Going dead!

[kruiser2000]

My 2000 Montana has had a problem going dead at idle. The computer never gives a code. It does this while at red lights or easing around looking for a parking space. The first thing I replaced was the fuel filter. I thought I had fixed it. It didn't do it for 2 or 3 weeks. Then it started again. Someone told me to clean intake for carbon deposits under butterfly. This made no difference. I then replaced the idle control motor, still no luck. One guy said while it was idleing to tap the mass air flow sensor to see if it had a short. NO such luck. The other day I had the transmission rebuilt and when I got it back it seems worse than ever. This leads me to beleive it could be an electrical problem. It never does this when it is cold. When the engine dies it dies so hard that it seems that it just locked up. It always restarts. Sometimes it is hard to restart as if is flooded.
I've been dealing with this for over a year now. I just hate to start replacing parts. I thought one day the right guy would tell me exactly what the problem was. So I hope he is in this forum.

[LMP]

These symptoms , while not absolute, are typical of crank position sensor failure. THis is a heat sensitive component and after a few years - depends of mileage, also, it starts readily but will stop at the next red light. Usually, when that happens, one has to let it cool for 5 or 30 minutes .
Do you have codes? THis thread
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=702256
is one of a litany describing the same.
The crank position sensor is behind the harmonic balancer and it is a little tricky to get at it....

[kruiser2000]

I have had it checked 3 times it has never had a code. It always starts back without having to cool off.

[cdru]

I had a very similar problem a year or two ago. The van would just die while driving. It sometimes would start back up, other times it would take a few minutes. Eventually it would just die. After a lot of trouble shooting also thinking it was the crank sensor, it ended up being the plug under the vehicle just behind the driver seat that powers the fuel pump. Using a "dental pick" like tool, I bent the connector's contacts back out to make better contact. Fired right up and has been fine since.