Starting problems

[sick and tired]

I have a 98 Intrigue with a 3.8 engine. I have been having starting problems for months now and no one can find the problem I have replaced the fuel pump, water pump, plugs and wires. They checked the fuel pressure, crank shaft sensor, fuel pressure regulator, fuel filter, for any gas in the vaccuum lines. There are no codes and no lights on my dash.

Can anyone help me solve this problem. The car cranks and cranks before it will turn over. But once started it runs fine. It is the worst on hot days.

I was thinking something to do with emissions maybe? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[BNaylor]

What were the fuel pressure readings? How did they go about checking the crank position sensor? Have you checked for spark at any of the spark plugs?

[sick and tired]

I am not sure what the fuel pressure readings were but they said that they were really good and strong. They took the crank sensor out and cleaned all the connections and they said it was fine. This is the second place that told me the crank sensor was fine. They also said the spark plugs were fine but I don't know what is going on and I love my car but I am getting really upset with all of this. I have had it at 2 different garages and they both say the same thing. I think the next stop will be the dealer but I really don't want to have to do that.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by sick and tired

I am not sure what the fuel pressure readings were but they said that they were really good and strong. They took the crank sensor out and cleaned all the connections and they said it was fine. This is the second place that told me the crank sensor was fine. They also said the spark plugs were fine but I don't know what is going on and I love my car but I am getting really upset with all of this. I have had it at 2 different garages and they both say the same thing. I think the next stop will be the dealer but I really don't want to have to do that.

On the crank sensor it is difficult to troubleshoot or prove it is bad. Taking it out and cleaning it doesn't mean anything. A lot of times it will not give any odb-ii DTC error codes or SES light. Most of us with a similar problem had to outright replace it even to illiminate it as a cause. It only costs around $50.

GM dealers will have trouble convincing themselves it is bad even after running it on a TECH II diagnostics machine. The proper way to check a CKPS is with an oscilloscope and checking the 18X timing pulses but that is very difficult to do although not impossible.

Back to the basics. It is either ignition or fuel. I would not rule out the CKPS or the fuel pressure regulator based on your symptoms.

[sick and tired]

I am not sure maybe i will just go and buy one and get them to install it but on my way home from work my Trac Off, ABS and service vehicle soon light came on. When i got home and turned the car off and then turned it back on the lights went out. Any Ideas from that. Thanks

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by sick and tired

I am not sure maybe i will just go and buy one and get them to install it but on my way home from work my Trac Off, ABS and service vehicle soon light came on. When i got home and turned the car off and then turned it back on the lights went out. Any Ideas from that. Thanks

You are welcome.

Here is a procedure to replace a CKPS. Pay special note to the special bolts you will need for the harmonic balancer puller. It is for a Grand Prix but similar for any Intrigue or GM "W" body car with the Series II 3800:

http://mykidz.net/GTP/CrankPosSensor.shtml

I recall when the engine dies from a bad CKPS the TRAC and SES light may come on right about the time of shut down. Also, the tach may abruptly drop off to zero rpms right about the time it shuts down. Don't know why you are getting an ABS light but probably because it is losing some ABS reference signal and therefore, reverting to conventional braking for safety.

If the SES light would stay on you could get it scanned but there probably will not be any stored codes since the lights went out. Good luck!

[phewop118]

You might also just have a bad starter motor. I remember someone on the forum had the same problems and replacing the starter did the trick.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by phewop118

You might also just have a bad starter motor. I remember someone on the forum had the same problems and replacing the starter did the trick.

How did you come up with that deduction? Based on the description of his problem I doubt it. See excerpt from quote below:

Originally Posted by sick and tired

The car cranks and cranks before it will turn over. But once started it runs fine. It is the worst on hot days.

[phewop118]

Yeah I guess not, but it might not be able to fully crank (turn over) enough to start it. Maybe he should try replacing the fuel itself, as it could have water in it.

[dtownfb]

Could it be the ignition module?

[intrigued cc]

I have a 1998 intrigue as well and have the exact same problem. The car will start normal on a cold morning after sitting overnight. Any other time, I have to crank it over and over and then it will start and run fine. I have had the fuel sensor and other things checked and was told it "could" be the crank sensor but no one knows for sure. I do have a service engine soon light that keeps coming on but in each case this code only shows the gas cap need to be tightened. The gas cap is tight, and the code gets reset. No one has been able to tell me what the problem is. i also had teh fuel pump replaced and it did not help the problem at all.

[dtownfb]

Waht is the code that comes up when the "check engine light" is on? Tha might help others figure out the problem if they knew the actual code?

[intrigued cc]

great question dtown, I will take it back in to get the actual code. They always look at it and say "that is a standard code for a loose gas cap", and then walk away like we do not know how to screw on the cap. I had a mechanic look at this and he was stumped since he checked everything fuel related and found nothing for the hard starting issue.

[dtownfb]

There's a lot of knowledgable folks on this board. If you have the code and symptoms, the cna help narrow it down to a couple of things. You cna take it to most car part shops and they will read the code for free.