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1997 Buick shutdown

Tiny
JUDY65
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 BUICK CENTURY
  • 45,000 MILES
I have a 1997 buick century with only 45,000 miles on it. Yesterday while going highway speed, the antilock brake light came on, followed by no brakes, gas gauge fell to 0 (has a full tank), no steering, just a complete shut down. Took a while to restart and ran just enough to get close to home but very rough with nothing working again the farther I got. Any suggestions on what this could be? Oil was changed 6 days ago.
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 3:31 PM

11 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
So after it dies will it crank no start or no crank no start?
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 4:19 PM
Tiny
JUDY65
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  • 4 POSTS
It did restart but very rough, hardly any power but enough to get almost home before loss of braking and steering again. Haven't tried restarting since getting it home.
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 4:34 PM
Tiny
JUDY65
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  • 4 POSTS
I might add this car ran beautifully until this incident. Never stalled, always started even in dead of winter. Its an older car but 45,000 original miles on it.
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 4:36 PM
Tiny
RASMATAZ
  • MECHANIC
  • 75,992 POSTS
Do you have to wait for it to start back-up or just fires up when key at cranking position?
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 4:48 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
The first thing we need to do is check for codes in the computer that requires a code reader.
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 4:53 PM
Tiny
JUDY65
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Just now it started right up, like nothing wrong. Its been sitting since yesterday. It is going to the mechanic later today, but I like to have a general idea before getting there. My guess is something computerized because all systems failed just out of the blue driving down the road yesterday. At that time, it wouldn't restart right away, but after a few minutes it finally did. Thank you all for your input!
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 5:20 PM
Tiny
RASMATAZ
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My suggestion have the fuel pressure check-this is where I would start
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 5:25 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
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You can take it to a auto parts store like auto zone and have them scan it for codes and let me know what the exact code numbers are?You can check for fuel pressure but if its running good now probably wont find much there.
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 7:33 PM
Tiny
JUDY65
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Could it be the alternator? We got it down the road and it died, had to jump it and charge the battery a while to get it the rest of the way to the mechanics. Battery was bought new in 2010. Mechanic cant get to it for a week unless they squeeze it in, but it's there anyway and out of my driveway!
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 11:36 PM
Tiny
RASMATAZ
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Get both the alternator and battery load tested-start here
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Monday, June 25th, 2012 AT 11:46 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
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Yeah it sounds like a bad alternator I would test it along with the battery.I thought you were going to fix it yourself?That way you wouldnt have to wait for your over booked mechanic to fix it a week later.
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Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 AT 12:13 AM

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