Stalling/Hard start problems for '90 Century

HUNTER747

MEMBER
1990 BUICK CENTURY

I have a 1990 Century with 138,000+ miles.(V6 3.3 L.) About 3 months ago it began to simply idle rough(chugs/misses) when in park. Recently it has begun to stall when the engine is hot. But only when I shift gears(usually to park) and a small puff of smoke is sometimes seen near the right(passanger) side of engine. It is very hard to restart when this happens. I have to give it more gas than what should be necessary(Fuel injected). I can also sometimes hear a clattering near the right side of the engine, near the PS pump/reservior.
The engine starts and runs fine when it is cold. ANY advice would be appreciated. We have a very limited income and simply cannot afford to take the car to a shop and let them charge us for trial and error diagnostics.

Thank you for your time!
Hunter
p.S. Upon recieving an answer I wiill make an additional donation as thanks !

1 Reply

2CARPRO JACK

MECHANIC
11,533 POSTS

To start I would check the fuel pressure regulator. It is on the fuel rail and has a small vacuum line from it to the intake manifold. Remove the line to see if there is raw fuel in the vacuum line. If there is then it needs a new fuel pressure regulator. Also look at the harmonic balancer on the front of the engine while running. See if the balancer wobbles instead of turning straight. That might be a crank angle reading problem(the noise at the front of the engine)