92 Bonneville starts intermittently
 

Hello. 1st time poster, but check this site frequently for answers -- by the way, great site with great postings.

I have a 92 Bonneville SE, 3.8L, no supercharger (what else needs to be known up front?). The wife just took the car on a 2 week road trip and logged 2K on it (up over 150K miles on it now). On her way back, the car would not start when she had to make a stop at a gas station or such. The car would crank over, but the engine would not start. After waiting about 20-30 minutes, the car would finally start. It did this to her about 3-4 times when she risked shutting the car off and then I experienced it when she got back home.

I went ahead and replaced the starter today figuring it is the original unit. Took it into the auto parts store and the starter definitely wasn't generating enough amps on their test bench (assuming I could trust those numbers). Put the new starter into today and worked like a champ for the first 4 or 5 stops out on errands. However . . . my last errand resulted in the car not starting and then I got to experience sitting around for 30 minutes before the engine would kick over. The car does have power and does crank, but the engine doesn't start.

A little history, as of the last six months I have replaced the battery and alternator, both of which were definitely bad. I also took in the car for a tune-up at a decent auto repair shop that I like to use and they said the car really didn't need it based on their tests (but they did go ahead with some service work).

I used the search function for the forums but wasn't able to find anything that seemed to quite fit my issue. I'm considering the battery cables, but they sure seem clean to me. The spark plug wires seem okay and they were also checked during the tune-up. I'm considering the coils, but should have those been checked during the tune-up? I also saw a topic about the crank sensor and some issues it could cause.

One other thing that was mentioned to me by someone is the microchip in the key going bad, that it can cause starting issues. However, I'm not sure if the car would even crank if that were the case.

Perhaps unrelated, the oil pressure gage in the dash has always bounced around for as long as I can recall. The wife did start to lose power in the car while driving down the highway and could only go about 50 mph while the oil pressure gage was pegged. This issue has not happened again since and the car ran well for me today.

Thanks for everyone's time and knowledge.

Derek

Hello and welcome to BC! :D

It sounds like you have a fuel pressure problem, perhaps. That could be caused by your oil pressure sensor from your description. I suggest you change your oil pressure sensor first and see if that helps.

Then if not, then you may need to test your fuel pressure.

Here is where the oil pressure sender is:

Attachment 44199


It's above the oil filter adapter. You can access it thru the passenger side wheel well. Remove the inner wheel well liner and you can see it rather easily.

Fuel control is caused by the oil level sensor on the front of the motor. ;)

However...it's possible the pump may be getting weak or a dirty filter. Give the fuel pressure test a whirl.

Meanwhile what you mention about the key is possible. Observe the security light and what it does normally vs whent he car won't start.

I'll raise this thread from the dead...because this is exactly what mine is doing. 1994 SE with 184,000 well cared for miles. My oil gauge was also bouncing around. 80% of the time it starts fine but the other 20% with absolutely no pattern, won't start. The dash lights illuminate, the engine cranks fine but won't start. Sit for 10, 20, 30 minutes everything starts fine. The ECM is throwing; PO321, PO225, AND PO1361. I swapped in a new oil pressure sensor, new throttle position sensor (the car had also been surging and shutting off without warning while driving.) I had heard that PO1361 was almost always the ECM. Replaced ECM with remanufactured unit, still has starting problems. The car will also SOMETIMES stumble when driving as if it wants to die and the "check engine" light illuminates. A push on the gas peddle gets through it and everything is OK. The "check Engine" light is intermittent and does not come on before or after the starting problem, only sometimes while driving. The surging stopped after replacing the TPS.

How do I check for fuel pressure? Might this be the crank position sensor. Does the CPS fail outright or will it linger?

Another clue I suppose. I'm in the habit of turning the key to "on" and waiting for the fuel pump to prime, at least thats what I think I'm hearing. When I do that I get fewer non-starts...but sometimes it still will still not start and still cut out while driving.

I had a 96 Buick Park Avenue that would not start some times and it also sometimes would quit going down the road usuallly when slowing down. I replaced the crank sensor and never had it do it again. Just a idea.

Thanks, I might replace the CPS, seems like a pretty straight forward job.

This thread is 5 years old. Please start your own thread with a link to an old one if need be. Thank you.