the dash. Then you can drive the vehicle while it is hooked to the computer and they should be able to pinpoint the problem. I had this done to our company truck that had a intermittent hesitation problem for months. Within a mile of driving the computer found a defective MAP sensor and the problem was solved.

it doesnt stay running long enough to drive. still no trouble codes stored in ecm. found a parts car going to change out the throttle body and all censors on my next day off. parts car ran good a friend of mine drove it til the block cracked, so i now its a good sorce for parts.

it doesnt stay running long enough to drive. still no trouble codes stored in ecm. found a parts car going to change out the throttle body and all censors on my next day off. parts car ran good a friend of mine drove it til the block cracked, so i now its a good sorce for parts.

FYI Not all trouble codes are stored in the ecm. Good luck with the swapped parts.

cleaned maf and idles and drives great. just drive for a mile. going to replace and test drive further.

if your regulator was bad and just pouring fuel into your manifold, it'll take a bit before it all clears out and the engine cleans up and runs fine...also you may have a fuel injector that is stuck open. if you check fuel pressure, then turn the engine off, does the pressure stay, if the fuel pressure leaks down to 0, and you just replaced the regulator, You may want to check your injectors