97 Lesabre stalls while driving

[davdogg42]

my 97 Lesabre stalled on me twice while driving yesterday. Funny because the tempurture outside was around 60 degrees. The Last time she stalled on me was also on a warm day. After I let her cool down she started right back up. This morning she started fine also. Copuld it be a sensor or ECM not acting right this only happens in warm weather. 97 Buick Lesabre 3.8 liter Custom

[maxwedge]

You will need to check for spark and injector pulse when the no start condition occurs, several issues could cause this.

[davdogg42]

after thinking about it this happens every time i switch from one gas station to another. Would this cause something like stalling to happen? I bought some fuel injector cleaner and it has not stalled since.

[maxwedge]

Rarely would that be an issue, especially if it will not start for some period of time after the stall.

[StephenRRogers]

Originally Posted by maxwedge

You will need to check for spark and injector pulse when the no start condition occurs, several issues could cause this.

ok, that I got. But when I take it to a repair shop, it starts up and they say there is nothing wrong with it. Would the on board computer yield a problem number so we can get this fixed instead of continuing to be stranded.

[Mickey#1]

Fuel pump, Ignition Control Module, Crank Sensor & even corroded battery cables can all cause that problem. As Max said you need to narrow this down to a fuel or ignition problem. Checking for spark or fuel pressure while it's not starting will help us to help you.

A fuel pressure gauge costs about $40 & is easy to check.

Crank sensor is probably the #1 cause of your problem & some have carried a squirt bottle of water to cool the sensor down after it stalls. If the car restarts immediatlely after squirting the sensor then you know it's bad.

[Mickey#1]

I should have looked at the name before I posted.

Let me know what the mechanic finds.

[Scrapper]

i'd say maf sensor or fuel pump wearing out..you need to see what pressure the pump is running at.

[Luke.]

> Fm Max Wedge <

> check for spark and injector pulse when the no start condition occurs <

Would that then suggest a failing crank sensor ??

I believe that 'without a pulse' signal, the sensor is out.

[davdogg42]

Originally Posted by Mickey#1

I should have looked at the name before I posted.

Let me know what the mechanic finds.

Mickey.....got the car back from the shop yesterday afternoon. Car started rightup for them after sitting for a few days. My machanic told me he did the fuel pressure test. Fuel pressure stayed at 42psi . Ran it for 30 mins. car did not stall on them. ( ofcourse ). I ask them to pull out the crack sensor and test it. They said it was fine. He did not charge me for that, cool of him.

This morning i went to the store and back no problem about 4 miles all together , no stall. The last few times it stalled it the weather was hot like today. I read a few posts on here and some people were carrying water squit bottles in the car so when the crank sensor fails during hot weather, they would squit some water on the sensor to cool it down. I am doing that also. just in case.
now i am thinking either the fuel pump quits when its hot, fuel filter, PCM, ESC or MAF sensor.
To my knowledge, those are the main reasons these Buicks stall while driving.
If you can think of anything else let me know.
Dave

[Scrapper]

yes your on what go's on with buicks you left one thing out tps.but that shoudn't make it stall it might high idle and low idle but not stall....
good luck......

[Mickey#1]

Dave - I'll be gone most of this weekend, if it's still giving you trouble we can get together next week.

Just in case it's still giving you trouble & you want to work on it. The first couple things to check are the battery cable connections & driver's side ground buss. Checking both is good preventive maintenance anyway.

[davdogg42]

Originally Posted by Mickey#1

Dave - I'll be gone most of this weekend, if it's still giving you trouble we can get together next week.

Just in case it's still giving you trouble & you want to work on it. The first couple things to check are the battery cable connections & driver's side ground buss. Checking both is good preventive maintenance anyway.

I checked the battery cables and ground bus over the weekend. Cables to battery look like they have been replaced, look brand new. Positive was a little loose some I tightened that up.
Ground bus look perfect also
Going to replace fuel filter with a better one today. The one that on now is a cheap one from auto zone so I got an upgrade fron NAPA that cost a little more but the guy behind the counter says it has a better filter than the one I have on there now.
Going by process by elimination on this car. If this fails to work ill take it back to the shop where I had the fuel pump replaced. I should do it anyway cause they didnt do it right the first time, my fuel gauge hasnt worked since the fuel pump was installed. I took it the way it was because it was winter. Still under 1yr coverage on the fuel pump

[davdogg42]

Originally Posted by davdogg42

I checked the battery cables and ground bus over the weekend. Cables to battery look like they have been replaced, look brand new. Positive was a little loose some I tightened that up.
Ground bus look perfect also
Going to replace fuel filter with a better one today. The one that on now is a cheap one from auto zone so I got an upgrade fron NAPA that cost a little more but the guy behind the counter says it has a better filter than the one I have on there now.
Going by process by elimination on this car. If this fails to work ill take it back to the shop where I had the fuel pump replaced. I should do it anyway cause they didnt do it right the first time, my fuel gauge hasnt worked since the fuel pump was installed. I took it the way it was because it was winter. Still under 1yr coverage on the fuel pump

Update
I changed the fuel filter last week Tuesday. I have had no problems since. The one that was on the car was really clogged up. I could tell just by the stuff that was coming out of it when i took it off. Ill give it some more time to see if that was really the problem or not.
Ill update this if anything else happens

[Mickey#1]

Well it was sure hot today, glad to hear your not having any more trouble.