1997 Sunfire - Stalls now no start

[Jeffrey93]

1997 Pontiac Sunfire - 2.2L - 5spd. manual

Here's the deal...this car has lasted MUCH longer than I ever thought it would. It has 313,000km on it (194,000 miles), so I'm not too interested in putting any considerable money into it.

Recently, after driving for about 10 to 20 minutes the engine would hesitate considerably. The RPM's would then start decreasing even if I had the pedal on the floor, it would ultimately stall. I would have to stop and wait about 30 minutes, at this time the car would start and I could drive it again for maybe 5 to 10 minutes before this would repeat.
Trying to start the car after a stall was always unsuccessful. It would turn over but quickly putter out and stall.

Yesterday, I went to start the car...it turned over and the engine ran, for about 5 seconds before it puttered out and stalled.

That's where I am now, some family and friends think it might be the ignition coil.

First, can anyone tell me with some confidence what they think the problem might be?
Second, any estimates on the cost for such a repair? Anything costing too much simply won't be done and the car will be taken to the graveyard. I plan on doing any repair myself to keep costs low.

Note: When the car would run it would constantly be sputtering. It was impossible to tell this was happening unless I had the windows down and could hear the sound of the exhaust.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[mike2004tct]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey93

1997 Pontiac Sunfire - 2.2L - 5spd. manual



Note: When the car would run it would constantly be sputtering. It was impossible to tell this was happening unless I had the windows down and could hear the sound of the exhaust.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Could be one of three things.
1)Crank shaft position sensor. Usually causes sputtering. Is the service engine light on? Should cause the SES light to come on. Can you smell raw gas from the engine compartment? We had a similar problem, where the engine would stall, then refire immediatelt. Over time though, it came to a point where it wouldn't start unless we let it sit for 5 minutes or more before trying again.This is the cheapest part to replace, ~$100.00 for the part new.

2)Ignition module. Intermittant running conditions? Maybe. Won't throw a code if bad. About ~$250.00 for the part. Usually when they fail, the car won't run, But ours has still has a random miss that comes and goes. This is our suspected part as I've replaced the sensor in #1 above.

3)Coil packs. Usually when they go, the engine won't run. Also won't throw a code if bad. A crack in the coil housing could cause this problem.Also about $250.00 for the part.

All three parts are located on the back of the engine (firewall side), and are hard to access.

[Cobraman1024]

I've also got a 97 sunfire SE and when I had this problem I replaced the crank sensor (had to anyway because the stupid thing broke off before I ever got it out of the engine block) and the ECM and it didn't fix it on my car. It turned out that the plug which connects to the ignition module was completely disconnected. I had the same problem you did though, the car would sputter then die out completely and then a half hour later it would start up again, only to die out less than a couple miles later. Apparently the plug was very loose on its connector which causes the intermittent start/run condition and then the car would crank but wouldn't start when it was completely disconnected. there are two plugs into the ignition module on the backside of the engine block------the plug which was disconnected on mine was impossible to reach and I couldn't see it when the car was on a lift or looking down from the top of the engine. anyway, these two plugs are pretty small and you have to feel around for them towards the left side of the leftmost ignition coil; they're actually hidden behind other wiring.

[Jeffrey93]

Breakthrough!

I've got the week off so I decided I'd set to work early on this clunker.

I thoroughly inspected everything I could see...my first observation was the air hose (I think that's what it is...big black bulky thing) was not connected securely. It's O-clamp had come loose so it was barely even up against where it should have been fastened. It was also very loose at a small port lower down the hose. I tightened up both connections. It seemed to stay running slightly longer than before...but still died pretty quickly.
My second observation was that the cable connected to the throttle thingy? (looks like this Click Here bottom picture) But, really only the gold part on the bottom picture looks almost identical. Anyway...the cable connected to that gold part was wicked slack. It seems like some plastic mounting clamp snapped at some point causing this...so I connected the wire (before it turns into the silver exposed cable) securely to the mount in front of that gold part. (Used a zip-tie so it's not only temporary....but pretty ghetto too!)

Anyway...it started and stayed started. I haven't dared taking it out of the driveway yet. In fact I haven't even tried putting it in gear..it still runs pretty rough, but it didn't stall.

Any thoughts? Did I solve the initial problem? Should I keep searching for something else?
(Note: As I was looking and trying this stuff...I was trying to start the car periodically too....wouldn't stay running for more than about 3 seconds until I did all this and then tried it about 4 times straight....then it turned over and stayed idling)