Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

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Jason

Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

Unread post by Jason » Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:15 am

My car cut off on me while driving down the road, decelerating, while about to make a turn. 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue 3.8L.
Changed oil starter, also turned flywheel manually one revolution. Towed it 8 mi home, removed the starter and the cast iron guard on the end that covers half of the gear was broken off and sitting inside the housing; it was locking the starter up, that I fried by trying it too much.

I'm not getting any codes from this issue, but when I start it, I hear a click now, and nothing happens.

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Karl
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Re: Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

Unread post by Karl » Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:24 am

It's haard to say if you maybe have more than one problem.
If the car died and you were cranking and cranking, which then the starter broke, i would need to know if the engine was cranking good, or if the engine was backfiring. If it was backfiring, then that would break the starter. The fact that it just clicks now and does not crank tells me maybe a piece of stater nose is still stuck around the flywheel. But since you can turn it manually, that does make sense, unless you are turning it by hand the wrong direction, and the piece is free from the flywheel doing that, but then wedges in when turning the other direction.

If none of that is true, then it sounds like the new starter is bad.

Does it just click or sort of clunk, as if something is stuck?

None of this would cause it to stall out. That could be a loss of fuel pressure, ignition module, crank sensor, etc. But another thing that happens on the 3800 is that the upper intake manifold blows out and dumps coolant into the cylinders causing what is called a hydrostatic lock.
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Jdubya3000
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Re: Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

Unread post by Jdubya3000 » Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:56 am

If that were the case, would I have seen some water/coolant in my oil when I drained it? I put another starter on. Still no fault codes, and will turn over but won't start now. I can hear the fuel pump coming on. Hell idk...

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Karl
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Re: Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

Unread post by Karl » Wed Jan 09, 2013 1:38 pm

Yes, there would have been coolant in the oil. When you said you try to start it and only get a click, i thought it would not crank over?
But i guess it does crank over, so you are down to a basic no start problem. OK. Then you need to check for the basics.
Are you getting spark on all the coils?
Are the fuel injectors getting a signal. That would need to be checked with a test light or noid light.
If no spark and no injector pulse, a common thing to fail on the 3800 is the crank position sensor.
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Jdubya3000
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Re: Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

Unread post by Jdubya3000 » Wed Jan 09, 2013 2:14 pm

I replaced the starter. Fuel pressure is at 50 lbs, cranked it with a few plug wires undone, with fittings close to one another - plenty of fire, covered my hand over the air intake... it's sucking hard, popped the cap off of the radiator while cranking, and no energy coming from it.

Jdubya3000
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Re: Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

Unread post by Jdubya3000 » Wed Jan 09, 2013 2:15 pm

& still passing with no fault codes.

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Karl
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Re: Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

Unread post by Karl » Wed Jan 09, 2013 2:47 pm

OK, so spark and good fuel pressure. That rules out the pump, crank sensor and ignition module. You are going to need to check for injector pulse signal. Use a test light, or get a "Noid" light from any parts store, plug it into any injector and see if the light flashes.
Also, for the heck of it, check all the fuses. If i remember correctly there is 1 or two for the injectors. It would be labled "INJ".
Also, pull one front and one rear plug just to look at them.
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Jdubya3000
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Re: Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

Unread post by Jdubya3000 » Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:56 pm

I replaced a few plugs with some xtras I had laying around. It tried to start, so I replaced all plugs and wires. Cranked it up and it ran for a few seconds until I saw the smoke coming from the front of the engine, near the plugs' location & turned it off out of reflex, knowing that I've dropped a lil oil on the exhaust, I tried it again... just a repetitive click. The starter I got was an immaculate remanufactured unit out of the junkyard. To get the brushes moving, it did need a few whacks. I'm thinking a new starter, and... I'll see about the injectors.

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Karl
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Re: Oldsmobile Intrigue died and wont start

Unread post by Karl » Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:13 pm

Ya, get a starter in it and let us know if it stays running now that we know the starter is no good.
Then we would be down to the original problem- why did it stall...
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