PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

I've liked driving this car, got it because it was supposedly "reliable" but its all gone downhill fast, starting with a transmission rebuild. Not only do I have to fix my ABS/Stabilicrap problem(already have a post bout that), now the car is somewhat randomly stumbling/jerking when I'm doing some driving around town, and it dies at lights sometimes. I gues my oil pressure sender is crapped out too, it was pegged at 120 psi this morning, still is. I changed my fuel filter and put fuel injector cleaner in. Still does it. I'll change the plugs and maybe the wires(have NO clue where my napa recipt is for the spark plug wires). How likeyly is it the cam shaft sensor or the coils? And how could I test for both of those? Sorry bout the rant, I'm bout fed up with this.

http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... =48&t=1683

here's a thread for testing the coils, had some major misfire issues myself a while back. mine was a combination of all 3. I changed the plugs and wires and still had trouble, then I changed the coils to summit brand ones (turned out to be rebranded accels major crap) and had to change them again to MSD. so the end of the story is if you change the coils use either OEM or MSD I haven't had any trouble out of mine in several years

I wonder if you are having MAF sensor issues. Have you ever cleaned it? This one might be an easy fix.

Ken_W

That's a possibility. I bought MAF cleaner before because I thought that it was a possibility(turns out it was bad, had to replace it with one I got from a local gp board member). I think I still have the cleaner. I hope I don't have to replace it again, those aren't cheap.

update: i tested all 3 coil packs on top and they all had a reading of just above 50 on a 100 scale. dont have a digital one that has the smaller scale pictured in that link. does that sound normal? i also noticed there was rust on a couple of the coil terminals, so i wire brushed those and cleaned all with electrical cleaner. while attempting to clean the rust out of #4 boot, it ripped. got another set of beldens, tr55s and changed them. runs/starts better, still randomly stumbling/dying. Its kind of acting like it was when i had a bad MAF. any other ideas? any way to test my maf, besides pulling the plug on it(which i will try today)

Have you checked the vacuum lines?

Checked your fuel pressure yet? at start, idle, and driving?

fairly new vaccum line assembly, did a visual check, looked ok, gonna check under the supercharger snout. I loaned my FP gauge to somebody and it "dissapeared". i'm gonna get a new one and check it. thanks for the tips peoples. i'll update in a few days, gotta go out of town.
edit: i just remembered. in the past, i've heard clicks coming from the area of the gas tank door. they have been more frequent now. dont know if that is relevant now or not...

vacuum line assembly is still good. I'm gonna see if i can borrow a FP tester at autozone or something, cant afford to buy one until next friday. One of my friends that has an older bonneville rode in the car yesterday and he said it was acting almost identical to his when the cam and crank sensor went out on his. it gets up to operating temp, then starts idling funny, "misses" while driving, too. kinda like my eltee juan firebird did when the Opticrap distributor was going out.

ICM?

check this thread for possibilities:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=19267&hilit=+harness

Another thought might be that the O2 sensors may be going, or possible clogged catalytic convertor. The firebird I used to have had a severe miss problem with it's 3.8 and after replacing plugs, wires, coils, and ICM it turned out to be as simple as an O2 sensor. The reason I say possible cat is because I had Caravan that was having those same type of issues and was losing serious power from the 4 banger in it and after hollowing out the cat she ran all better.

Its got a fairly new magnaflow cat on it(came on the 3" downpipe I installed), and new o2 sensor simulator on the back half. I'm gonna have it rescanned, fuel pressure checked and I'll look at the fuel pump harness as well. I just got a ticket for the expired plates that I can't renew, so the heat is on to fix this. I don't know if I mentioned that the "misfire(" or whatever is happening) is quite violent.

took it to a dealership, i was tired of trying to find the problem. ended up being a bad MAF sensor. AGAIN. they wanted 400 bucks if they were to get it, got it much cheaper on Rock Auto. this is the 2nd one to go out. has anybody else had probs with their FWI messing up MAF sensors? or is this just more of my bad luck? Lol

i thought he only reason that would happen is if u over oiled it. Keeping it clean often should not have it happen.

Ryno02 wrote:took it to a dealership, i was tired of trying to find the problem. ended up being a bad MAF sensor. AGAIN. they wanted 400 bucks if they were to get it, got it much cheaper on Rock Auto. this is the 2nd one to go out. has anybody else had probs with their FWI messing up MAF sensors? or is this just more of my bad luck? Lol

Aftermarket MAF sensors are notorious for failing quickly. The best bet for any future MAF replacements would be to get an OEM one from a junkyard. The MAF you need was used in many cars besides Bonnevilles (such as Gran Prix, LeSabre, to name a few.) They should only run about $50, and you can replace it yourself in five minutes (maybe add five additional minutes to clean it first). You may think that a junkyard MAF may not last long, but you'd be surprised how much life you will typically get out of an OEM MAF sensor. Especially given that aftermarket ones are almost guaranteed to fail early.

Ken_W

thats why i was surprised the one i got last time went bad. it was a gm one that a guy on a local GP board sold me for 50 bucks.