1992 Lesabre won't start when warm

[dean6277]

The last week there have been a few occasions when I turned off my vehicle and it would not re-start. When I let it cool down it started fine. On one occasion the vehicle stalled when I was coasting to a stop. Again it took a while to re-start. When the vehicle won't start there is no spark. Fuel and charging systems are fine. After reading several posts on this site I am guessing the problem may be my crankshaft position sensor. I'm wondering how difficult it is to change the sensor in a 1992. Do I need a pulley puller? Do I have to remove the harmonic balancer? Does the sensor have to be adjusted and if it does is it easy to do? Do you work from the bottom of the vehicle or the top?

[HotZ28]

You will do most of the work from the side. Remove right wheel and little plastic cover on inner wheel well, and you will be looking at the balancer. The sensor will come with instructions and a gap guage.


The balancer bolt holds the balancer in place, it is not a press fit like some of them. Removing the bolt is a PITA unless you have the right tools. I used a C/P ¾ in drive impact wrench that develops over 500 ft. lbs. of torque @ 150 psig. It was easy with that! You might want to consider renting one at your local tool rental store; otherwise you will have to do it manually. If you choose the manual method, you need a deep-well six point impact socket, pull bar and a cheater bar. (Twelve point thin wall sockets have been known to break or slip on the bolt) You will also need to have someone hold the flywheel with a large screwdriver wedged in the teeth to hold the crank from turning while you loosen the bolt. (You can also purchase or rent a flywheel holding tool). I have seen people remove the hood and stand on top of the engine with a six food cheater bar to break the bolt loose.
Once the bolt is removed, the balancer will slide off of the crank, (with a little pry bar) or small balancer puller. Be sure to reinstall the bolt to the correct torque specs and recheck the crank sensor gap when installed.

[dean6277]

Thank you for the advice. I am going to tackle the job tomorrow using the manual method. I purchased the sensor today but it did not come with a guage. In the instructions it says to use a brass guage and set at .020. I will have to find one tomorrow. I will let you know how it went.