Reader Question

Hello Austin
I have a 1986 Delta 88 Oldsmobile.  It has 91,000 miles on it.  It has the 3.8V6 in it. I was wondering what the symptoms would be for the following problems: I was wondering what the symptoms would be for a bad crankshaft?  I then was wondering what the symptoms would be for a bad crankshaft sensor.  I then was wondering what the symptoms would be for a bad camshaft sensor?

I have the car at my local mechanic and he said it was one of those three things.  He does not sound too sure of himself though.

I will tell you what the car was doing to see if you think it is one of those things.  I was just driving down the highway at 65 or 70 mph and the car just died.  No warning lights came on before it died.  It was just like somebody turned the key off.  I put it in neutral to try and restart it.  It would not restart so I pulled to the side of the highway.  It still would not restart.  It just set there and cranked and cranked.

The engine sounded like it was not even trying to fire.   Also for the last month or 2 the car when the engine is cold would almost completely die and the car would jerk and then the engine sounded normal after a few seconds then the car returned to normal power.  Also sometimes it would be hard to start the car because it was hard to turn the key far enough for the car to start.  Please let me know what you think it could be.  Thank you for your help.  This advice will save me a lot of money because I can’t afford to be without my car much longer.

Sincerely,

Tom

Hey There Tom,

I have replaced many crankshaft sensors on these vehicles and would be a good guess.  I have also replaced many ignition modules, which usually overheat when they fail and have to cool down again before they will work. They control spark and fuel control.  Link To Ignition Module

Its an expensive part to guess at, the crank sensor is a cheap part but takes a little more labor.

Ask your mechanic if he can get another ignition module as a test, even a junk yard one just to test. Install it on your car and drive it for a while and see what happens.  If he does not have one, or no access to a junk yard, try replacing the crank sensor and see what happens.

Austin Davis

Reader Question

So my oli light, in my 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera S, is coming on at low rpm’s and idle. i just bought the car and there was a small tick, and now the light is doing what its doing. Do you know what i can do to check it out?

Hey there,

The first thing to do is check the engine oil level and top off with oil if it is low. If the oil level is good, get your mechanic to hook up a manual oil pressure gauge to the engine itself and bypass the dash gauge. Unfortunately, if you have a ticking noise, and low oil pressure at idle speed….you probably have some internal engine wear/damage that is causing this.

You might just have a bad engine oil sending unit, which tells the dash gauge what the oil pressure is. the sending unit is cheap and easy to install if you want to just guess at it and replace it. You can buy it from any auto parts store.

You can try using thicker weight engine oil like Castrol’s 40 weight and add a can of Engine Restore oil additive that you can get at any auto parts store. You will need to add a can of this additive after each oil change. If the thicker oil and the additive dont help….the engine will need some internal repairs which will be costly.

Blessings,

Austin Davis