Hi, I recently purchased a 88' Buick Reatta with the 3800 V6 engine.
It drove fine at first but would not start after sitting a few days.
I had a mechanic look at it and it was getting no spark.  He tested
the coil pack and ignition module and they were good.  Put in a new
crank position sensor and that did not help.  Finally we put in a new
battery along with a new cam position sensor and that got it
running.

I put maybe 60 miles or so on it before it died again.  It died going
down a long hill and I was downshifting to help braking when some of
the dash "idiot" lights flashed a few times and then I could feel the
car slowing down.  It would not restart and I had it towed home.  He
came back out and again it was getting no spark.  He returned the cam
sensor thinking it might be bad and also had the ignition module
retested.  The module was fine and still no spark after putting in a
new cam sensor.  Also the new battery was draining and after a few
times trying to start it had no juice left.  He tested it and noticed
a draw on it.

I found another mobile mechanic who instantly found out that the
battery had a couple defective cells and that is why it was not
holding a charge.  We took that back to the auto parts place along
with the ignition module to test again.  He noticed that when taking
the module off of the coil pack that a couple of the wires were criss-
crossed and it smelled a little like it might have burnt out.  Anyway
to make a long story short, we got a new ICM and reinstalled that
along with the fresh battery but still no spark.

It was suggested that I take it to a place that specializes in auto
electronics.  Does anyone have any experience with this paticular GM
engine and could possibly help out with any tips?  Maybe the ECM?   I
have sunk so much money into this thing so far but it seems like I got
a lemon.  It only has 59k on it so I thought it would relatively
trouble-free.

thanks,
CTV