Couple of Q's on 88 lesabre

[murfthesmurph]

Hi,

This is my first post here an i just wanted to say hi first. What im really here to do is ask a couple of questions about my 1988 buick lesabre lmt/pres 3.8l. The car has just been put on the road after sitting for awhile and is going in for a tune up in the next few days.

1) My first question has to do with the pick up/acceleration of the car, When I literally punch it (peadal to the floor) it takes a good 5-6 to reach around 25 or 30. Is this normal? because to me it seems a little slow, also at around 35mph the car will jerk, I believe this is something to do with the transmission.

2) My second question is my car runs a little rough, shaking and what not, but what really boths me is the back firing and stalling. What could cause these?

3) Third and finally, While driving if I going over a pot hole and any rough area in the road, my rear end seems to kick out, some one told me that form behind it looked like one of the rear wheels was crooked, and the axel was moved over and not centered with the car. I don't know what question to ask, but anyone have any input/insight to this problem?


Thank You for your help and sorry if these questions seem stupid or asked before(too many times).


Thanks again

['97ventureowner]

My 1990 Lesabre is running a little rough right now similar to yours. I just put it back on the road after sitting for 4 years. I would start with the simple things first, like making sure you are using good gas, (maybe there is some old gas left in the tank.) I'd also check to make sure there are no vacuum lines off, I had a problem with a couple that were dry rotted and falling apart. I would then replace the spark plugs and check the condition of the ignition wires. You could also run some fuel injector cleaner and dry gas to see if that helps. Also make sure the air filter is clean and the air intake is unobstructed,as mice like to build nests in cars that sit around. When my car sat, mice got into the engine compartment and ate away at the underhood pad and built a good size nest on top of the engine, what a pain that was to clean. Try these items first, and see if your car runs better.

[MagicRat]

^^good post^^
I might also suggest that if the backfiring and stalling remain after the tune up is done, you might need a new timing chain. The old one may have stretched and jumped a tooth.
As for the rear end problem, my '88 Bonneville (mechanically the identical car as yours) had the same problem. The rear end checked out fine, but the problem went away after I replaced the worn ball joints on the FRONT end.
I would suggest to check the front and rear ball joints for wear/looseness and the steering components too.

[gbeeley]

Somewhat offtopic - enjoyed the story about the mice

Reminded me of one time I drove my '91 on a camping outing. First morning of the trip got in the car to drive to a trailhead, blower motor made this horrible banging/wobbling noise. Took it out and there in the blower fan: moss, leaves, pine straw, etc.... Cleaned, no more problem. Next morning same thing. Cleaned again. Third morning same story. We thought it was the funniest thing... probably some chipmunks or something (persistent little buggers!). At least the blower motor is easy to remove on these cars!

Got home and attached some metal screen to appropriate places in the left fender / A-pillar area....

BTW, yes 5-6 sec is a bit long for 0-30 on these cars. Also, on timing chain issue, I think there were a couple of years that were particularly plagued by that, don't remember which ones. Mine was in good condition at about 180K miles when I replaced the cam sensor magnet (why in the world did GM make that magnet holder out of plastic?!? but kudos to the GM engineers who programmed the ECM to work around the problem when the magnet came off! my Haynes manual said something like "if cam sensor fails, engine probably won't start")