98 Bonneville quit and wouldnt start, Also has P0442 code

I know what the P0442 is (small leak evaporative system), this car recently had a fuel pump and regulator put in it, have had the code ever since. The car started running like it was loaded up for the first 15 seconds of a cold start. Yesterday I drove it for 160 miles with no problem, today a 10 mile trip stranded us! On startup it spuddered like it was loaded and quit, then only fired, then wouldn't fire. After 15 minutes it started and ran but every time she stopped the dash dinged. When she got home the dinger went continuously in the driveway.

Here is what I did to it:
I crawled all under the car only to find out an hour later that the purge solenoid is inder the hood and not under the car!

I looked on a parts website and saw a picture and went to the car and found it. This type has two hoses on the same side of the purge valve as compared to my buddies '99 Impala that has the other type with a hose on either side. At first look I think the mechanic may have put the hoses on backwards, it looks physically wrong the way that he has the two hoses on. Anyone know which hose goes where? Does the hose from the throttle plate go to the inlet facing the drivers compartment and the hard line that comes from under the battery go to the inlet towards the front of the car? He had them flip flopped and you almost had to force the hard line from under the battery to get it on the line towards the drivers compartment. The car started right up and no sputtering!

I cleared the code and started the car. I noticed that the check washer fluid and check gauges light got brighter and dimmer when I revved the engine. Not like they were on, more like they were in the background.

I put the battery on charge since my wife was grinding on it when it wouldn't start. I also removed the termonals and cleaned them the plus was loose and corroded.

Still havent found the canister or canister filter!

Fuel filter and crank sensor have 25K, fuel pump and regulator has 3K.

I don't think it matters which way the vacuum lines go onto the purge valve, it's pretty much just an on off switch for vacuum. I'll check mine tomorrow & let you know which way their connected. The canister is under the PCM & air filter housing.

Sounds like the loose battery cable was causing the running problems.

I forgot to ask which engine you have. Here's a pic of the vacuum routing for the non-supercharged engine.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa182/MikeTu/IMG_9683800x533.jpg

I do not have the supercharged engine but that picture shows me exactly what I needed to know.

There is a plastic line shown in your picture that connects to the front-most port on the solenoid which is how mine was originally. The hard line that you can see snaking around the valve cover is on the inside port on yours, again where mine was and I thought that it was wrong.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post that, it answers my question. Now if I can just get the darn thing to keep running..LOL

Follow that hard line & you'll find the canister. Didn't fixing the battery cables cure the starting problem?

So far the battery cables fixed the one problem but I have a BIGGER problem. The dinging in the dashboard turned out to be low oil pressure. When the oil gauge goes below 10 psi the dash dings. Ever since this motor was put in the oil pressure was lower than it had been but the car ran fine.

Currently this motor has probably 95K, the oil pressure was lower then original, just under 40 going down the road and just above the red line at idle. More recently the idle pressure dropped to just touching the red line. Last weekend I changed the oil and because I don't drive the car I don't know if this just happened or it happened when I changed the oil. I drove the car 160 miles on Monday and the pressures were higher, now they are dipping to 10 psi and setting off the dinger.

Today I replaced the oil pressure sender and it made no difference, the odd part is that it can say that I have 5-10psi and the motor is running fine. When I changed the sensor I got maybe 2 spoonfulls of oil that leaked out and that was it. I was expecting a continuous stream. I'm wondering if I have a restricted passage leading to the oil sender. Either that of this motor is about to yard sale on me.

I'm going to start another post regarding the low oil pressure knowing that others have seen this too.

I did BTW find the canister after removing the computer and the intake tube. I found that one of the rubber pieces that connect the hose to the canister was split so I replaced it. I may have just fixed my check engine light just in time to watch the motor slowly die with 5 psi of oil pressure.

Are there any knocking noises coming from the engine? Check the oil level & look for signs (might look like a chocolate milkshake) of coolant in the oil.

No, no knocking, no overheating, sounds normal. Tonight I removed the dash cluster and cleaned all connections on the gauge, it made no difference. The oil was just changed last weekend and it still looks as it did when it poured out of the container.

You can remove the sender & connect a mechanical gauge, that'll confirm whether the dash gauge is working correctly or not. If the mechanical gauge also shows low pressure then I'd check the oil pressure relief valve & spring.

Do you mean the one in the oil filter housing? If so, can I remove it while the engine is in and what should I look for other than seeing if it is bound? That assemble was new when this motor was put in, the old one caused the previous motor to spin the lower end.

Yes, the oil pressure relief valve is behind the oil filter adaptor. There should be enough room to remove it with the engine installed. What assembly destroyed the old engine?

I personally didn't install this engine (I'm a small block Chevy guy and transverse scared me a little) but the installer blew two engines before they discovered that the pressure relief valve was not returning and therefore starved the bottom end and spun it. It was my impression that the pressure relief was part of the oil filter assembly. Based on what you are saying, it sounds seperate but is behind it.

Next question, what would I look for and how will I know if it is bad? Do I need to drain the oil first? Can I get it off with the engine in? I replaced the sender and and I got 2 spoonfulls of oil and that was it.

Is it possible that my engine is just gunked up and running some marvel mystery oil or some of that motor flush thru it could free up the bypass?

I can't imagine how the installer screwed up two engines because of the pressure relief valve. All they should have had to change was the adaptor if the engine didn't come out a pre-2000 Bonneville. The valve & spring fit into the timing cover. I've only had one of these apart & that was a couple years ago. IIRC the spring goes in first then the plunger. The plunger probably sticks out a little & will push in as the adaptor is tightened up.

There should be plenty of room to remove the adaptor with the engine installed. If you can get at the four screws then you should be good to go. Once the adapter is removed you should be able to see the plunger. It should be flush or sticking out a little from the mating surface for the adaptor. I don't think you need to drain the oil but have a catch pan ready just in case.

Remember you only have to do this if the pressure also shows low with a mechanical pressure gauge. I'm having trouble believing the oil pressure could be 5 lbs without at least hearing some lifter noise from the top end.