1988 Cutlass Calais. 2.3 quad 4. Car fires up then sputters and dies on occasion. But the most outstanding problem is that everytime i touch the accelerator it pulls the engine down and dies

Scottykw I have an 88 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais quad 4,2.3L needing help locating the knock sensor on my car,rough idling and slow and sluggish acceleration.ive replaced the crank shaft position sensor and spark plugs,and fuel filter and allot of other things, but not the knock sensor or the Mass air flow sensor...where can I locate the knock sensor?

how does it act before shutting down? rough running low power, what..repost

its on the fire wall almost in the center of the dash covered by a black cover

Is your olds a throttle body injected or cylinder fuel injected? or is it still a carburator?
If it's the throttle body there has been many times those injectors begin to gum up
and will cause the rough idle and even stalling out.

At first I was going to respond yes, but not sure when there is a huge difference of fuel pressure between the two systems. Even then, I'm not too sure, depending on specific model of the engine in question, as subtle changes were made between same engine even on Lumina to to Cutlass, and even worse, with California specific models

Sounds like the veh is loading up on fuel make sure coolant sensor to computer is reading right it could be choking the car.Also check for clean throttle body But what the most likely cause is the mass air flow sensor. Blow it out now do this gently there is a wire in there thats what you want clean. dont spray any liquids on it THANK TIM

• • 1985-1987 Buick Somerset
  • 1985-1987 Oldsmobile Calais
  • 1985-1998 Pontiac Grand Am
  • 1986-1998 Buick Skylark
  • 1988-1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais
  • 1992-1998 Oldsmobile Achieva
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  • 1997-2003 Chevrolet Malibu
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replace the crankshaft position sensor.

Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais were made from1978-1991, and yes there were manual trans as well as automatic trans.

Here's some History on the Cutlass Calais.


March 1982 to replace Starfire, Lansing's version of the front-drive 101.2-inch-wheelbase corporate J-body subcompact failed to attract more than about 45,000 customers in most years -- except for 1984, when it garnered a credit­able 82,500 -- even though Olds tried most everything it could think of to sell it.

1988 the Firenza had offered all the J body styles, sporty GT and SX variants, overhead-valve and overhead-cam fours, optional V-6, and a confusing procession of price-leader and luxury models. But nothing seemed to work, and Olds gave up after '88. Firenza was no great loss, though, because 1985 brought a more-sale-able small Olds in the N-body Calais, called Cutlass Calais after 1988. Sized between Firenza and Omega on a 103.4-inch wheelbase, it bowed as a rounded, short-deck coupe in two versions: base and -- just to confuse things -- Supreme. Four-door sedans were added for 1986.
There was a lot of J-car engineering under the "modern formal" styling, and initial engine choices were the Ciera's familiar Pontiac-built four and 3.0-liter Buick V-6. Even so, customers generally liked this new bottle of old wine, snapping up 100,000-plus in the first year and better than 150,000 of the '86s -- about midway between the similar Pontiac Grand Am and Buick Skylark/Somerset.
For 1988, Calais coupes and sedans grouped into base, luxury SL, and sporty International Series (the last replacing a GT package option), but the big news was the first twin cam, 16-valve four-cylinder engine in American production, the Quad-4. Designed and built by Olds and offered as an across-the-board Calais option, it delivered 150 rather rough and noisy horses, but was claimed capable of much more.
Olds proved it by adding a tuned 180-bhp version for 1989. A more-useful option that year was a new 3.3-liter derivative of the 173-cid Chevrolet-sourced V-6. Replacing the Buick-built 3.0, it also produced 160 bhp -- and more torque than even the "High Output" Quad-4. To fill in for the departed Firenza, prosaically named Value Leader Calais models appeared for '89 with less standard equipment and restricted options but lower prices.
Enthusiasts surely shuddered when the 442 returned (sans hyphens) as a performance option for the base 1990 Calais coupe. Olds said the name now designated "Quad-4, 4 valves per cylinder and 2 camshafts."
Included in the $1667 package were the 180-horse Quad-4, five-speed manual transaxle, a specific version of Oldsmobile's FE3 sport suspension, meaty 215/60R14 performance tires on alloy wheels, full instrumentation, a cute rear-deck spoiler, and bold "442" exterior I.D. "Buff books" gave this latest 442 a lot of ink, but customers mostly gave it the cold shoulder.
Even a hallowed name on an honestly speedy little car couldn't convince many that Olds still specialized in high performance the way it had in the '50s and '60s.

olds mobile club of america should have your answer.