00 Cavilier, Dies on Occasion

My daughter has a 2000 Cav. For the past few months she has had an intermittent problem where it will die for no apparent reason. Its been looked at by a mechanic who found nothing wrong. The fuel filter has been replaced, plug wires replaced, plugs cleaned and gapped. She has used dry gas and fuel injector cleaner a couple times.

The check engine light has not come on whenever this has happened.

It seems that when it sits for a few minutes it starts and runs okay.

I'm not sure, but it may be temperature (outside) related (10 F today).

I've got a spare battery and am going to replace it tomorrow.

I'll probably get the alternator checked. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Randy

Could be a crankshaft position sensor. This can cause the symptoms you are experiencing. No way to really tell so start throwing throwing parts at it unless it fails completely or while the mechanic is monitoring it. BTW I always use geniune GM parts when replacing sensors and electronic components.

Inttermittent problems are the worst. Maybe it's moisture related? Will it die after a nice warm-up period?...Anyway, dealing with what might be a moisture related problem, if you have some kinda spray bottle, fill it up with water, and spray generous amounts under the hood(include all the wires, spark plug wires, and vacuum lines) just to see how the engine responds to it.

It looks like its been happening when she has 1/2 tank of gas less. Could this be the fuel pump?

It looks like its been happening when she has 1/2 tank of gas less. Could this be the fuel pump?


It may be the sending unit. It could read half, when in fact it could actually be empty.

hey same thing happened to my cousin, he changed the coolant temp switch and it got better