1995 Sable 3.8 stalling!!
MoparFreak
10-25-2007, 11:46 AM
My girlfriend just bought a 1995 sable with a 3.8 liter v6 with 78000 miles on it. It ran fine for a few days and then started stalling. It looks like it had a recent tune up and we replaced the TPS and Ignition Control Module. Car ran fine for a day and a half and is now stalling at will again. It goes fine for a while and then will stall a couple times and start right back up again. This is very intermittent and I am racking my head trying to figure it out. Any help would be greatly appreciated in fixing this problem!!!
cscampbell
09-27-2008, 01:30 AM
Having virtually the same problem I'm having with my 93 GS Wagon it sounds like. Mine will go for days at a time sometimes, then today, it stalled at random 5 times today. In each instance the check engine light was erratic, not blinking, more like a low voltage flicker. This has happened to me 8 times total. Only 6 have brought me to a stop before I could start again. Once the light resumes a steady bright glow, I can restart and continue. The longest I have waited so far is 2 minutes, usually it's much shorter though.
It's a mechanically perfect car, but I can't diag what's going on electrically. Right now my closest diagnosis is that either the computer isn't getting a good solid ground all the time, or is beginning to fail. My car doesn't feature a security system that would shut down the engine, which is a common cause of this issue, but since I don't have it, I have to look for something else. (unless they put some security relay hardware in that is dorment, but could still cause problems if it becomes faulty) It's possible, my car did turn out to have a RKE module in the trunk (but to my knowledge, no one ever had the RKE transmitters to go with it) Also, it at one point atleast was protected with locktronics, but I don't know to what extent.
It does have a security chip under the dash that if removed with prevent starter function, but all the chip does is close the circuit for the starter switch (all other ignition functions work, the chip is just a gap bridge with no real logic)
I had it come out once and didn't notice and thought the starter had quit, but realized that wasn't the case when the new starter didn't work either, and I could manually engage the starter and start the car if I turned the key on and got under the car and bypassed the switch.
Anyways, that's my sable story, hope to find something out here.
I also have the 3.8L, which outside the SHO family, was the best motor in these cars (for reliability) The only problem with the car outside the random stall that seems computer related, is the cruise control is dead, but the transmission is in great shape (full service and repair was done a few thousand miles ago and the only thing wrong then was the VSS had died electronically, which is rare, usually they break physically)
It's a mechanically perfect car, but I can't diag what's going on electrically. Right now my closest diagnosis is that either the computer isn't getting a good solid ground all the time, or is beginning to fail. My car doesn't feature a security system that would shut down the engine, which is a common cause of this issue, but since I don't have it, I have to look for something else. (unless they put some security relay hardware in that is dorment, but could still cause problems if it becomes faulty) It's possible, my car did turn out to have a RKE module in the trunk (but to my knowledge, no one ever had the RKE transmitters to go with it) Also, it at one point atleast was protected with locktronics, but I don't know to what extent.
It does have a security chip under the dash that if removed with prevent starter function, but all the chip does is close the circuit for the starter switch (all other ignition functions work, the chip is just a gap bridge with no real logic)
I had it come out once and didn't notice and thought the starter had quit, but realized that wasn't the case when the new starter didn't work either, and I could manually engage the starter and start the car if I turned the key on and got under the car and bypassed the switch.
Anyways, that's my sable story, hope to find something out here.
I also have the 3.8L, which outside the SHO family, was the best motor in these cars (for reliability) The only problem with the car outside the random stall that seems computer related, is the cruise control is dead, but the transmission is in great shape (full service and repair was done a few thousand miles ago and the only thing wrong then was the VSS had died electronically, which is rare, usually they break physically)
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