94 LeSabre, momentary "buck", then check engine light came on and...

[Whoaru99]

it seemed to be fine. However, it came time to pass a car so I stepped on it and it "bucked" more and didn't have any power.

The more I drove it (on way to airport for work), the worse it got. In about 15 miles from the first "buck" I came upon a stoplight that was red. When I tried to accelerate away, I had to very gingerly feather the throttle to slowly pick up speed otherwise it would do this "bucking" thing if I pressed it more than just a tiny amount at a time.

It was so bad I stopped in the next town and rented a car because I wasn't sure the car would make it the remaining 90 miles to the airport to catch my flight.

Not due home until tomorrow afternoon so I haven't had a chance to look at the car yet (hopefully it makes it the 30 miles from car rental place to my house).

What do you think...fuel system or electronics?

[Whoaru99]

OK, so I get back to the car today. It starts fine, no check engine light.

Drive 10 miles exactly and it "bucks" and check engine light comes on. This time it starts this surging/bucking worse, and within a few more miles, the engine dies and I coast to the side of the road, engine cranks fine but won't fire at all.

I get a ride home from my GF who is coming home from work and we get my truck to tow the thing home. For shits and grins, I hit the key (this is about 45 minutes later) and the car starts, I drive it the remaining 15 miles home without further incident.

???

[HotZ28]

More than likely your crank position sensor is going defunct. Change it first, plenty of advice & procedures on here for doing this, just do a search.

[Whoaru99]

Damn...is this crank position sensor sensor something that needs to be replaced on a routine/regular basis?

It was "just" replaced almost exactly two years ago...

[HotZ28]

Some off-market brands do not last as long as OEM! You could also have a problem with the ignition control module (ICM), both can be heat sensitive!

[Jrs3800]

I agree with Bo on both of his posts... Crank sensor or ICM..

When you replace a Crank Sensor on a GM its AC Delco Only... I am lucky and have gotten 18 years of service or more out of them.. But for the Electrical parts like this I trust AC Delco.. For the ICM's and the issues I have had with the aftermarket parts I take my chances with a used AC Delco part before a new aftermarket part..

Also scan for codes on this Buick.. Yor buick is OBD1 and uses the OBD2 connector... You'll need a scantool capeable of scanning 94-95 GM's

[Whoaru99]

Thanks for the advice, I'll have someone scan it.

However, the last time the crank sensor went out, the car just died like you shut off the key. It did this a few times on different occasions until finally it just went completely.

This seems different though, it acts kind of like you're running out of gas or a clogged fuel filter. Once it happens, it seems to get progressively worse/more loss of power and some spitting/sputtering/surging/bucking, not like an all or nothing deal like the previous one.

[big white bufflo]

You may want to check you fuel pressure i had a new auto zone pump go bad and it did the same thing when it cooled down it started a ran fine then did the same thing again the pressure spec can be found on auto zones web but it needs to be 38 to 45 psi