Will the Delco ICM and coils from a 3300 work on a 3800?

[moosefuel]

I went to the junk yard today to find a Delco coil pack and ICM for my Reatta, I found a Buick Century 1993 which had a Delco ICM/Coil pack. I bought it and brought it home, but when I tried it in the Reatta  it didn’t fire at all.

 

I would assume that it’s just not communicating properly with the 3800 computer because it is expecting to talk to a 3300, is there any way it can be made to work? I paid $50 for it so it’s a bit of a bummer.

[moosefuel]

Update:

 

Just before I gave up, I was about to put the old coils back in and was unscrewing the connector, but thought what the hey, why not try it one more time. The car started up beautifully and ran for about a minute. I was thrilled, but after I tightened the connector it wouldn’t start again, tight or loose. I also tried disconnecting and reconnecting the battery just in case.

 

any ideas?

[DAVES89]

Never tried a 3300 in a 3800 as there are so many 3800's out there, why take the chance. Try taking it back and exchanging it. The yard should have marked it so they know it's theirs.

[2seater]

I am sure the coils would work but I am not so sure about the ICM. The 3300 Buick does not have a cam sensor and uses batch fire injection. I do not know if they simply ignore the missing sensor and the ICM is the same, or if they are somewhat different and the pinout may be different. I would look online and compare ICM part numbers to see if they are the same.

[moosefuel]

26 minutes ago, 2seater said:

I do not know if they simply ignore the missing sensor and the ICM is the same, or if they are somewhat different and the pinout may be different. I would look online and compare ICM part numbers to see if they are the same.

According to RockAuto they are the same between the Century 1993 3.3 and the 1991 Reatta. Maybe I just got a dud.

photos of the respective RockAuto pages attached.

[moosefuel]

Update: SOLVED!

 

I was about to give up and return the Delco coil pack and ICM, but for fun I put the old Magnavox pack on and it wouldn’t work either! I did I did a little googling and came across this old post:

 

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/332605-1990-reatta-occasionally-wont-start/

 

His problem was that the coil pack wasn’t grounded. I already thought of this, or so I thought. I double-checked and tightened the bolt where the ground wire goes from the engine to the frame. I had loosened it to get to the screws for the coil pack and I thought I had tightened it enough, but I hadn’t. Once I tightened the bolts for both the ground wire and the coil packs, both coil packs worked! It just wasn’t grounded “enough.”

 

Of course I removed the Magnavox one and installed the Delco as has been recommended to me by many people.

 

So the good news is that yes, a coil pack from a 3300 engine (in this case a Buick Century 1993) is the same part and will work. hopefully that opens up some junkyard options for people.

 

Thanks for the helpful comments.