94 Regal won't start, has a miss

[gumby28g]

my buick regal gs has a slight misfire at times, and it will crank, but won't start after it gets warm. It will start up after it sits for a long time, long enough to cool down i guess.
I have replaced the spark plugs, wires, and the prom. I have been fighting this bug for awhile now, and i can't seem to squash it. I am leaning toward replacing the cam shaft position sensor, but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem with their car, and if they might have a better idea on what it could be. Also, the check engine light stays on, but the only code it throws is one telling about the erratic misfire. Any ideas, I would love to hear them

[raybuick]

Hey Gumby, i think i had the same problem with my 94 regal 3.8 and it finally came down to the crankshaft sensor being the culprit. The miss seems to be caused by the sensor malfunctioning, thus not sending spark stalling or not starting till it cooled off. The best test is to see if there's spark when it won't start so you'll need some kind of spark tester or a helper. Good luck and have a Happy New Year. Ray Canada

[gumby28g]

hey, thanks ray. I'll have to give that a try once I get the chance. I figured it had to be something with the sensors, cuz I replaced everything else, even the puter. Any idea how long it took you to replace the crankshaft sensor? Did you have to remove the harmonic balance/pulley? I know with the cam shaft sensor you have to remove the water pump, which isn't so bad.

[raybuick]

Just to give you a quick reply, I went thru a couple of years of intermittent not starting. I took my car into a electrical auto shop to do the job. I left a list of all the symptoms and even mentioned that i thought it was the crankshaft sensor. But you do need to remove the serpentine belt and remove the crankshaft balancer which you'll need a puller and a helper to jam the starter flywheel to loosen that balancer bolt. I might of tackled it myself but the weather was not too nice here and was not absolutely sure if it was the problem so i went with the pros and havent had a problem since it was fixed,It costed me a couple hundred but no more problems. It's a challenging job but good luck. p.s. its easy to test for spark at night in your driveway after a little run. Raybuick

[RABarrett]

Simply checking for spark before replacing sensors is oversimplification, which can lead to useless expense. I have seen my share of ignition modules cause the problems you describe. Testing is the only way to be sure. Locating a book on your vehicle will assist in the testing of various sensor inputs to the module.Anything less is guessing. Ray

[raybuick]

Good call Ray about stalling problem. When i first took the Regal in with the stalling and misses they changed the the ignition module since I had a "Service Engine Soon" light that was coming on too often but it would occasionally disappear. Unfortunately, replacing the ignition module only had the service light disappear,and the stalling and not restarting continued. After all, the spark comes from the Ecm and onto the coils after it senses the crankshaft positioning I assume. One time after stalling at an intersection and safely pushing to safe place, I reinstalled the old ignition module I asked to keep, and lo and behold it restarted. Other times squirting water around the crankshaft sensor area did the trick leading me to my Crank sensor repair, and haven't had a problem for 2 mths. now. Hopefully the Sensor will start you Free! RayRegal