Will I ever be able to fix my Oldsmobile?

94 Olds 88 Royale 3.8L

I recently installed new plugs and wires and a new camshaft sensor as well. Car ran great for about 4,000 miles and now this:

Check engine light flashes sometimes while running (idling or in drive). Car will begin to misfire (jerk around, shudder, skip). Occasionally, when releasing from the brake at a stoplight, it seems as though car is in second/third gear. I almost have to step all the way down on the gas pedal to begin to move.. As car begins to accelerate faster, it then kicks into gear. It shudders when this happens as well. On cold starts, car will crank over and start fine, but then after 1-3 seconds of running, will stall out (I try tapping on the gas once it cranks over to try to keep it running, but 9 out of 10 times that has no effect). Usually takes 3-4 starts before it stays running. Once engine is warm, car starts and runs without stalling. Car surges when stopped at a red light sometimes. Once check engine light is on, I can usually turn the car off and then back on, and the light will no longer be on… don’t think that’s normal for it to turn off that easily. When on the freeway, sometimes it seems as though the car won’t shift in to overdrive. It stays in third gear, at about 45 mph, and the engine revs up for about 1-2 seconds and then settles and then revs for about 1-2 seconds, and then settles, and so on (all this happens while my foot is in the same spot on the gas pedal). If I press down on the gas real hard (floor it), car will increase in speed and shift in to overdrive and steadily cruise at 70 mph or so.

These are all the DTCs that it's thrown:

P0342 Cam Sensor Circuit
P1406 EGR Pintle Position Circuit
P1630 Battery volts out of range
P1565 Cruise Control Servo Position
P0171 Fuel Trim Lean

I don't have a muffler on the car, just the cadillitic converter and pipe, so maybe that has something to do with the P0171 code?

But with everything else, I don't know where to start. Could it possibly be a bad ICM? Someone help me! (or I might start bashing my head against the wall)

wellz wrote:

94 Olds 88 Royale 3.8L

I recently installed new plugs and wires and a new camshaft sensor as well. Car ran great for about 4,000 miles and now this:

Check engine light flashes sometimes while running (idling or in drive). Car will begin to misfire (jerk around, shudder, skip). Occasionally, when releasing from the brake at a stoplight, it seems as though car is in second/third gear. I almost have to step all the way down on the gas pedal to begin to move.. As car begins to accelerate faster, it then kicks into gear. It shudders when this happens as well. On cold starts, car will crank over and start fine, but then after 1-3 seconds of running, will stall out (I try tapping on the gas once it cranks over to try to keep it running, but 9 out of 10 times that has no effect). Usually takes 3-4 starts before it stays running. Once engine is warm, car starts and runs without stalling. Car surges when stopped at a red light sometimes. Once check engine light is on, I can usually turn the car off and then back on, and the light will no longer be on… don’t think that’s normal for it to turn off that easily. When on the freeway, sometimes it seems as though the car won’t shift in to overdrive. It stays in third gear, at about 45 mph, and the engine revs up for about 1-2 seconds and then settles and then revs for about 1-2 seconds, and then settles, and so on (all this happens while my foot is in the same spot on the gas pedal). If I press down on the gas real hard (floor it), car will increase in speed and shift in to overdrive and steadily cruise at 70 mph or so.

These are all the DTCs that it's thrown:

P0342 Cam Sensor Circuit
P1406 EGR Pintle Position Circuit
P1630 Battery volts out of range
P1565 Cruise Control Servo Position
P0171 Fuel Trim Lean

I don't have a muffler on the car, just the cadillitic converter and pipe, so maybe that has something to do with the P0171 code?

But with everything else, I don't know where to start. Could it possibly be a bad ICM? Someone help me! (or I might start bashing my head against the wall)

start by checking your work and checking the wiring under hood that you might have touched especially to the cam sensor... by the way did you find an Olds forum?

First thing I would do is check the fuel pressure.

LARRY70GS wrote:

First thing I would do is check the fuel pressure.

Yeah, could be. It's intermittent. Need to pull that panel out of the trunk over the gas tank, see if the connection is OK to the fuel pump, also connect a tech II - or - does the Olds have a Schraeder valve on the pressurized fuel system somewhere? - basically you need to read the fuel pressure, see if it fluctuates. It should not.

I would still check the wires that had to be disturbed to replace that cam sensor, especially at the firewall connector (that big connector near the windshield wiper motor).

Albertj