My car does the same thing, you probly have a bad temp. sensor. When you turn the key, the car floods itself and becomes hard to start. When It floods the plugs get covered in gas causing loss of spark. Hold the gas pedel to the floor and turn the key and the car will start right up, if the plugs are wet clean them or if needed replace them.

Hi 85cieraholiday, all


Good advice for a carbureted engine but I'm pretty sure a '91 would be injected, and it would make it harder to start.

Regards, Norm

Mine is fuel injected.

TB or Port?

I understood flooring a TB will keep it from starting and thought it would carry over to the later systems.
Manuals for the first TBIs cautioned the operator not to touch the pedal during startup.

Not the first time I've been wrong

Regards, Norm

Like the old days, I did try to hold the gas pedal to the floor on this fuel injected system with no results.

Do note that I observed zero spark when I removed the spark plug and connected it back to the wire and held it to chassis ground and had an assist to crank on the engine.

I believe it's a spark/ignition thingy and I'm currently working on it.

I did test all three coils on the 3.3L and they all showed infinite high resistance in which the Haynes manual said it should if they're good.

Anyone know of any way to test the ignition control module via ohmeter?

I have a control module on the way that I'm going to slap on there. I got lucky and found a brand new AC Delco Ignition Control Module for this engine for $30 off off Ebay. (They are $136.00 at the parts house!)

Well, I checked it out and apparently there is no way to service it.
Whilst checking it out, it noted that the ignition control module needs to receive a signal from the crankshaft and camshaft sensors in order for the engine to start.

TOC Admin
Brando

The Dual-Sensor will be next on my list if the replacement ICM doesn't do the trick.

Is there a way to check to see if the ICM is in fact receiving the Dual-Sensor's signal?

Don't see any way of testing that either, but a bent interrupter ring or mis-adjusted dual crank sensor could cause a no start condition.

TOC Admin
Brando

you will need a DSO or a graphing digital multi meter to see the crank sensor signals and to make sure the signal is the correct form.

BTW when you floor the pedal on any FI vehicle the ECM/PCM goes into clear flood mode and does not deliver injector pulse, but continues to fire the plugs, when the 'puter see's the engine increase beyond cranking speed (600-800rpm) it then enables injector pulse.

Oldsmobill have you checked for injector pulsing with a noid light?
you have no spark. the ignition module gets the crank sensor signal and then sends it to the ECM/PCM for it to use it for injector batch firing. so your down to the crank sensor and ignition module if you dont have chewed up wires somewhere (check the wires comming outa the crank sensor as sometimes the loom gets loose and will rub the crank pully/belt. also realize that the crank sensor should have a 5 volt feed-make sure you have 5v at one of the crank sensor wires (orange if i rem correctly) this is the same 5v source that the TPS uses so check for it there too.
good luck, and happy hunting,

James

Hi Turbocharged400sbc, all,


I stand corrected ............. I think.

Regards, Norm

LOL sorry Norm, i forgot about the Rodchester mechanical fuel injection systems those dont do the clear flood at WOT cranking. LOL

Update:

Put the new ignition control module on and the Olds still will not start.

I guess I'll try the crank sensor next.

I believe I won't have a problem replacing the sensor but according to the Haynes manual, it says something about a special tool to line the new sensor up. Anyone know about this? Details?

Turbocharged400sbc,

I haven't a clue as to what a noid light is. Could you educate me on that? And what is TPS?

Much appreciated.

TPS = throttle position sensor. Used to tell the computer how far you've pushed on the gas pedal.

NOID light = I think he's talking about a neon timing light. Its like a strobe light that you connect to the plug wire, and it flashes every time the engine fires that spark plug. Used to time older vehicles with distributors. Many other uses aswell.

Crank sensor just has to be lined up so that the harmonic balancer doesnt rip it off when it rotates. You'll see what has to be done once you get down under the car.

A noid light is used to check injector pulse...it plugs into the injector harness at the injector itself to show if the computer is telling the injector to fire or not.

If the crank sensor on the 3.3 is similar to the 3.8 (hardly ever see a 3.3 roll thru the shop anymore so I honestly can't remember....damn I'm feeling old :? ) then you are supposed to have a specific amount of gap between the sensor and the reluctor ring..that is what they're explaining when they discuss using a special tool for setting the crank sensor. Also, if the 3.3 harmonic balancer is similar to a 3.8 one, on some engines a special harmonic balancer puller will be required. I've seen some 3.8's which have a slip-on balancer, others which have a pressed on one which requires a special balancer puller...doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to which has which.

I've also personally seen 3.8 cars with a stored code 43 ESC code which ran for a long time, but did have slight problems with tip in throttle response....strange but true.

As someone else had said, you may also want to check the wiring between the crank sensor and ignition module for chafing, rubbing, or the occasional crazed hungry mouse

Thanks.

I have had the harmonic balancer off before but I was really wrestling with it last Saturday night. I didn't get it off.

The bolt comes out via counter clock-wise right?

I attempted to use the crude method of positioning the 6-point socket and ratched on the bolt and laying it against the chassis while I cranked on it to see if it would break loose but my battery needs to be recharged. It didn't have enough juice. I wouldn't swear by it but, I believe that is how I got it off 7 years ago. (Did not put it back on that way though)

It is one tight mo-fo.