95 Olds Cutlass Supreme - No Start

[Ricky Dressler]

I've been having "something" gradually degrade the ability to start for a few months. Most of the time it started fine, but once in a while, you had to start it several to many times before it stayed running. I thought it might be the fuel filter, so I changed it. It would still start once in a while, but now is becoming a lot more rare.

I've got good crank, spark on at least the front 3, a new MAP sensor. I tested the old MAP sensor, but then bought a new one, anyway. The fuel pump charges the fuel pressure gauge up to 40-45 psi, and when it starts it runs beautifully and stays at 40 psi, even when I rev the engine, so I believe my Fuel Pressure Regulator is then good.

My OBD1 connector is a source of stress: it does not have a wire in it beside the ground lead. It only has 3 conductors. One on the top, and two on the bottom. So, I can't short the diagnostic lead to ground, and see the blinking code on the dash, or on the Innova 3120LaT code reader I rented from Oreilly's.

I pulled the OBD connector to see if a wire had come loose, but found no evidence it has ever been hooked up with the one wire I am missing. How could I have the only 95 Supreme in existence to not have the OBD connector wired properly?

Is there any hope for getting a way to interrogate the confuser, or in actually just fixing the no-start condition? I'd go for fixing the no-start. I don't really care about the confuser.

[maxwedge]

95 is obd 1.5,you need a scanner that will work on this set up.

[Tech II]

What is a confuser?

As Max stated, '95 was a transition year....there is nothing wrong with your ALDL connector....OBD 1.5 does not do flash codes....most code readers and scan tools can't read this setup....only high end scanners and GM scanners can....

3.1, 3.4, or 3.8?

Does car crank and not start, or doesn't crank at all?

If it cranks and doesn't start, try spraying carb cleaner into the intake....does this happen more hot or more when the engine is cold?

[Ricky Dressler]

That's great to know about the OBD 1.5. I found comments about that last night on ETCG website. Now, where do I get one of those special readers? Beg, Borrow, Steal, or other methods.

I work with computers in my job. Confusers is what a lot of us refer to them as, especially when they confuse us.

The problem of not starting will happen hot or cold, at any time. When the engine chooses to start, it runs beautifully. You would not think there is a problem. But, you risk everything if you shut it off, even for a second, as it may not start again.

It cranks good, and I give the battery occasional doses of charge for a couple hours. This has been a problem for some time, but has been getting worse and worse, and more frequent. Now, it's so frequent that it's in my garage until I can fix it.

I'll give the shot of carb cleaner, or throttle body cleaner, into the intake a try. With good fuel pressure, I would think it would be ok, but it might be the injectors that aren't firing. It doesn't sound that way, though. It sounds like it is igniting, but I could pull the fuel pump relay, bleed off the fuel pressure, then compare the sound of cranking it with out any fuel.

All vacuum tubing looks really good. The "T" tube that the MAP sensor and the fuel pressure regulator shares is also just fine. It's a 3.1L engine. I think that some sensor somewhere is telling the computer to kill it. I might have to harvest a few of them from a junkyard, and just try them. Some are a bit to get to, but it'll be a learning experience. I just hope I bring all the right tools. The MAP sensor cost me about $50 new, instead of $5 used.

Is there any way to fake the computer into starting it?

[maxwedge]

Get a noid lite on the injectors see if you have pulse.