1990 Pa Electra

[annieswit]

My 1990 PA electra will shut down on me while driving or while idling. Everything shuts off. It cranks and sometimes restarts. I have had it towed on 4 occasions. The Buick dealership said the ECM was fine. Could it be the IAC? I can get the car started sometimes if i throw it in neutral and crank it several times when it craps out on me in mid drive. Could it be the catalytic converter. I AM AT WITS END. My next step will be sitting down on the curb next to my car and talking to it like I would a loved one who doesnt feel good. Please help.

[aarcuda]

I doubt its the iac as that would affect the idle quality and if it screwed up your idle would either be very low or very high or not controllable but i dont think you would stall.

you have an intermittant problem nd they are very hard to diagnose.

you need to try and determine whether there is anyt thing common to all of the shut downs. ie, same time of day, same temperature, hit a bump, made a turn. does it happen only when the engine is warm???

try starting fluid and seeing if the engine will pop over. if it does, then you know its a fuel problem. if not, then you know its electrical and then go from there.

[parkavenuechrome]

It could be a number of things, Fuel, ECM, etc.. pull the battery from it over nite, let the ECM clear and go from there. It sounds like a bad fuel pump or pump relay. but could be many other things.. hope this helps..

[GSteven]

There are several other threads concerning this matter. I would suggest looking at the crankshaft position sensor. It seems to be the culprit in most cases when the symptoms you are describibg are present.