1995 park avenue suddenly stops running

[matt1124]

Hi all,

Sorry for the lengthy post but I want to give as much detail as possible. Thank you in advance for any input you have on the situation.

My girlfriend has a 1995 Park Avenue, naturally aspirated. Recently the car will quit running, exactly like you would expect when your turn the key off. It will crank and crank and not start. If you let it sit overnight it will fire back up and do fine for a while, hours or a day, then die again.

It seems to have started when I changed out the A/C compressor. I was topping off the charge and the engine quit and would not start. It started and ran fine the next day and a couple weeks on from that. Since then it has gotten worse, happening often.

I have tried starting fluid when it dies and that doesn't work, so I had the ignition module tested. They ran the test several times to get it hot and it continued to test good. I put it back and the car ran fine for several days.

Next I checked the fuel pressure. It was a steady ~40 PSI while the car was idling and revving, and "as luck would have it" the car died while I was watching the gauge. It jumped up to about 50 PSI. I figure this was because the pump was still running for a split second after the fuel was no longer being used. From this, I assume the fuel pump is ok.

I scoured the internet and all the posts I could find and several people had suggested the crank position sensor. I just got done changing that out, along with the cam position sensor since I was right there, and the car fired up. I let it run for 15 min and when it didn't die I drove it a bit. Not 5 minutes into the trip it shuts off and I rolled it to a parking lot very near my garage.

---Do you have any suggestions on where to go from here?---

It seems to idle funny to me. It surges a bit here and there and eventually settles around 800 RPM. The oil pressure gauge, at this point, will be ticking between 40 and two or three ticks above or below that.

MANY years/miles ago, when it was my aunt's car, this was happening and it turned out to the the ECM. We bought a used one from a salvage and that fixed it. Is ECM failure common for these models?

 

[matt1124]

This person seems to be having the same issue. http://buickforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8739

Ignition switch possibly? It always cranks so I don't think its the VATS chip unless I don't properly understand what happens when they fail.

 

[matt1124]

I just went and tried to start it after 2.5 hours of leaving it. It started right up and I drove it around the block into the alley, less than a minute of running. It died, I went into neutral and it started right up and I drove it 20 feet and it died. I tried again and it wouldn't fire. I tried again and I was able to drive it maybe 5 feet, making it mostly into the garage. It wouldn't start again so I just pushed it and shut the garage door.

Something is heating up from current running through it maybe? I'm still not convinced it's not the ICM because it was VERY hot when it quit a few hours ago. It's warm now. They are like $150 so I'd rather not replace it unless I am sure, especially since it tested good.

 

[dcraig1000]

since you have an obd 1.5 car, its gonna be difficult to find someone to pull the codes to make sure what it is. but if the icm was that hot, then its a good place to start.

 

[matt1124]

I had a detailed description of what I was experiencing and the first post now seems to be an additional post with more information I added a couple hours after the first. Can you guys see all the stuff I wrote about troubleshooting?

 

[dcraig1000]

only see one post brother

 

[Cadillac_AL]

Is the ses light on? If not it could be the fuel pump. Check the fire on the front 3 plugs, if no fire I would bet on the icm. I just had to replace my icm. It set of the ses light though telling me no cam signal or 18x crank signal. those signals are processed through the icm.

 

[matt1124]

The first post was everything done so far. It disappeared, although it shows in my post count. 😕

It randomly dies. It all seemed to start when I was changing out the A/C compressor. I was topping off the charge and the engine shut off. It would crank and crank but not fire.

First thing I tried was starting fluid and that didn't get her going. I took the ICM and had it tested and it tested fine after multiple tests to get it hot.

It passed and I took it home and put it back and it fired right up and ran fine for a week or so.

Then it died again, started right up and drove fine for a few days.

Then it quit and wouldn't fire again. We pushed it into a parking space. I tried to start it and it started, and I attempted to get it where we weren't taking up 3 spots. I put it in gear and started going forward and the engine surged, calmed down, then died. Then I went and got some tools with my truck. I pulled the spark plug to check for spark and of course it fired right up, shooshing a lot of air through the plug hole. 😀

I then attempted to drive it to get codes scanned, even though there was no CEL. It died on the way, but fired right back up. It died again a mile or so down the road and fired right back up. I got to the parts store and it ran fine and they suggested I check the fuel pressure.

I checked the fuel pressure and it was a solid 40 until the engine actually shut off AGAIN while I was watching it and it went to 50. That seems like the fuel pump is ok then, right?

I let it sit for about 20 minutes and was able to drive it home.

I scoured the internet at this point and decided the next step would be the crank sensor. I changed it last night, along with the cam sensor since I was right there anyway. It fired up and ran for 15 minutes in the alley and I decided to take it for a spin. 5 minutes later i was pushing it home. 😡

Several years ago we have a problem like this and it was the engine computer. We put in a salvaged one and that fixed it. Is that a common problem with this year?

I'm just stuck as to where to go from here. I thought about replacing the ICM since I found one online for like $40 brand new. Can they test good and still be intermittently bad? Surely. I found a reman engine computer for $120 with a 1 year warranty I'm thinking about too.

It doesn't act like it's not getting fuel, it just acts like the key has been turned off. Radio and everything stays on.

Crazy. Thanks guys!

 

[matt1124]

I had the ICM tested again at autozone this time and it started failing. I took it to advance and they ran it a handful of times to get it hot and it passed every time. AZ ran it like 20 times and the setpoint (whatever that is) started failing.

New ICM on the way. Of course that is where I started before I changed the crank sensor...