Toeverybody out there with:Rough idle,no start,or fuel pump problems,and fuelprobs

[volkerc]

Ok guys before you go waste all your hard earned cash, check this first:

My car would not start and just died on me driving.
Here was the fix. Apparently GM/BUick has a little problem routing wires in the gas tank/fuel pump area. I found two wires behind the right rear wheel that had lost their isolation due to wire and body movement. ONe wire (light grey) separated. It must have lost the isolation first due to scraping or rubbing, then it oxidized (green stuff on the wire) and then it broke due to the oxidation and the continued movement of the wires.
I suggest that everybody that experiences, fuel delivery problems, no fuel at all, no start and rough idle or misfire to check this area for broken wires, oxidized wiring or blank wires hitting ground!!!!!!
This fix took me 15 minutes and my car is driving better than ever!! No need to buy a fuel pump, etc...

To describe this area better, there is a 4 wire connector going to the top of the gas tank, one of the wires is purple, the other grey...
and again, it sits by the right rear tire, above the suspension,close to the tank, matter of fact there is a whole bunch of wires, but check the wires of this 4 wire connector.

Hope this post helped somebody...

[bugeyed]

Volkerc, sir -- thanks for the notes, this is really interesting -- I will for sure see if this is a problem on ours. It's the sort of thing that could explain our very intermittent problem.
Bruce

[volkerc]

Originally Posted by bugeyed

Volkerc, sir -- thanks for the notes, this is really interesting -- I will for sure see if this is a problem on ours. It's the sort of thing that could explain our very intermittent problem.
Bruce

Tell you what, sometimes before I discovered this wire, I had the car run rough and stalling on me, just because those two wires that lost their insulation made contact while running/vibrating. Now that I fixed it, the car runs fine, no more roughness, stalling...

hope it'll help you also,...

[bugeyed]

It is one more rainy, messy day here today, so I am not going to try to look at it, but you really have my interest up. The cruise control has been acting up for a while now, sometimes runs perfectly sometimes hesitantly... sounds very possible that you have found a real problem for me. I will get back on here as soon as I can play with the car. Thanks a LOT. Bruce

[volkerc]

Originally Posted by bugeyed

It is one more rainy, messy day here today, so I am not going to try to look at it, but you really have my interest up. The cruise control has been acting up for a while now, sometimes runs perfectly sometimes hesitantly... sounds very possible that you have found a real problem for me. I will get back on here as soon as I can play with the car. Thanks a LOT. Bruce

That's funny, it was raining cats and dogs here also, so I had to wait myself to go check under the car.
I found another area that could cause some problems, for the fun of it, check the fuses and relays on the passenger side inside the car, those are located under the dasboard, you get to them by removing the black cover panel under the passenger side, held by 4 screws, be careful when lowering the cover as there is this box, where you reset your oil change intervals/light. On that panel you will find a sticker with explanation of what fuses and relays you are looking at. I found that almost all relays and fuses had heavy oxidation on them, probably caused by a the a/c (heating and cooling)., leading to electrical problems?? I thought while I had pulled them out, I might as well clean them off with some sandpaper so electricity would be able to "flow" better, fun to notice that all the trouble areas has their fuses and relays there, fuel pump, ignition, suspension... Check yours and get rid of that oxydation, in case you have it, and I'm sure you do.Might help some to...

[bugeyed]

My word, I NEVER would have found that! Thanks yet again. Looks like we have two pretty decent days ahead with no rain and balmy temps, great chance to have a look. I do appreciate your advice, and will let you know what I find
Bruce

Originally Posted by volkerc

That's funny, it was raining cats and dogs here also, so I had to wait myself to go check under the car.
I found another area that could cause some problems, for the fun of it, check the fuses and relays on the passenger side inside the car, those are located under the dasboard, you get to them by removing the black cover panel under the passenger side, held by 4 screws, be careful when lowering the cover as there is this box, where you reset your oil change intervals/light. On that panel you will find a sticker with explanation of what fuses and relays you are looking at. I found that almost all relays and fuses had heavy oxidation on them, probably caused by a the a/c (heating and cooling)., leading to electrical problems?? I thought while I had pulled them out, I might as well clean them off with some sandpaper so electricity would be able to "flow" better, fun to notice that all the trouble areas has their fuses and relays there, fuel pump, ignition, suspension... Check yours and get rid of that oxydation, in case you have it, and I'm sure you do.Might help some to...

[wrightz28]

Thanks for sharing the findings! I've been chasing electrical problems with my '87 since day one. Planning a rebuild of the car in the next few months and almost tempted just to get a whole new wiring harness for the whole car. Will definatley look in to that