Buick LeSabre troubles . . . stalling out at random HELP!

I have a 1989 LeSabre with 265,000 miles -- it's probably one of the
more reliable cars I've owned and a couple of years ago I drove from
New England to Southern California by way of Cananda without any
trouble whatsoever. The past six months or so it's been stalling out
for no reason I can figure -- the engine just dies completely forcing
me to coast to the side of the road. It almost always starts right up
again if I wait five or ten minutes. The battery is fine, the
alternator is recent, starter is okay.

Last November I spent almost $1000 total at two different repair shops
fixing the crank pulley (supposedly the flanges were bent, causing it
to send mixed messages to the computer and making it stall, according
to the mechanic who fixed it), the wiring harness (the insulation had
worn out, when you tapped it the the engine died out) and god knows
what else. We thought it may have been a loose timing chain, but turned
out that wasn't the problem.

The two things I've narrowed it down to are 1) the coil and module unit
or 2) the computer controller. Trouble is, every time I get it to the
mechanic it starts up just fine, so he's unable to do a diagnostic on
it. Last time I spent a hundred bucks to have it towed to the garage,
since it wouldn't start even after twenty tries. As soon as it came off
the tow truck, the mechanic was able to start it up immediately.

It's not just when the engine is hot -- lately it won't start up even
first thing in the morning when it's been sitting all night. It's not a
speed issue as it can stall at 20 mph or at 60 mph on the freeway (very
scary). It can happen after two blocks of driving, other times it'll be
fine for a hundred miles or more. It may be an RPM issue, as it tends
to happen when revving or increasing speed -- maybe knocking something
loose? Again, it always starts up again at some point as if nothing had
happened.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. My local mechanic, who is an
honest guy, said it might not be worth fixing but to me it makes sense
to try since I know exactly what is right on the car and what isn't --
a lot of parts have been replaced in the last couple years. If I get a
replacement car I'm starting from scratch again. This is a scary
problem as it occasionally dies out in the middle of the freeway,
causing me to lose both my power steering and power brakes -- I've
always been able to shift into neutral and coast over to the breakdown
lane and bring it to a stop by wrestling with the steering and bearing
down hard on the breaks. (A big argument for old-fashioned unpowered
equipment, imo.) Any advice?

> I won't guarantee this is your cure, but it's worth a look see.

It should be simple enough to install a fuel pressure gauge on the rail.
Why cars don't have these I don't know.

If you think the computer might have a thermal problem, go to radio shack
and get a can of freeze spray. Spray the computer while the car is running,
then hit it with a heat gun. Maybe you can get it to fail "reliably" this
way.

wrote:

