Another Strange Problem

[emceepecks]

The first time this happened was back sometime during February. 1992 Bonneville SE.

I start my car and it's idling a little higher than normal, but I thought nothing of it since it's cold and that's normal in cold weather at first. As I start to drive away I notice that my car is bogged down and I am having to press down pretty far on the gas to get the car moving. It almost feels as if I were starting out in 2nd gear. I notice that the check engine light is on. A minute later I realize that the speedometer isn't moving at all, it's just sitting there as If I wasn't moving. I drove home and turned the car off, unsure of what could be wrong. Also, when I would rev the engine in park, the RPMs would increase normally, but instead of gently and smoothly decreasing in RPM, it would just fall back quickly.Later I go to start the car again and it's fine . No check engine light, no strange idle, accelerates normal, everything is completely normal . This has happened several (but not too many) times. I took it to a trusted garage to let them check it out, but it didn't act up for them .

This hasn't happened to me again for several months, but I still wonder what It could have been and why it would just go away then come back. Any ideas?

[Carwhiz]

First of all, there are numerous things that could be causing this problem. Bad ecm, bad sensor, fuel problem, etc... You may begin by searching for obvious problems-checking/replacing spark plugs, wires, reading any stored ecm codes in memory, replacing any necessary sensors, although, if you take it to a pontiac dealer(I know, costs!) they can run a diagnosis on the car and find the true problem of the car. It might cost you $100, but you will have the solution. By trying to diagnose the problem yourself you may be replacing unnessesary parts that could easily add up to $100+. tHAT'S my opinion!

[emceepecks]

Thanks for the reply. The thing about this situation is that it really hasn't been a problem so to speak. Though it's abnormal and shouldn't be happening, it also is not causing me any problems. It goes away just as suddenly as it comes.

I'm concerned, but until something worse happens, I guess I can't really do much. It may never happen again.

Either way, I'm still curious as to what caused this strange behavior.

[GTS767]

I had a similar problem, where I ended up changing the ECM and it fixed it. A water leak through the windshield may cause some water to leak through the ecm and cause some malfunctioning. In your case, it may have for one event and stopped. Make sure you have no water leak into the ecm area. The ecm is located at the passenger side underneath the glove compt.

GTS