1988 Buick Lesabre RANDOM STALLS

Tiny
TOMDIMIT244
  • 1988 BUICK LESABRE

Engine Mechanical problem
1988 Buick Lesabre 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 166000 miles

The car randomly stalls while driving. There is no warning when this happens. Engine simply cuts off and I have to pull over. I wait about 1 minute then the engine will start and drive normally and cut off at random once again. Very frustrating especially when driving in city traffic. The fuel pump runs as it should so I ruled that out. I replaced the crank sensor about 2 years ago. Did a OBD I scan and came up with code 12 and 22. Not sure what they are. I am a back yard mechanic but could only do so much on an engine with so many sensors and electronics. I could use some expert diagnosis here. Thanks.

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Friday, October 15th, 2010 AT 10:22 AM

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Tiny
JDL
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When the vehicle stalls, visually check for spark at the plugs. You can carry a known good spark plug or spark tester in the glove-box. Then pull plug wire, place tester in the plug boot, ground tester to metal part of engine, watch for spark, engine cranking. Also, use a noid lite, check for injector pulse, engine cranking. The code 12 means it is in diagnostic mode. Code 22 is low voltage-- throttle position sensor. If three wires at throttle position sensor, check them all. Ref voltage-- ground--signal.

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Saturday, October 16th, 2010 AT 12:06 PM
Tiny
TOMDIMIT244
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I also have a code 26 and code 42 which came up after I cleared the ecm. I wiggled the wire harness at the connection point of the pcm under the coil pack and now when I start the car, the service engine light goes off and the car has not stalled yet. Before that, the light stayed on. Very strange.

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Monday, October 18th, 2010 AT 9:13 AM
Tiny
JDL
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It's the ignition module under the coil pack, maybe just loose connection? Hope you got it going your way.

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Monday, October 18th, 2010 AT 9:34 AM

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