Hi, I hope someone can help me, I have a '97 Bonneville with th NA 3800 and on a recent road trip, it lacked power, and sputtered a great deal.
I noticed it also flashed the check engine light when I slowed down but it went off if I accelerated.
When idling, it seems to shake, but there is no pattern to it (like if you pulled 1 spark plug) sometimes it seems almost normal, other times I am not sure if I will make it home its so bad.

Up to that last road trip, this car has been perfect. It always gets its maintenance like clockwork, and I respect the car so it isn't abused...

Any advice? Thanks for looking!!

get the codes read. flashing CEL is never good

Is that something that I need a dealers garage to do, or can I do it myself?

Before checking codes go out & check the oil level & coolant level. Let'* rule out the worse case scenario first.

Thats what I thought as well. But there is no trace of oil in the coolant or vice versa...

I should also mention it has 227000 km on it and doesn't burn or use oil, and up until now only required a fuel pump in 2006 and tires in '07, other than that this car has been perfect since I bought it.

I have noticed a pattern to the "check engine light" flashes. It flashes 7 times then quits for awhile, then flashes 7 times again.

Other than the obvious tune up stuff, plugs ,wires etc you can get the codes scanned from most parts stores for free. Auto zone, Advance and others.

Whew - one of those in a day is enough.

Some of the auto parts stores will scan them for free. Write down the codes & let us know what they are before buying any parts.

If you want something to do tonight then pull the plugs & let us know what they look like. Keep track of what cylinder each one comes from. A picture of the plugs would be great.

Ok, I will try to get it in tomorrow for the codes, and try to get some pics of the plugs as well if I get a few moments. I haven't been driving it if I can help it for these past couple of weeks (since the problem started).

I just went out and rechecked the oil/coolant. Both are right up there and the coolant is clear.

The flashing CEL indicates raw gasoline is getting to the cat convertor. Drive it as little as possible because the cat can be damaged from this. Here'* a link to another check you can do if you have a multimeter. http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...e=article&k=33