Idle Problems!

i have a alternator problem..i was about to buy a 150 amp alt...is giving it too much voltage????

dboydakid wrote:

i have a alternator problem..i was about to buy a 150 amp alt...is giving it too much voltage????

...did you already do the repairs suggested in the thread you originally posted in?



Peace & please let us know...

Albertj

i ws asking if installing a 150amp alt was gonna give it too much voltage..but thats probably a dumb question..

No, it won't create too much voltage or current.

The OP probably had too much voltage because the regulator failed. The alt will put out 17v+ if this happens. There's not much else that can cause a voltage spike other than the regulator.

good..im going to napa asap...is getting a reman one a bad idea?

It depends. The first reman unit I bought was no good. 2nd one I tried is still in the car working fine.

ok imma go ahead n save money and get the reman one..napa gives a lifetime warranty..thanks..

FYI, NAPA was the one I got that was dead. They took the return, just keep your receipt, and install/test it right away after you buy.

ok thanks for that info as well...

OK! New information! I have spent some time freezing my ass off looking for broken wires and still have not found ANY! Guys at the speed shop told me there was a miss. Not transmission and not inside the motor. For all of those who have been following, I'm about $1,500 into this mystery problem! I have replaced the coil packs and the Ignition Control Module. Still bogging and cutting out but ONLY WHEN CAR IS WARMED UP! Any Ideas?

How about the crank sensor? Electrical components can go bad in response to heat. It's one possibility.

rivparadise wrote:

OK! New information! I have spent some time freezing my ass off looking for broken wires and still have not found ANY! Guys at the speed shop told me there was a miss. Not transmission and not inside the motor. For all of those who have been following, I'm about $1,500 into this mystery problem! I have replaced the coil packs and the Ignition Control Module. Still bogging and cutting out but ONLY WHEN CAR IS WARMED UP! Any Ideas?

One idea: Dirt and oil caked on the wiring esp. plug wires.
Another idea: pay a GM dealer 1/2 hour labor (you will have to ask/negotiate this, not every dealer will) to get your car warm enough to miss while connected to a Tech II scanner set to do data logging. Reviewing the log will likely tell you what's wrong.

albertj wrote:

It's time to check the wiring harness at the firewall connector. Not all Rivs have this problem but in many the wires break at the terminal crimps with age, sometimes even under the insulation. There was a good thread about this, a person with problems similar to yours did not believe the bit about the wiring harness - we went back and forth on it for days it seemed - but when it turned out that was the problem took **really** nice pics of the repair and posted them. I can't find it, searched on stall* AND firewall. Maybe AA remembers it and will post/

Point is I think we've seen this before. It's neither common nor unique.

Albertj

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t4703p135-p0341-camshaft-position-sensor-cam-sensor-timing-chain?highlight=p0341

I believe this is the link you are referring to. I recommend reading thru the whole thing, but there is a great picture on page 10.

I have a lot of threads like this bookmarked for some reason...

Sorry it's not very timely.

Rivillac wrote:

albertj wrote:

It's time to check the wiring harness at the firewall connector. Not all Rivs have this problem but in many the wires break at the terminal crimps with age, sometimes even under the insulation. There was a good thread about this, a person with problems similar to yours did not believe the bit about the wiring harness - we went back and forth on it for days it seemed - but when it turned out that was the problem took **really** nice pics of the repair and posted them. I can't find it, searched on stall* AND firewall. Maybe AA remembers it and will post/

Point is I think we've seen this before. It's neither common nor unique.

Albertj

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t4703p135-p0341-camshaft-position-sensor-cam-sensor-timing-chain?highlight=p0341

I believe this is the link you are referring to. I recommend reading thru the whole thing, but there is a great picture on page 10.

I have a lot of threads like this bookmarked for some reason...

Sorry it's not very timely.

YES! Timely enough. Rivparadise: if you have not read that thread yet please do. Point is that others have thought "oh no it's not the wiring" when in fact it was - and then had the integrity to post description and pictures about it. It's good work.

Here is some background for those who are interested: The "folklore" is that one of GMs 2nd tier suppliers sold a bunch of wire to their wire harness maker that had brittle copper. Copper gets brittle if you work it too much (call it "work hardening"). Drawing wire into uniformly thin strands requires working the copper. So if the wire is not properly annealed (a simple heating process that reverses work hardening) for whatever reason (heat=energy=money"cost of goods sold, so in a low-bidder environment some might short-cut that annealing step) it will embrittle and in a high-vibration environment such as an automobile it will likely fracture and stop reliably conducting. I am not saying this happened - but this is the sort of thing that can readily happen if one takes say copper scrap and draws it into wire without annealing first, or re-draws wire without annealing.

Bottom line Rivparadise, you need to check the wires at the firewall connector especially the black one pictured (more than once) in the thread above.

Albertj

Any chance that I could have fixed the problem changing out the Camshaft Position Sensor. Did it today. So far no problems. Just Wondering!

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Any body?

rivparadise wrote:

Any body?

If the PCM doesn't see the cam sensor signal, it switches from sequential fuel injection to multi port fuel injection. i doubt that was your problem, but time will tell.

Time has spoken! Didn't fix it. Checking wires again and again! Doing the Crankshaft Position Sensor next week. If that doesn't fix it there may be a Riv for sale!

Without reading the whole thread, have you tested any of the injectors yet? Poor injectors will cause idle issues. I was shocked at the change in my idle quality when I replaced my injectors.

Injectors were replaced when LIM was done. It's not just idle but when car warms up it starts to miss and buck and sputter. No codes and no broken wires found as of yet.

And it still runs okay off idle? Is it still only sputtering in Neutral/Park?

Once car has warmed up, doesn't matter if in park, neutral, drive or any gear it just cuts out. This has led me to the crankshaft position sensor. I do believe I read somewhere that this is the only thing that won't send a code. Seeing as I'm not getting any this seems like the problem. Should be able to get to it by the end of the week.

rivparadise wrote:

Once car has warmed up, doesn't matter if in park, neutral, drive or any gear it just cuts out. This has led me to the crankshaft position sensor. I do believe I read somewhere that this is the only thing that won't send a code. Seeing as I'm not getting any this seems like the problem. Should be able to get to it by the end of the week.

Crank sensor's a good guess, be sure to get a good one (Delco, Delphi) and not an "economy" one. There are reasons the better ones cost more.

Was wondering about the quality of the sensor. Thanks!

Hey, I just wanted to let y'all know what we finally found out about my car. It was in limp home mode (2nd and 3rd gear only) what seems like forever and we went through the various scenerios. We replaced Neutral Safety switch, then the battery and the alternator was overcharging so we replaced it and then the new alternator was overcharging and someone somewhere on these forums mentioned the thermistor which is located between the battery and the fuse. So, we checked the thermistor and that was the problem. We actually have it disconnected from the battery at the moment until the new one comes in. We were told by Buick that we could do that and it would just make the battery light come on which it did when we disconnected it. However, the car has been running fine ever since and it's been over a week now. Yay! Thanks to all who helped us through this nightmare! I also hope these posts will help others with similar problems. I wonder how many people have replaced their transmissions thinking that was the problem.
Thanks again and Happy New Year! Katrina