Older Pontiac stalling mystery SOLVED
Dante Estlin
05-20-2004, 09:06 AM
I have a 1989 Pontiac Grand Am, Quad 4 motor, four door. It was given to me a couple of years ago 2002 by my father. Of course, being a guy in his 80s, he babied the car and as these older gents do, he bought a new car.
I needed a car and took the Pontiac. It ran superb for two years. I even drove it to New York City from Buffalo 410 miles one way , drove it back and forth a number of times to Toronto 90 miles one way, and also used it every day the way Americans love to use their cars.
Slowly, over time, I have been experiencing a stalling problem. Here's what happens. I drive the car for a few miles, maybe 5, maybe 10. Things are fine until something heats up, and if I have to slow down at a red light or stop sign, the car sputters and stalls. I could drive the car for 100 miles on a superhighway and have no problems, but once I have to deccellerate, it'll stall. The situation is worse in hotter weather. The car rarely stalls in colder weather. I love January.
Anyway, after the car stalls and sits for anywhere from 7 to 17 minutes, it'll start right up and I can move along to my local destination. But it will eventually stall again as I deccelerate. If the car sits for an hour or so, I can drive further than if it sits for 10 minutes.
I have done huge research on the problem. Huge. I've taken it to mechanics. I've had mechanics who won't work on it. Some think it might be a solenoid issue.
I've seen comments on myriad boards about others having this problem and it seems to be a mystery to most. The real tragedy is that GM has made a line of cars that have this problem. Anyway, after tons of research, here's the deal, and I hope this helps any of you out.
The car is experiencing one of two serious problems. The first may be that a heat shield protecting fuel lines or filter may have shifted or broke or just eroded away, and this is causing fuel in the line to vaporize, thus causing the stalling. That's one theory, but I really don't subscribe to it.
The theory I like is this: The car is having a serious Ignition Module (IM) failure, which may also be linked to other electrical malfunctions. The IM needs to be replaced and you might want to replace, probably should replace, the Crank Sensor.
The cost is steep. To drive it onto a Pontiac dealer lot is a minimum, no questions asked, $75.00 for one hour of mandatory diagnostics, even though you know it's an IM problem. The diagnostics could take two hours. Hopefully it won't take three. The mechanics will test every aspect - they have better equipment at dealers than do regular mechanics, and determine the exact point where fuel is not getting into the line and what is causing it it to choke or vaporize - certainly the IM. The cost of the Ignition Module is around $200. The crank sensor is around $30. So with one hour of diagnostics, and the parts, we're talking $305 without labor and any other parts.
I hope this helps you out. As for me, I was just given, by a friend, a terrific 1993 Nissan Altima with 181,000 miles on it and it's good for another 75,000, I'm sure. Oh, I know you're probably wondering, why do people keep giving this guy cars? I guess I'm just a likable guy.
I needed a car and took the Pontiac. It ran superb for two years. I even drove it to New York City from Buffalo 410 miles one way , drove it back and forth a number of times to Toronto 90 miles one way, and also used it every day the way Americans love to use their cars.
Slowly, over time, I have been experiencing a stalling problem. Here's what happens. I drive the car for a few miles, maybe 5, maybe 10. Things are fine until something heats up, and if I have to slow down at a red light or stop sign, the car sputters and stalls. I could drive the car for 100 miles on a superhighway and have no problems, but once I have to deccellerate, it'll stall. The situation is worse in hotter weather. The car rarely stalls in colder weather. I love January.
Anyway, after the car stalls and sits for anywhere from 7 to 17 minutes, it'll start right up and I can move along to my local destination. But it will eventually stall again as I deccelerate. If the car sits for an hour or so, I can drive further than if it sits for 10 minutes.
I have done huge research on the problem. Huge. I've taken it to mechanics. I've had mechanics who won't work on it. Some think it might be a solenoid issue.
I've seen comments on myriad boards about others having this problem and it seems to be a mystery to most. The real tragedy is that GM has made a line of cars that have this problem. Anyway, after tons of research, here's the deal, and I hope this helps any of you out.
The car is experiencing one of two serious problems. The first may be that a heat shield protecting fuel lines or filter may have shifted or broke or just eroded away, and this is causing fuel in the line to vaporize, thus causing the stalling. That's one theory, but I really don't subscribe to it.
The theory I like is this: The car is having a serious Ignition Module (IM) failure, which may also be linked to other electrical malfunctions. The IM needs to be replaced and you might want to replace, probably should replace, the Crank Sensor.
The cost is steep. To drive it onto a Pontiac dealer lot is a minimum, no questions asked, $75.00 for one hour of mandatory diagnostics, even though you know it's an IM problem. The diagnostics could take two hours. Hopefully it won't take three. The mechanics will test every aspect - they have better equipment at dealers than do regular mechanics, and determine the exact point where fuel is not getting into the line and what is causing it it to choke or vaporize - certainly the IM. The cost of the Ignition Module is around $200. The crank sensor is around $30. So with one hour of diagnostics, and the parts, we're talking $305 without labor and any other parts.
I hope this helps you out. As for me, I was just given, by a friend, a terrific 1993 Nissan Altima with 181,000 miles on it and it's good for another 75,000, I'm sure. Oh, I know you're probably wondering, why do people keep giving this guy cars? I guess I'm just a likable guy.
scaviola
05-20-2004, 11:22 AM
The problem is likely the Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) Solenoid. These are notorious for getting stuck, causing the car to stall after you've been driving for a while.
You can get it fixed for $200-300 or you can just disconnect the wire from the TCC Solenoid so it'll stop locking up.
Also, you can verify whether this is your problem, by driving the car with the TCC solenoid wire disconnected. If the problem goes away, you've solved it and you've incurred no cost or damage.
You can get it fixed for $200-300 or you can just disconnect the wire from the TCC Solenoid so it'll stop locking up.
Also, you can verify whether this is your problem, by driving the car with the TCC solenoid wire disconnected. If the problem goes away, you've solved it and you've incurred no cost or damage.
trkmike
06-01-2004, 10:55 PM
Sounds like the coil pack housing is bad. that's what my 94 was doing and i spent the 300 to figure it out
Pont
06-22-2004, 04:10 PM
do you mean it acts like a stick shift when you try to stop with out pushing the clutch in if so scaviola is right mine did that same thing it is supposed to help with gas but i drove mine for 2 years like that and never could tell a differnce the plug is a big blue 4 plug on the front side of the tranny
dlwdkh
06-22-2004, 05:29 PM
I have a '93 with the 3.3 litre and after it heats up it will not even turn over. It doesnt stall though. the key works everything but the starter. I put a new solenoid on it and it didnt work, i tried a different brand and it didnt work at all. I got a junk yard starter with solenoid, it didnt work, I got a brand new AC/Delco starter with Solenoid on it and it wont solve the problem. So now i just learned to drive the stupid thing and out smart it. i just dont shut it off if i am not going to let it set long enought to cool off.
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