1987 Park Avenue ignition failure

**soulbrother** · 03-03-2005, 08:05 AM

What on earth can be wrong? When starting the car in normal indoor room temp. it starts up fine but after about 10 min. driving ignition dies and engine stops. Often it can be started again but sometimes it won´t restart. The worst is when it has been driven about 4-5 hours ago and is "half-warm",then theres no ignition at all. When car is all cold and has been sitting over night it always starts,same thing if its started all cold outside in winter temperature,no problem att all,runs fine all the way. I´ve replaced the ignition coil but the problem remains the same,what should I do?

**heidigirl** · 03-03-2005, 08:32 AM

what, if any codes are being set?

RonLange · 03-06-2005, 09:37 PM

are you sure its an electrical problem? maybe check for a weak or defective fuel pump or such related things.

**soulbrother** · 03-11-2005, 06:09 AM

Yes,I´m sure because there is no spark on any spark plug wire when engine won´t fire up or stops. The reason I replaced the coil is because when I tapped on top of it with a wrench suddenly the spark came back and then engine ran normal.

**soulbrother** · 03-18-2005, 06:40 AM

Could it be the crank sensor? As far as I can see from wiring diagrams and functions it should be the only sensor that causes the ignition module NOT to give a spark if disconnected or defective? Assuming that the ECM is allright and since I have now replaced both ignition module and coil I suppose the crank sensor is the thing to replace???
Comments please....and how do I replace it?

**heidigirl** · 03-18-2005, 08:54 AM

i just posted this in response to another question. these are the instructions from the manual for replacing the crank sensor on a 1988 3.8L engine:

disconnect crank sensor harness connector
rotate the harmonic balancer until any window in the interrupter is aligned with the crank sensor
loosen the pinch bolt on the sensor pedestal until the sensor is free to slide in the pedestal
remove the pedestal to engine mounting bolts
carefully remove the sensor and pedestal as a unit

the crank sensor is not adjustable for timing but positioning of the interrupter ring is important. a clearance of .025 inch is required on both sides of the interrupter ring

have you run any tests on the car? an hours worth of diagnostic time is cheap compared to simply throwing parts at the car.

**soulbrother** · 03-18-2005, 12:29 PM

Nobody around here is able to run a test for codes.....owning a car like this in Sweden is kind of "exotic" you know....
Thanks for the instructions concerning the replacement of crank sensor,I really appreciate it! What about my theories for the crank sensor,do they make sense? Since ignition module and coil are new and the problem is just the same I guess the crank sensor or (more unlikely) the ECM are to blame... I fully agree about the risk of just throwing away money on new parts but what else is there to do in my situation,beginning with the most likely components to cause the trouble.....

**heidigirl** · 03-18-2005, 02:16 PM

yeah, i know. your closest dealer is really not that close at all. changing out the sensor is at least worth a try, but i'm not exactly mister wizard about things electrical. i'm guessing you do not have a reader that you can plug into the aldl to retrieve codes. a simple device costs much less than $100.00 in the usa. alternatively, there is a way to read the codes using a paper clip, but i have never tried it. perhaps somebody on the board could explain the procedure. best of luck in solving the problem.

Mastiff · 03-19-2005, 06:54 AM

Try here:
http://www.geocities.com/dann8785/se...nginesoon.html

**soulbrother** · 03-21-2005, 02:01 AM

Thanks a lot! It worked,I pulled code 23 Which should bed the Manifold Air Temp sensor. Could it give those troubles? As I understand it there is no code for the crank sensor so it could be defective too? Guess I should start with replacing the MAT sensor anyway!