Cavalier Shuts Off While Driving

[COMMANCHE 1]

my sister has 2003 cavalier,auto transmission with 40,000 miles on it..
she was driving in maryland i-70 when the car just shut off..
she coasted to side..was very scared because it was heavy traffic and awful hot out and had air conditioner on...
she tried to restart it and nothing,would not turn over..

she waited then 2 hours for tow truck all time trying to get it to start, nothing.....would not make sound..

the garage next day had it checked and found NO CODES and could not find a thing wrong...it started up ok....

she then drove 250 miles with air conditioner off to get home, no problems...

anyone have idea what would cause this to happen?
garage said if we find out ,to give them call......

[Mangoamerican]

sounds like a faulty ignition... does the vehicle have an aftermarket alarm or remote starter?

[COMMANCHE 1]

no alarm etc..

i had a olds 98 do this years ago but i could not remember what cause was...
this is very dangerous...

[shakewell]

Sure could be the ignition. Or a faulty power wire? Computer?

I'll try to look this one up for any TSB's and let ya know.

[kossman]

Check the alternator .Faulty alternator will do that to .

[muff34]

absolutely nothing ,no power anywhere ? interior light out also ??

[COMMANCHE 1]

its hard for me to get info from her..

she thought that a red light was on dash when she turned key and it did not start,she is not sure other than it would not even turn over..

garage had no trouble turning it over..

she said it did not sputter to stop at 30 mph,it just cut off dead while moving...

her battery is approaching 5 yrs old ,so i am changing that out..

it was real hot out when this happened also, she had air cond on and radio and driving lights on front...

she drove it home 250 miles with no problem after garage looked at it....


they could find nothing wrong..

i had this happen on my chevy truck and it was a distributor cap/rotor they said, but mine would not start at all at garage....

battery terminals looked nice and clean...

she hangs real heavy key ring on car key to ignition,i told here that ruins igntions switch over time too.....

[muff34]

well you could cHeck the other end of battery cable, Ground end . Ya I`ve heard of the heavy key chains ruining the ign.

[COMMANCHE 1]

Originally Posted by muff34

well you could cHeck the other end of battery cable, Ground end . Ya I`ve heard of the heavy key chains ruining the ign.

had battery load tested and it was fine..
wal-mart could not understand why i was replacing it..
it is 5 yr battery and only a few months from the 5 yrs..
i dont want my sister stranded with battery that is old,she runs everything on her car in heat,very hard on battery..
i am doing this also on my batterys, i got stranded last year in winter hunting at dark..
my battery was about 5 yrs old ,so now, i get them out and new one in..
they are only 53 dollars at wal mart for 9yr pro rate battery,the best..

anyhow, maybe this was something do to heat but i am reading that a lot of cavaliers are stalling in stop/go traffic....

it showed no codes and garage could not find anything wrong....
very tough one..
whatever it was,letting it sit for awhile allowed car to start..
like said, i have olds did this but it started right back up..
i had chevy truck do it but it did not start right back up and it was distributor cap/rotor.....

[Mangoamerican]

try replacing the ground to the engine from the battery.. just put 4awg wire IN ADDITION to the existing.. my car would die if i parked on a hill (motor mounts allowed my engine to rest further away from the chassis ground point, pulling the ground wire and making it "not connected")

[Chevy Cavalier]

I once had a 87 Pontiac Grand Am that did that..it was the crank sensor ???