92 SE 3.3 stalls at highway speed...

[grandamstalls]

There has been many threads on this forum about Grand Ams stalling (which I read first) but figured I'd post one anyway for further investigation.

My 92 SE with 3.3 ltr will run perfectly on the highway, steady 55-60 mph. After 30-40 minutes it starts losing speed, pressing the gas makes it slow down faster. It feels like it's running out of gas and eventually coasts to a stop. It will start and run for another 500 yards and stop again. After that, it won't start anymore. After sitting for an hour it will start up and run fine again for another 30 minutes until the problem repeats.

I've seen the posts about ignition module, coil pack, catalytic converter, and even the transmission TCC and lockup solenoid problems. I don't think it's the tranny because it happens at steady highway speeds... but who knows, maybe someone can shed more specific reasoning behind this cause.

If anyone has further professional insight and any other idea's, it would be appreciated.

[katom]

I had the exact same problem with a '93.

It started to stall at 40-50 mph, and as you say got worse as you try to hit the gas. After a stall (which would happen every 5th drive or so) it would sometimes take quite a while to restart the car and sometimes it would start right away. Intermittent problem to say the least.

It was the solenoid in my case. Changed, cleaned, and works like a charm now. Quite common on the ole Grand ma.

[Forkliftguy]

Could be a bad fuel pump, when the pump starts to fail it can sometimes still offer enough pressure to allow the engine to run, but once it begins to warm up it will tend to deliver less and less pressure. Cruising at steady highway speeds doesn't demand a lot of fuel pressure from the pump so the engine might still run but once you demand more fuel, like pressing down on the accelerator, the engine will need significantly more fuel pressure which a bad pump won't be able to do causing the engine to stall.


Marc

[GTP Dad]

I agree with Forkliftguy. It sounds like the fuel pump is overheating and losing pressure. Since it gets hot the parts in the pump expand and stop pumping fuel, once it cools down again it will pump and the car runs again.

[katom]

From the description I have to say it sounds exactly like the solenoid problem I had. The stall that feels like you're out of gas, not starting again right away, starting again in a couple of hours and running fine for a while before it happens again.

About 25$ to replace. I think it's worth a try before the fuel pump as we went that route and still had the problem.