Need help 93 Olds 3800 crank sensor fails 3 times in 12 months

20

Asked by rickm111 Jun 06, 2014 at 09:58 PM about the 1993 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight Royale 4 Dr LS Sedan

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have had the 93 olds 88 royale and has been an excellent car up until the last year. I have had it towed 4 times in the last year and each time has been no start no spark and been fixed by replacing the crank sensor. It works flawlessly for two weeks to two months and then with out warning wont restart hot and finally not at all. I've used the same repair shop for years and feel they are fair and competent  Today will be crank sensor # 4 unless someone has a better solution. Thanks in advance for any help.

4 Answers

143,545

May be bad harmonic balancer ,that may be why you have to have it replaced so often,the magnet is weak,i would look there,and replace it.It,s happen to me before,life experiance,,good luck with it

4 people found this helpful.
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Thanks folks for the quick response. So far I haven't heard from the repair shop of any scuffing marks or damage to the failed sensors at this point. If memory serves me (and it may not LOL) this is an interrupt type in a fixed position and contains no magnet. They did note there was some oil leaking in the area but didn't seem to think it contributed to the failures. I do remember a magnet on the cam gear on these the used to fall off or something, but the replacement of the crank sensor makes it from no start....to reliable (At least for a couple of weeks), so I have somewhat ruled that out. I did go ahead and order a new aftermarket balancer since it seems like the next logical progression imho.

2 people found this helpful.
30

I had the same problem with my 93 Olds 88. Turns out the the wiring harness for the crank sensor runs behind the water pump area. The insulation on the wires deteriorated allowing the wires to make contact shutting of the motor and throwing a crank sensor code..

3 people found this helpful.
30

Had this problem melted wires behind water pump took week figure this out seen your post trying find out what else it hurt since car still wont start changed crank sensor

3 people found this helpful.

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