car stalling

[scorpn17]

hi, i have a 1999 grand prix 3800 gt with 76,000 miles. about 8-10 months ago, when driving the rpms and the acceleration would drop to zero and the car would almost stall but i pushed the accelerator down and the car kicked back in and the car would drive fine. it only happened once in awhile but i had my mechanic check it out and they came back with nothing. they did a tbody throttle service and they replaced the fuel filter. it still did it off and on the last couple of months and every now and then it would stall but started right back up with no problem at all. i have had the battery tested a couple of times and have had a diagnostic test done and no codes have come back. the car has been acting up more recently and stalling more. when the car stalls, all my lights stay on and my radio stays on. there is no indication when the car stalls all the gages go to zero and the car is dead. it starts back up with no problem. the mechanics say that they can't help me because they can't replicate the problem and they can't find anything wrong with it. the car does not do it all the time. it can go days with out acting up and other days that’s all it does. please help. any suggestions?? thanks for any help or thoughts

[truck150]

possibly mass air flow sensor that is all i can think of.

[richtazz]

The tach dropping to zero just prior to the car dying is a classic symptom of a crank position sensor going south. They will intermittently act up and usually throw no codes. Often, as the tach drops to zero, you'll see the Trac-Off light flash on also.

[scorpn17]

out of curiousity if its the crank position sensor going bad would also cause the car to almost die too? thank you!

[richtazz]

yes, absolutely. The crank sensor tells the computer and ICM where the crank is so they can fire the proper plug at the proper time.

[aim232423]

My mothers car did that and it was not the mas air flow sensor it was another sensor under the hood that the dealership did not tell us about when we asked, it is a fuel sensor though, I will find out which sensor from my mom. Her car did the same thing then later down the road it stalled and we had it towed

[scorpn17]

i will have the crank position sensor looked at. and i will look into the fuel stuff looked into as well. i was talking around to a few mechanics and doing some research and i kept finding info on the crank and the fuel. thanks for all the help and ideas i appreciate it!

[scorpn17]

i am taking my car in on monday possibly to have it checked out, i was just curious if you knew a ball park price of how much the crank position sensor would cast to fix? the trac off light now stays on all the time, is this bad? before it never flashed on but today after it died it came on and it stays on.

[richtazz]

IF the PCM doesn't receive a CKPS signal, it will disable the traction control system.

[scorpn17]

not to be stupid but is the car still okay to do running around in or should i just wait and take it in? i am just curious because i don't want to do more damage to the car. thx.