1996 Lumina Stalls and Misses

[TriBud51]

I have a 1996 Lumina, 3.1, auto trans. that starts and runs with no problem. After about five minutes of driving, the engine starts to miss and the headlights dim. Then the engine stalls as I come to a stop, but always restarts with no problem. If I place the trans in neutral I can rev the engine to keep it running. This problem seems to be getting progressively worse. I've been told possibly crank position sensor or ignition module. Also, are the basic OBD II testers reliable? Haven't run any codes as of yet. Can anyone advise?

[tblake]

the basic ones can olny do just that. Pull the codes. If the service engine soon light isnt on, that type of scanner wont tell you anything. If the light is on, take it somewhere and have the codes pulled, advance and autozone do it for free.

This type of diagnosis is hard not being on-site. You have to find out if the problem is fuel related or ignition. Maybe check to see what the fuel pressure is. You can also rent a fp guage at advance or autozone. I'm not sure of the spec though, maybe 40psi. Someone else on the board will be able to help with that.

If you can revv it and keep it running, its odd, and makes me lean more towards a fuel/air delivery problem more than ignition related. But I guess one never knows.