1989 Buick Regal with the 3.1L V6 engine. Car runs fine for 10 minutes. If you shut it off it won’t restart but it will turn over. It has spark to all six spark plugs it has gas pressure of 45psi. Changed the ECM and ignition control module (ICM). If I wait for the engine to cool off it will start again. Idle position sensor and throttle position sensor (TPS) both work. Additional question: can the anti knock sensor cause this or possible grounding of hot lines wires to the injectors located under the intake plenum? Thanks for any help.
Answer: If the ignition system has spark then there was no need to change the ignition module so i do not know why you did that repair. The Idle and throttle position sensors will not cause a no start problem on your Buick.
It sounds like you are loosing fuel injector pulse signal. This is usually an ECM problem, since it controls the ground side. You need to check for power to the injectors with a test light. Each injector will have 12 volts at one wire and the other wire is ground that the computer controls. You can test the circuit also with what is called a noid light. It plugs into each fuel injector connector and will flash as the ECM sends the pulse signal. Most likely you have 1 or even several bad fuel injectors. This causes the ECM to not fire all of them.
You would need to remove the upper plenum and use a multi meter to check the ohms of resistance on each fuel injector individually. They should be about 12.5 ohms. Any less will cause your no start on hot engine problem.
This is a fairly common problem on that engine in your Buick. When one injector goes bad electrically it affects the whole circuit of the other 2 on that side of the engine. That will shut down the trigger circuit inside the computer. You could also have 1 bad on each side so be sure to test all of them and not just say you found it when the first one you test fails.
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5 Comments on "1989 Buick regal 3.1 won’t start when engine warms up"
blower air pressure not circulating properly
hi. i drive 1988 suzuki ss80 hatch.few months ago i gave it to an auto workshop for complete overhaul.after the overhaul was complete and the every thing was put back again,i tested the everything and when i turned on the blower it was working fine too, but when i changed the direction of air to windshield defogger side duct it was low and most of the air was still coming out from the middle air duct despite the flow of air was directed to windshield.i checked the every thing inner blower ducts are fine though little bit eaten by rust but not that badly,motor speed is ok. now it’s giving me headaches especially on rainy days when windshield needs to be cleared by it and it doesn’t clear the fog the way it’s suppose to due to which i can’t see clearly and that is very dangerous when it’s raining heavily and the visibility is poor.so if their is any solution please tell me.thanks
Sounds like a vacuum line was left off under the hood after the overhaul repairs. Vacuum is what controls the vent door in the dash that directs the airflow to the different locations.
Thanks for your time and reply.But what kind of vacuum line you are talking about if you can please specify it that from which side it comes and goes to which side of the blower then i might be able to fix it.all i know is that the air is controlled manually in this blower.
If the vent doors are vacuum controlled, the vacuum line usually comes inside the car under the passenger side dash from the engine compartment.