2.8 stalls under load?

[60dgrzbelow0]

ok maybe I need to give more information, the car has a much newer engine (re manufactured a couple years ago) and new plugs and wires, this is a friends car that has been maintained immaculately until it was parked a year ago....it has good compression and vacuum, new fuel filter was done right before I did the pressure test, I honestly think it is not signaling the injectors to fire, it tries to run if I give it fuel, I know there is 40 psi at the rail and it seems to be getting spark, going back to electrical connections, I have removed the coils and the ICM and cleaned them as well as reconnected them and it made no difference, I also checked the CPS which seems to be good, where is the ECM located? is it behind the glovebox ala GM typical?

Any chance at all that somewhere on the engine/manifold there is a cut/broken/loose vacuum hose? Also...these Noid Lights work effectively to test the harness and the PCM/ECM signals on the car...and will very quickly help your diagnosis of what you suspect the problem to be. (See Link Below...the lower portion of the listing has all the dope on how they are used...)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Auto-Noid-Lite-Electronic-Fuel-Injection-Test-Light-Set_W0QQitemZ290343478332QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMeters_Testers_Probes?hash=item4399d1e43c

[robertisaar]

being a W-body, it shouldn't be... all W's got weatherproof ECMs... i would bet its in the same place as a 90GP: on the passenger side of the engine bay underneath a big plastic cover.

[bimdub]

ok maybe I need to give more information, the car has a much newer engine (re manufactured a couple years ago) and new plugs and wires, this is a friends car that has been maintained immaculately until it was parked a year ago....it has good compression and vacuum, new fuel filter was done right before I did the pressure test, I honestly think it is not signaling the injectors to fire, it tries to run if I give it fuel, I know there is 40 psi at the rail and it seems to be getting spark, going back to electrical connections, I have removed the coils and the ICM and cleaned them as well as reconnected them and it made no difference, I also checked the CPS which seems to be good, where is the ECM located? is it behind the glovebox ala GM typical?

[60dgrzbelow0]

Pull the plugs and read them... Greasy, black and gummy? Bad Valves and/or Bad Rings ...or even both (mileage on the car?) A big drop in compression will cause an early stall. A compression test first without a few drops of oil in each cylinder and then with...should reveal the bad rings side of this issue if there is a big difference between the dry/wet tests.. But if the plugs innards are a nice, "Fried Chicken Brown and Tan" ...then check for a bad, loose (or off) plug wire(s) at the plugs and at the coil plug connections. The car is 21 years old... in Dog Years...that means its very long over due for something to break down. As for the PCM issues... remove all the sensor connectors, spritz them inside with some CRC electrical contact cleaner and then re-plug them all back in... you'd be surprised how much corrosion can build up on the connectors inside those plastic housings after a few decades of wear and tear and make them fail or mis-read. Change the PCV valve just for drill too while you under the hood....and change the fuel filter, too.... Its always a GOKWIT! situation as the car had been on the road since 1988... (God Only Knows What's In There!)

[bimdub]

ok I have a 1988 Buick Regal 2.8, this vehicle starts and runs with a slight miss, when under load it has no power and eventually will stall, this problem has rapidly gotten worse.

ran the codes and got 34...replaced the Map and Mass airflow meter just to be safe, the car idles better but now it stalls more and is not giving trouble codes.

I tested the fuel pressure after putting a new filter in, and its nearly rock solid at 40psi it spikes a bit right before it stalls to around 45 psi.

I can visually see the occasional miss with the timing light hooked up to the 1/4 coil pack, so I suspect that coil may have trouble.

also when the engine dies....I can still see the timing light flashing which is what is bothering me the most, I would have liked to suspect the ICM or even the CPS at this point but its still firing the coils.

I am at a loss....and running out of time on this one it is like someone just shut the key off in the car when it stalls, I suspect the fuel injection pulse is getting shut off.....could this still be related to the ICM going out?