> I have a 1989 LeSabre with 265,000 miles -- it's probably one of the
> more reliable cars I've owned and a couple of years ago I drove from
> New England to Southern California by way of Cananda without any
> trouble whatsoever. The past six months or so it's been stalling out
> for no reason I can figure -- the engine just dies completely forcing
> me to coast to the side of the road. It almost always starts right up
> again if I wait five or ten minutes. The battery is fine, the
> alternator is recent, starter is okay.
>
> Last November I spent almost $1000 total at two different repair shops
> fixing the crank pulley (supposedly the flanges were bent, causing it
> to send mixed messages to the computer and making it stall, according
> to the mechanic who fixed it), the wiring harness (the insulation had
> worn out, when you tapped it the the engine died out) and god knows
> what else. We thought it may have been a loose timing chain, but turned
> out that wasn't the problem.
>
> The two things I've narrowed it down to are 1) the coil and module unit
> or 2) the computer controller. Trouble is, every time I get it to the
> mechanic it starts up just fine, so he's unable to do a diagnostic on
> it. Last time I spent a hundred bucks to have it towed to the garage,
> since it wouldn't start even after twenty tries. As soon as it came off
> the tow truck, the mechanic was able to start it up immediately.
>
> It's not just when the engine is hot -- lately it won't start up even
> first thing in the morning when it's been sitting all night. It's not a
> speed issue as it can stall at 20 mph or at 60 mph on the freeway (very
> scary). It can happen after two blocks of driving, other times it'll be
> fine for a hundred miles or more. It may be an RPM issue, as it tends
> to happen when revving or increasing speed -- maybe knocking something
> loose? Again, it always starts up again at some point as if nothing had
> happened.
>
> Any suggestions would be much appreciated. My local mechanic, who is an
> honest guy, said it might not be worth fixing but to me it makes sense
> to try since I know exactly what is right on the car and what isn't --
> a lot of parts have been replaced in the last couple years. If I get a
> replacement car I'm starting from scratch again. This is a scary
> problem as it occasionally dies out in the middle of the freeway,
> causing me to lose both my power steering and power brakes -- I've
> always been able to shift into neutral and coast over to the breakdown
> lane and bring it to a stop by wrestling with the steering and bearing
> down hard on the breaks. (A big argument for old-fashioned unpowered
> equipment, imo.) Any advice?
>
At 265 thousand you may have to bite the bullet on this one.
If you brought to me I would start with an extensive inspection of the
wiring. $300
Maybe then even replacing the complete engine/computer loom.
New. $400 - $600
Sad but true, things (including looms) wear out.
But who knows?
No one until you pull it and clean/test all wires and connectors and
repair or replace anything questionable.
Start with the battery cables.
You must really like your car.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I have a 1989 LeSabre with 265,000 miles -- it's probably one of the
> more reliable cars I've owned and a couple of years ago I drove from
> New England to Southern California by way of Cananda without any
> trouble whatsoever. The past six months or so it's been stalling out
> for no reason I can figure -- the engine just dies completely forcing
> me to coast to the side of the road. It almost always starts right up
> again if I wait five or ten minutes. The battery is fine, the
> alternator is recent, starter is okay.

Replace your crank position sensor, and
cross your fingers that is all you need, as you
are at the end of it's useful life.

Bernard

Bernard farquart wrote:

> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>
>>I have a 1989 LeSabre with 265,000 miles -- it's probably one of the
>>more reliable cars I've owned and a couple of years ago I drove from
>>New England to Southern California by way of Cananda without any
>>trouble whatsoever. The past six months or so it's been stalling out
>>for no reason I can figure -- the engine just dies completely forcing
>>me to coast to the side of the road. It almost always starts right up
>>again if I wait five or ten minutes. The battery is fine, the
>>alternator is recent, starter is okay.
>
>
> Replace your crank position sensor, and
> cross your fingers that is all you need, as you
> are at the end of it's useful life.
>
> Bernard
>
>
He DID.
That's where the wiring came into play.

wws wrote:
>
> Bernard farquart wrote:
>
> > > wrote:
> >
> >>I have a 1989 LeSabre with 265,000 miles -- it's probably one of the
> >>more reliable cars I've owned and a couple of years ago I drove from
> >>New England to Southern California by way of Cananda without any
> >>trouble whatsoever. The past six months or so it's been stalling out
> >>for no reason I can figure -- the engine just dies completely forcing
> >>me to coast to the side of the road. It almost always starts right up
> >>again if I wait five or ten minutes. The battery is fine, the
> >>alternator is recent, starter is okay.
> >
> > Replace your crank position sensor, and
> > cross your fingers that is all you need, as you
> > are at the end of it's useful life.
> >
> He DID.
> That's where the wiring came into play.

Have you by any chance been driving in a cold damp climate for the last six
months?

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== ===
It's 95% of the lawyers making the other 5% look bad.

I had the crank sensor replaced when the crank pulley was done. Someone
also mentioned the fuel pump or pump connector, which the mechanic also
mentioned to me but I don't know if he checked it due to the difficult
location.

I think the wiring was looked at last time and it seemed to have an
effect. I think the fuel pump or fuel pump connections might be worth a
look at as someone has suggested here (thanks). I have looked at other
used cars at this point, but I don't like what I am seeing in my
affordability range, and that has to be contrasted against this car
which I _know_ exactly what has been fixed or what hasn't. If I do have
to put another $1K or so into it, if that really fixes the problem, it
may get me to 300K miles which would be pretty cool, and not a bad
investment.