Engine stops while on the highway

[alejmr]

Hi all,
I have a 99 intrugue 3.8.... that being said, While I was driving last week on the highway at 60mph the engine all of the sudden stopped, had to put it in N and turn it on....turned on no hassle but it's scary..... I changed all sparkplugs, wires, gas filter, air filter and oil, went fine for 2 days but then today while on the highway the engine shut off by itself, again put on N, cranked and started fine..... any thoughts? no code though, the SES if off....

[dizzle1]

Was the electrical working when the engine shut off or could the fuel have stop flowing after the change of the fuel filter? And how many miles does your intrigue have?

[alejmr]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply; yes, the electrical was working when the engine shut off, this also happened before the whole tune up was made and after, also yesterday.... BTW the car has 100000k (miles)

[alejmr]

Hi all, just an update, the car shut off yesterday again, same symptoms, my mechanic told me it might be the cranckshaft sensor.... I don't want to get ripped off.... any suggestions?

[dtownfb]

it very well could be the crankshaft sensor but the check engine light should come on if the crankshaft sensor is giving you this much problem. Another possibility is a bad ignition switch which would not throw a code.

[Tobey]

If it was the crankshaft position sensor it would definitly be throwing codes and the engine would be quite hard to start.

At those speeds the engine should start again by just leaving in drive and pressing the accelerator. The fact that you have to turn the key makes me wonder if it isn't the ignition switch as well...

[Ruley73]

Originally Posted by Tobey

If it was the crankshaft position sensor it would definitly be throwing codes and the engine would be quite hard to start.

At those speeds the engine should start again by just leaving in drive and pressing the accelerator. The fact that you have to turn the key makes me wonder if it isn't the ignition switch as well...

A failing crankshaft position sensor doesn't always throw a code. In my experience I'd actually say they usually don't throw a code.

In this case though, I'm thinking it could be a bad ignition switch. A bad crankshaft sensor usually doesn't allow the engine to start right away after stalling.

Furthermore, when the engine stalls the hydraulic pressure is lost in the automatic transmission regardless of how fast you're going. So simply turning the key off and then back on will not restart the engine like it would with a manual transmission.

[alejmr]

Ok I took it to my mechanic guy and he tried to change the sensor but he could not extract the pulley that is just before to get into the sensor.

Now the funny thing is that when driving back home the car kinda make a slight stall sign but instead of the engine stopping, it threw the code P0336.

Or it could be something else?

Any suggestions?

That makes me think that it is indeed the sensor, but I need to make sure.... please heeeelp!

Originally Posted by Ruley73

A failing crankshaft position sensor doesn't always throw a code. In my experience I'd actually say they usually don't throw a code.

In this case though, I'm thinking it could be a bad ignition switch. A bad crankshaft sensor usually doesn't allow the engine to start right away after stalling.

Furthermore, when the engine stalls the hydraulic pressure is lost in the automatic transmission regardless of how fast you're going. So simply turning the key off and then back on will not restart the engine like it would with a manual transmission.

[Tobey]

Originally Posted by Ruley73

Furthermore, when the engine stalls the hydraulic pressure is lost in the automatic transmission regardless of how fast you're going. So simply turning the key off and then back on will not restart the engine like it would with a manual transmission.

Ah, you're right. Suppose you'd need an output shaft driven pump to do that.

[dtownfb]

I would put mine into neutral and re-start it. The first time mine stalled, scared the s**t out of me. After that, I stayed calm, shifted to neutral and re-started in a matter of seconds.

[alejmr]

Hi Guys,

Do you have any other ideas?

the SES light went off now (please read below)...

It has not stalled since.

Originally Posted by alejmr

Ok I took it to my mechanic guy and he tried to change the sensor but he could not extract the pulley that is just before to get into the sensor.

Now the funny thing is that when driving back home the car kinda make a slight stall sign but instead of the engine stopping, it threw the code P0336.

Or it could be something else?

Any suggestions?

That makes me think that it is indeed the sensor, but I need to make sure.... please heeeelp!

[dtownfb]

I did a quick Google search on P0336. this relates to the crankshaft position sensor. Changing the sensor should resolve the problem. Of course, if the light went out, you may want to wait a bit until it gives you trouble again.

[rhaigh08]

In my experience the engine light does not stay on for certain things but if you lugged it in to read the codes it would still spit the code because it's still in the computers memory until you reset it. I'd try scanning for codes again and if it still comes up that code replace that part..

[rhaigh08]

Also check the battery cables for corrosion and clean them if neccessary.