91 Lesabre stalling, sputtering, hard to start

[cbassmnm]

Hi, I have a 91 buick lesabre with 103k miles. The problem has gotten progressivly worse... I can give it gas real slow and it will go but when I press the accelerator a little harder, it stutters and stalls and putts. Sounds like popcorn popping. It idles ok , but sometimes it sounds like its skipping a beat. The check engine light is on, but havnt gotten it tested yet.

Now that its gotten cold, it takes a while to crank... it will start, then caugh, and sputter and die. It takes a while to finally get it cranked. I have to let it "warm up" or if i put it in gear then it will just die. It has also died on me 2 times on the road.

Any ideas? Maybe spark plugs or throttle position sensor or O2 sensor? Im not sure what to start with?

[Scrapper]

if you can get it to autozone or advance and get coil pack tested because that's what it sounds like you got the 3.8 or 3800 in it anyway should be? and it's normal around that many miles witch isn't much on those moter they go 3 and 400000 miles if taken care of. but i think coil pack if not that cps.

[cbassmnm]

Thanks for the input. I would drive it to autozone and get it tested.... but NOW it wont start at all... whenever I turn the ignition all it does is click real fast. like the starter is just clicking. I checked my battery connections at the terminal and even charged my battery for 4 hours, and still does the same thing. Is that a bad starter?

[dudealex1]

Does your Lesabre have a voltage gauge and have you noticed if that was getting into the (low) red? There are many possibilities but the first and simplest thing that comes to mind is a bad battery (or corroding terminals) and failing alternator.

First off you should have had problems with lights being super dim and the dash lights/radio not working right. If you didn't... This probably isn't it.

The bad battery would explain the clicking now, but how did it die and why it's running poorly? It's possible your alternator is failing, providing just enough energy for a weak spark, and possibly inconsistently in each cylinder.

First, sheck that the terminal connectors are free of corrosion. If so, bring the battery to an auto store or Fleet Farm to have it tested for free. Then, get the alternator checked at an auto-electric repair shop (usually free if you remove it).

One other thing you could try to bypass the alternator/battery somewhat is to connect jumper cables to another vehicle (preferably newer or V8) with heavy guage jumper cables (at least 4 guage, preferably 2) and see if your car starts and runs normally. If so, it's the alternator and batt.

[88redbuicklesabre]

Originally Posted by cbassmnm

Thanks for the input. I would drive it to autozone and get it tested.... but NOW it wont start at all... whenever I turn the ignition all it does is click real fast. like the starter is just clicking. I checked my battery connections at the terminal and even charged my battery for 4 hours, and still does the same thing. Is that a bad starter?

It could be a starter but mine did the same thing the clicking noise you hear is the starter solenoid pulling in the bendix to engage the starter to the flywheel but the starter is not turning to make it turn over. I first replaced the starter and still had the problem. I ended up replacing the battery to starter positive cable with one from NAPA problem solved. I could sometimes get it to start by moving the positive cable around but at the end even that did not work.