Hello, i have a 1986 Buick Electra Park Avenue and i have been having a few problems with my engine and possibly my electrical. The two main problems i currently have is when accelerating my car gets really jumpy and feels like it is about to die with a faint burning smell when close to shifting (mainly around 2nd gear) and the other problem is my car likes to just randomly die while driving. With both of these problems if i let the car sits for around 10 minutes and try again it normally gets me get home. I have replaced most the censors, the coils and also just put in a brand new fuel filter. Has anyone else had these problems or have any suggestions what it might be?
1986 Buick Electra Park Avenue multiple problems
- Thread starter Cw150811
- Start date
i'm assuming this is a 3.8L FI v6.
first thing to do is to disassemble your throttle body assembly and give it a good thorough cleaning with an old tooth brush, can ( or tank ) of carb cleaner and compressed air. once you've got all the surfaces ( make sure to get the edges of the butterfly ) and ports cleaned out, then you can worry about things like the throttle position sensor and idle air control.
when is the last time you had the trans serviced? a full fluid exchange and new trans filters might be in order.
first thing to do is to disassemble your throttle body assembly and give it a good thorough cleaning with an old tooth brush, can ( or tank ) of carb cleaner and compressed air. once you've got all the surfaces ( make sure to get the edges of the butterfly ) and ports cleaned out, then you can worry about things like the throttle position sensor and idle air control.
when is the last time you had the trans serviced? a full fluid exchange and new trans filters might be in order.
Last edited:
Thank you for the reply. Yes it is a 3.8L FI v6 my apologies for leaving that out, I will be sure to clean the throttle body assembly out very well. I have recently replaced both the throttle position sensor and the idle air control although my crank position sensor might be damaged slightly (it was fitted in wrong and a small part of the housing around it was ground away). Would it suddenly dying be caused by a vacuum leak around the throttle body or a new sensor being defective? When the engine dies while driving there is no warning at all it instantly cuts out and has to be left alone for a little while to start back up. I would also like to mention the check engine light does not come on.
As for the transmission i am currently looking into getting it serviced, the original owner did not have this car as a daily driver so it sat a lot.
As for the transmission i am currently looking into getting it serviced, the original owner did not have this car as a daily driver so it sat a lot.