Car shuts off

[devildust]

I have a 94 LeSabre with 20k on it. It started to shut off while Im driving or when its idle, at very ramndon times. One day it will drive fine the other ill be driving and it turns off. I will wait like 20 sec it turns on fine. I tested the alternator and the battry they are both fine. Im thinking it could have something to do with the fuel? Any suggestions or tips?

[kok328]

Have your crankshaft sensor checked out.

[s426]

Originally Posted by devildust

I have a 94 LeSabre with 20k on it. It started to shut off while Im driving or when its idle, at very ramndon times. One day it will drive fine the other ill be driving and it turns off. I will wait like 20 sec it turns on fine. I tested the alternator and the battry they are both fine. Im thinking it could have something to do with the fuel? Any suggestions or tips?

=========================================
hi
you said that you checked the batt, did you checked the batt cables< connectors, see if there is a build up corosion between the termials flat copper ends, it happened to me , every thing was fine alt, batt reading, but when i took off the sleves of the flat end it was a lots off buildup .
good luck

[Bassasasin]

Depends on how it SHUTS off.. LIke dash quits. Headlights quit.. or just motor quits.. and does is chug (gas) to a stop or is it immediate..

I had a problem with the CRANKshaft position sensor. The codes I got were CAMshaft sensor problems. The Crankshaft sensor is behind the harmonic balancer..I Replaced it. (Finally) and problem went away. The Old HEI systems were simpler and had higher fail rates on the sensor in the distributor that was intermittent and a pain. Now we have to look at all 3 areas. Camshaft, Crankshaft, Ignition module. Computers usually show other symptoms, My cruise control failed to hold on. ECM fixed that. (U-Pull-IT) junkyard.. $15. Ignition modules follow temperature changes. Fails cold but runs hot, Fails hot but runs cold, or just loss of power, (bad coil).

Also some think the cable connections on the ignition module go bad. Or even the module itself. Find them and work over them cleaning or just disconnecting and reconnecting. If the problem changes its symptom then you were close to it. There are 3 places to look. The connection on the ignition module. The connection on top over the intake manafold, and the connector at the firewall near the passenger wiper. These go through heat cycles and can be tough. The computer will shut down..

Depending on how it turns or cuts off.. The crankshaft sensor sometimes leaves no good codes. Else, then theres proubably a system relay or something that fails. They are located under the wipers and could be troublesome and difficult to troubleshoot if they are, as you say intermittent. Key switch area.. Do you hang alot of keys?

Good Luck ..from another headbanger LeSabre shooter.

[devildust]

Filled up with premium, took car to mechanic. Machanic ran the car, it died twice but the wernt around to hear/see it. So they ran it idleing again car ran no prob for like 30 mins. They called me and said take ur car its not broken. I picked it up had it for 3 days runs fine, or at least doesnt die. I think i just had a gas problem and 93 octane fixed it, so im gonna run 93 for a little while. Car still feels like it lost power though after the whole thing happened, oh and i changed the fuel filter prior to taking it to the mechanic didn't help.

[devildust]

Ok so I took my car to two mechanics, both of them said they dont know what the problem is. The checked the codes and nothing cade up. But my car only dies when its hot outside, if its cool it runs flawless, any ideas?

[dddellinger]

My '89 with a 3.8l would do very similar things. Sometimes it would just shut off, other times it would run great. I changed plugs, wires, fuel filter, etc., but it turned out to be the crank sensor. It took me about an hour to change it. The part was about $25.