Jim Grant's Tech Tips

'92 Buick LeSabre, Hard starting & No Power

Q: I have a ‘92 Buick LeSabre Probably-one of the best cars I have owned. It has a 3.8L engine. The problem is that it hesitates slightly going up a hill and lately it doesn't start easy like it used to. I have had my mechanic scan the codes twice and no faults. He didn't know how to check the coil so I took it off and checked resistance on the primary and got .7 ohms and checked the secondary and got between 11-12,000 ohms. What do you think? Should I check the coil hot or cold?? Thank you for any information you can give me....Roger R.

A: The resistance values you provided are right inline for a Type I ignition coil. But your complaint isn’t inline for bad ignition coils. If one of the three ignition coils was failing you would experience a very pronounced engine misfire, skip or bucking. I’m more inclined to believe that you may have a fuel related problem. My suggestion is to start with a fuel pressure and just as importantly fuel volume test. A loss of fuel pressure or volume will affect starting and the overall performance of the vehicle.