1989 LeSabre loping

[mudslinger88]

My sister has a 1989 Buick LeSabre with the 3.8l front wheel drive. It has some of the craziest issues I've ever seen a car have. It has about 180k on it. We ran it on a scanner and all it came up with was a code 44. O2 sensor is good. It was changed just prior to the scan. When you start it, it dies once you put in gear. If your lucky enough to keep it running in gear you have to floor it to get anywhere. It is slugish as crud. It's like I have a lawnmower engine in it. If you get it warmed up and you come to a stop(in gear or N) it either lopes between 500RPMs and 1800RPMs, or dies. Then it won't restart until it cools down. Coupla hours. This happened on a previous LeSabre she drove. It had 320k on it, no joke. This was a champion car. She got rid of it about the time she got this one. Does anybody have any idea what the heck is going on? This is the only vehicle she has and she has to tote 3 kids to and from school and drive 35-45 min to work after. We really need this sucker fixed. Any kind of advice would be VERY much appreciated. Thanks all.

[maxwedge]

Look for a vacuum leak or air entering the intake behind the map sensor, the code shows a lean condition, low fuel pressure or a air entering the engine unmetered, if no air or vacuum leaks found, watch the pcv hose connections also, then suspect the maf.

[mudslinger88]

Cool, thanks. We took the MAP apart and did a supercleaning on all the parts (careful not to break the tiny wires) and cleaned the electrical conections. There was a vacuum hose that kept colapsing on us until we put some lawnmower fuel line on it. It still did the loping. I will have to check aft of the MAP for leaks. What vacuum lines do I check? All? Could it be the Exhaust recycle? Could the injectors be clogged? Thanks for the info and reply. Sorry if this is lengthy.

[maxwedge]

Look at fuel pressure, also, look at the hoses to the pcv, I assume you meant you cleaned the MAF, it could still be bad, see if disconnecting it makes a difference. A full scan would probably help to pinpoint whether the maf was at fault.

[mudslinger88]

Yes maf is what I meant. Dumb error. anyhow, a new maf costs $230 for the dang thing. I think it is bad but that's just crazy to pay that much for a new one. what are the chances of finding a good one in a junkyard?

[maxwedge]

If they guarantee it give it a try.

[Rasp]

The hardest part will be trying to find one. Your car is nearly 20 years old. Which is damn good. Good old car. I hope you keep her going.

[mudslinger88]

Hey all. My dad is the one doing the actual wrench turning since I'm stationed 800 miles away from home. He's tried 2 different MAF sensors from the junkyard. He put a new fuel filter in, at the request of my sister though he and I didn't think it would work. It started to run alright with the 2nd MAF but is still not running right. It is still usable but it just gets to be a pain. Nobody can figure this crazy thing out. I don't want to start throwing parts at it and find out it wasn't any of those things. It's driving everyone up the frigin wall. What should be done with it? My dad suggested a stick of dynamite and a brick on the gas in gear, but the neighbor might not like that so much if it ended up in his yard. I like the idea to but...