engine stalls while driving! help

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Bill_T

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Hi all

My precious 97 Riv has a problem the mechanics can not seem to identify.. When driving either at highway speed or slow residential streets, the engine will simply turn off. No check engine or warning lights, no other performance symptoms.. It just dies.. If I wait a few min it will restart again, sometimes roughly, but it starts and then drives as if nothing happened.. There are no engine codes to help mechanic figure this out.. any ideas?? It happens a couple of times per week, engine seems to always be warm.. no odd noises from engine compartment... Recently had water pump, oil pump replaced.

I appreciate your advice
Thanks
Bill
 
No codes? I'll bet on battery connection problems. If that all checks out then it could be the ECM.
 
friend had the same problem with his 3.8 for several years, and the 5th mechanic finally changed the fuel pressure regulator and no problems since.
 
I have exactly that same problem with my 2000 Buick Regal, which has died multiple times in the last week as I was driving it. The engine quits in as little as five minutes, but might take longer, and always happens as I am slowing down (foot off accelerator). Cranking causes the engine to fire, but not enough to keep running. It might take up to twenty tries to get it running again.


En route to my mechanic, driving slowly and gently, the car would not stall. The mechanic road tested the car, and made it stall.

Initially, error codes P0300, P0463, P1096, P0103 and P0128 were read. The tired battery was replaced and the cable serviced. The ECM was reprogrammed ($100!), and the Regal ran well for a day. Shortly thereafter, it began dying as before, and was returned to the shop.

Since then, it has been in his shop for four days, engine running with test equipment attached. When it dies, it starts up immediately, and no error codes are present. He is at a loss, and my son is using my "choice" Crown Victoria, while I, as "retired" sit at home, searching the 'net for a solution to the Regal problem.
 
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Thanks, Larry, but I see Crank Sensor defined as:

< http://www.aa1car.com/library/1999/cm69910.htm >:
Crank Position Sensor Strategies: If a crank position sensor fails, the engine will die. The engine may, however, still crank but it will not start.

The engine does restart immediately in the shop, though it may take a lot of grinding and cranking when it happens on the road.
 
barney-soboda said:
Thanks, Larry, but I see Crank Sensor defined as:

< http://www.aa1car.com/library/1999/cm69910.htm >:
Crank Position Sensor Strategies: If a crank position sensor fails, the engine will die. The engine may, however, still crank but it will not start.

The engine does restart immediately in the shop, though it may take a lot of grinding and cranking when it happens on the road.
Click to expand...

I have still seen them cause a stalling condition. Momentary fault for one reason or another. Something to keep in mind. Anytime you have a stalling condition, you should set up a fuel pressure and spark tester to figure out what you are losing when the engine stalls. Also check the wiring to the crank sensor.
 
Check the wiring harness to the fuel pump mine collected water in the connector where it passes though the body the connectors had coarsen and had like a green fungus also the plug at the fuel pump was rusted and the terminal came out of the pump with the plug. I replaced the pump with an aftermarket which comes with a wide flat plug for it had to splice it onto the new harness and now it runs fine. Funny thing is it did the same thing as yours stalling, restarts after a while, runs rough then stalls again sometimes, shop could not duplicate, and really strange no codes at all not even a misfire. Good luck...
 
Follow up: Against his better judgement, Mechanic Bob replaced the Crank Sensor. The car tested our superb, and he even used it to deliver a customer back home (that took guts IMHO). I got half a day of good driving out of the Regal, but now it's back to the original problem, except that it starts right up after dying.
So, new battery installed, ground connections verified, and crank sensor replaced plus labor brings this gamble up around $400. Bob and I are both disgusted with this good looking piece of Detroit Iron - but I can't afford to get another car, since I was recently "down-sized" (aka: layed off).
 
Try the Fuel Pressure regulator. its a cheap and easy r&r that causes warm stalling, and easy start after cool down.
 
Barney,
That's really depressing,,,,. I'm having the same problem. I just changed my fuel pressure reg and crank sensor (yesterday), $300. As of this morning, everything is fine. I just hope it stays that way. I cought myself eyeing a box of matches a couple days ago. LOL
 
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Could some of you follow up with results... It's like you get it fixed and forget about this site. I'm having the same problems. Sick of throwing parts at it. What the the final fix?
 
I AGREE


CRANK SENSOR

I could actually prove it. I could start my car, 86 and an 89 RIV, the engine would suddenly die ................... spray the crank sensor with a hose and WA-LA start right up.
 
9 times out of 10, the CPS will be at fault. In other cases, it will be the ignition switch or a bad wire. On the 95-99 Rivieras, the main engine harness comes through the fire wall near the brake booster. some of the wires can fatigue and break, and cause a stalling problem. I would try to induce the stalling by moving the ignition switch around and moving the wires around with the engine running.
 
Same problems. GM can't figure out. Ive changed the crank and cam sensor, fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, battery, gas cap, icm and coils. No codes. Doesnt immediately start. 3 hours to a day. Towed it 7 times. It would be nice if people followed up with a fix. I have found lots of posts that are similar but no one says what fixed it. Mine dies at 55 mph. Nothing less. Battery dies before it will restart. It is brand new.
 
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Hjhambone said:
Same problems. GM can't figure out. Ive changed the crank and cam sensor, fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, battery, gas cap, icm and coils. No codes. Doesnt immediately start. 3 hours to a day. Towed it 7 times. It would be nice if people followed up with a fix. I have found lots of posts that are similar but no one says what fixed it. Mine dies at 55 mph. Nothing less. Battery dies before it will restart. It is brand new.
Click to expand...

Check the engine harness connection at the firewall. It is to the left of the brake booster. It has a plastic protective cover. See if you can make the engine stall by moving the wires around. I have seen wires that break internally, and look OK on the outside. Also check the ignition switch. Wiggle it around with the engine running. Same with the PCM. See if you can get it to stall. That may point you in the right direction.
 
I had frequent problem with my 1999 Lesabre where the engine dies while driving but starts right back up. Always on a hot day: rpms start to waver and then the engine dies. Changed the fuel filter, then the ignition module, then the crankshaft position sensor but still no improvement. Then I attached a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel rail and ran it under the back of the hood so I could read it while driving. Next engine hesitation showed the pressure drop off sharply. This time it did not start back up. I replaced the in-tank fuel pump and it now drives without ever dying. It is fixed.
 
I had the exact same problem with my 95 Riveria. Crank position sensor was bad. Replaced that and has been running with no problems. That was 5 years ago.
 
same problem with my 95 no codes etc/my problem was the mother board located behind the glove box i got another 1 from adv for about 75 dollars guess you call it the ecm has 3 plugs going to it an the chip for the keyless entry is on it an has to be moved to the new board mine would quit going any speed/i could knock it up into neutrel an cut switch off an it would restart right away
 
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