good point on seeing the check engine light when you crank it lol, but I meant while I am driving

What I read, for my car 1992 Buick Century 3.3, was that there is no code for the crankshaft positioning sensor so therefore no check engine light will come on.

This is the reason why so many people replaced all kinds of parts and not getting any results.

The CPS sends a signal to the ignition module so many people replace the ignition module and get no results also.

Every mechanic I spoke to told me I was nuts and that replacing the CPS would not correct my stalling problem because if the CPS was not working the car wouldn't start, period. Well, those certified mechanics were wrong.

When I started investigating the CPS and its harness I found that the polyweb on the 3 wire harness was brittle and mostly gone and after I unplugged it from the CPS and started to pull it through the bracket under the Ignition Module I found that one wire was bare about an inch and the other two were melting together. They had been resting on the bracket (without the polyweb) and I guessed the arcing that must have occurred probably did some damage to the CPS, so I separated the wires and wrapped them with electrical tape, put new polyweb on and went for it, following another forum's advice to replace the CPS and it worked. The car has not stalled in two weeks now.

If you are going to replace the CPS get an OEM and not an after-market. The after-market CPS has play from outside to inside while in the CPS bracket. If you are going to use an after-market be sure the CPS is as flush as possible to the front of the bracket and leave the slop in the back before you tighten down the screw in the bracket to keep it in place (not the two bracket mounting screws). In other words, the CPS should be as far away from the vanes of the Crankshaft Balancer so the vanes won't dig into it.

Hope this makes sense. I can do a drawing of what I mean if need be and post it.

Good Luck.

shadetree said his car would take 5-7 mins to crank after it quit mine takes more like 30 mins to crank

Have you changed your crank sensor?

Hi jb84,

If I did not attempt to crank the car after it stalled until after 5-7 minutes passed, it would start. If it did not start after 5-7 minutes, I would wait another 5-7 before attempting to crank.

If I tried to crank right after it stalled and continuing to crank, without any waiting time, it could easily take 30 minutes before it would fire. And then when it finally started it would stall more often.

One reason I decided to not crank and crank, until it would start, is because I didn't want to wear down the battery. And I didn't want to wait the longer time getting going again. (Quite a few college students have helped me to get it off the road 4 or 5 times. THANKS!!)

It's such a pleasure driving my car again after a year and a half of dealing with the stalling. Tried the obvious and cheap, oxygen sensor and relays. Had an auto repair shop tell me it was the radiator...NOT! Lots of free advice suggesting ignition module, coil pack, fuel pump, fuel filter (first thing I changed), MAP sensor and fuel sock. Fortunately I was led to the crankshaft positioning sensor before wasting a lot of money. Whew!

Thanks internet. What finally led me to the crankshaft positioning sensor was a search I did which led to forums discussing the issue: "My 1992 Buick Century keeps stalling."

Shade Tree

got a new crank sensor today and will start trying to get the old one off now

what about this "CASE" whatever Danthurs was talking about, what is that

Not sure if you need one on your year. The engine will run fine if you don't do a CASE.

good then ill hope to change it tomorrow today i couldnt get the bolt on the harmonic balancer off it just wont budge...

You can take off the starter and jam the flexplate with a screwdriver. Then use a good breakerbar. May need to use some heat on the bolt.