1990 Buick Century 3.3L V6 Starting / Stalling Problem

Which engine? 2.5, 3.1, 3.4 or 3.8? Each one has different habits! 35 years heavy line mechanic experience! johnd7618@cox.net if you want my help drop me a note!

John D,

Look at the title of the discussion. "1990 Buick Century 3.3L V6 Starting / Stalling Problem"

1990 Buick Century came with a 2.5 4 banger or optional 3.3 liter V6.

Jon

Check the card under the coil pack, faulty EGR can mimic also

It sounds like the ignition is breaking down under load to me also. I think I would block the EGR as a test first though. I like a mechanical test.

I had one with very similar symptoms. Friend at dealership told be to pull a connector off the transmission because it was locking up the torque converter. Never happened again after that (two 1/2 years now) and it's up over 200k. My brother is driving now too since the wife and daughter never would trust it after all the stalling.

Some suggestions.You need to check for shorts. It's tedious, but worth the go. There is all kind of wiring that can go wrong. You didn't mention the oxygen sensor. You may want to replace it. You may want to check your local Buick dealer parts center and tell them about this issue, and show them the list of parts you have replaced. Ask them which ones are replaced most often. Also ask if you missed anything in your list. I actually used this approach to support a theory that a camry's coil had gone, even after the mechanics said it was fine. The parts guy told that he sold the camry coil a lot. It was the coil. Replaced it and eliminated the problem. All the best.

Wow , what a bee-atch ! Sounds like you have had quite a time with this .

You have replaced all parts i can think of except the ign. module , in my experience they either are ok or you dont start at all.

Question ; does the motor respond ok in park or neutral ?????

If it does i would follow the reply to disconnect the torque converter lockup connector and test drive it.

Note: You said you replaced the Electronic Control Module ," Map " .???

If you replaced the ECM , you must be CERTAIN that the ECM you got is exactly correct for your car ! Trying to re MAP an ECM from even a slightly different model will put you in a world of hurt !

Did you figure it out yet? I was the one suggesting the torque converter connector removal. With mine it would stall and take awhile before it would restart because I guess the torque converter was still locked up even with the car in park. It would cool down after awhile, 10 -30 minutes, start ok and sometimes let you drive away until the next time you would come to a stop, and then die or chuggle a little bit and then die. If it was overnight colled off, you could drive it for 15 minutes to and hour before it started to be bad again.

I just wanted to thank everyone for thier input and let you all know what the outcome was.

After much thought and several tests my mechanic friend decided t go back and re-check some of the things he had already fixed. There he determined that the BRAND NEW FUEL PUMP was bad and only producing about 14 pounds of pressure instead of the 30 -50 pounds suggested by some of you guys, so he put another new fuel pump on and the lil car runs like a scalded dog!

Thanx again, you guys are great!

Chris

I had 1990 century 2.5 with the same problems and it was the torque converter solenoid. I simply disconnected the blue 4 pronged connector on the front of the transmission and it never happened again. oh and keep up on the trans fluid.