Car Randomly Dies Out

[mikeso_81]

Hi,

I have been having an issue the past several months where my car will die out at a standstill. I'll be waiting for a light/going through a drive through and the car falls flat on its face. Most of the time the car starts right back up but there have been a few instances where I have to put my hazards on and keep trying to crank the engine. It’s been occurring more frequently. Another thing that has been randomly happening is my tach will drop down to zero (Maybe once a month). When I shut the car off and turn it back on the tach works fine. Could these issues be tied together? Any thoughts?

2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GT 3.8L
160,000 miles

Thanks!

[olopezm]

The tach dropping to 0 points to a bad CKP sensor; that would also cause the car to stall and hard to start sometimes.

The PCM relies on the sensor to know when to fire the coils and spray the injectors.

The sensor is mounted behind the crankshaft pulley (harmonic balancer). To replace it you'll need to remove the harmonic balancer with a special puller available for rent at most autoparts stores. You get your money back when you return it.

Somebody else might have another ideas but I'm pretty sure they might think about the CKPS too.

Make sure you inspect the connection at the sensor to make sure it's clean and tight.

Oscar.