Hello folks,
I have a 1996 Buick Park Ave with the 3.8, it has nearly 200k on it. I drove it as a winter beater and I never had any issues with it starting but after letting it sit for several months it now has issues. The car will start with a portable battery charger connected to it after a few minutes and will idle and run fine. It will start on its own right after the car is shut off but within 5-10 minutes the car will be completely dead. The battery is new and I just had it tested and it was fine so I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what could be causing it? My only ideas were the alternator or ground/wiring issue. If I dont find out the cause soon it will meet its fate in a scrap yard. Any help would be appreciated!

Welcome to the forums Andy.

At that many miles, if the lower intake manifold gaskets were never changed to the aluminum framed ones, then I'd have that taken care of as soon as you figure out the cause of it stalling.

If it runs fine till it warms up, then it is most likely one or two things, the crankshaft position sensor, or the ignition control module.


A guide to testing the ICM, and CKP signals.
https://www.gmforum.com/trouble-shoo...m-test-299761/

One thing to try also, I doubt it is the MAF, but I still cannot rule it out, after doing the ICM & CKP tests, I'd remove the MAF, clean the thermistors on it with MAF cleaner only, if that does not help then disconnect the MAF, and see how it runs in speed density mode, it will not run great, but if the MAF was faulty it should keep running.

When you test the ignition control module, and crankshaft position sensor, let us know your findings, my money is on the crank sensor.
Be sure your batter is still fully charged when performing these tests.

by dead i think he means the battery. you need to clean the battery terminals and the opposite ends of the big grounds and pos. sitting exponentially increases rot down on cars and everything starts corroding. could be your alt as well after cleaning the cables measure the voltage at the battery with a meter and after running a while should be around 13.5v

You are right.
I see where he mentioned he let it set a long time, the following threw me off.


Andy, by new, do you mean you just bought the battery after having to jump the car with a jump pack?
Or, do you mean the battery was new before you let it sit?