2001 Buick Century Custom has trouble starting, but runs as smooth as butter.

Asked by Danoattack Feb 09, 2015 at 02:38 PM about the 2001 Buick Century Custom Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have just inherited a 2001 Buick Century (32,250 miles) from my grandparents, and I am stuck with a single problem.
When I go to start the car, it'll crank, crank, crank, crank, and finally turn over. On some occasions, it'll turn over and then just shut right back off. It always goes the 2nd time, at least for now.

My mechanic advised me to use fuel injector cleaner, but it has just gotten worse. This car was garage kept, but wasn't driven much AT ALL (maybe in the single digits) in the past 1 1/2 years.  ALL gauges work properly, and when it goes out on the road, there are absolutely NO PROBLEMS with the way it runs. It's gotta be something so simple..

I am almost certain it just needs a new fuel filter, but I'd love to get some outside opinions.

1 Answer

Kelly answered 8 years ago

New fuel has a short shelf life and will cause this type of issue. If you can find a safe way to drain the fuel from the tank, (possibly siphon) change the filter as you had mentioned, then replace the old fuel with fresh you should be good to go. Simply adding fresh fuel will only dilute the stale fuel and you will still have the same issue.

Mark helpful

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