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loss of power - surging when hot

munzziemunzzie Member Posts: 1
edited May 2014 in Cadillac
1992 Cadillac Deville and the car seems to "lose all power" and surge at times when driving. When this happens she can pull of the road & sit there a few minutes & let it cool down and be on her way. This seems to happen only when it is hot out & her engine gets hot. This week it has happened over the past 3 or 4 days. Other times, it won't happen for a month or more.
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  • stephen92stephen92 Member Posts: 1
    am experiencing same problems with my '92. Have you or a Cadillac dealership found a solution or source of problem?
  • cadga50cadga50 Member Posts: 2
    I have a 1992 Deville that has had the same problem for several months. The car would start, run for a short period of time, and just shut off without warning. Allowed to sit for a time, it would start again, but this continued to get worse until it would not re-start and eventually had to be towed. The local dealership has had it in two or three times and cannot pin down the problem, even on computer diagnostics. I was told first by them that it was the distributor and that since original parts were no longer available they were having to use aftermarket parts. I was told aftermarket distributors were not working well in these situations and they were having to re-do the job sometimes three times to get it right and it would not stay fixed (Translate this into "We think you've had this car long enough and we want to see you drive off the dealership with a 2009."). I was told I pretty much had to live with it. The next time I took it in, still with the same problem and not ready to give up, I was told that it was the distributor and a wiring harness that needed replacing, but it was nothing that $1082.00 wouldn't take care of. No mention this time of aftermarket parts being a problem. I paid their diagnostic fee and had the distributor replaced independently. The problem continued. In addition to having the distributor replaced, I also installed a new fuel filter and fuel pump. Neither helped, and the engine was steadily getting worse, now jumping, shutting off numerous times, dash indicators going crazy, speedometer swinging up to 60 and back down while in Park, and so on. Because of the dash indicators starting to act up, I located a salvaged 1992 Cadillac Deville and swapped out the under dash computer. The computer change-out seems to have greatly helped the problem, since the car ran smoothly with no problems for thirty minutes in Park, in 95 degree heat. The following day I attempted to drive the car home and again, it shut off twice in about a fifteen-mile drive. I'm still not ready to give up on this car, since it has been maintained in pristine condition since I bought it and it normally runs like a sewing machine. Beautiful car. I'm posting all this in an attempt let you know what worked and what didn't, but also in the hope that if someone else sees this, knowing what all has been done to present, that it will help all three of us. I see the person who posted after you has the same problem.
  • cadga50cadga50 Member Posts: 2
    I forgot to add that I also replaced the oil sending unit on my Cadillac, which had no effect on the problem.
  • johnm316johnm316 Member Posts: 1
    My wife has a Caddy with the same surgeing problems after it warms up, but not all the time just every now and then. I just had a full tune up done on the car, fuel filter, oil filter, pcv valve, spark plugs, the works, and the problem has gotten worse. Does anyone in this forum know what the heck the problem is?
  • helpman230helpman230 Member Posts: 7
    1992 Cadillac Shut off problem.
    You should clean all electrical grounds wires connection points with WD-40. These ground wires are connected to the battery minus (-) or negative terminal and the other end of these wires are connected to both metal front fenders and also. removed the negative or minus (-) wire which one end of this wire is connected to the metal surface of the engine and the other end of this wire is connected to the negative terminal (-) of the battery. Remove and clean both connected surfaces of these wire. You should also clean the metal surface of the alternator that is making contact with the metal part of the engine. There is a good Cadillac repair guy in Brooklyn New York (NYC) who can repair your car. A friend of mine had a Chevy car that did the same. The problem was the main big black ground (-) negative wire from the battery, it had a dirty connection where it was connected to the engine.
  • helpman230helpman230 Member Posts: 7
    1992 Cadillac Shut off problem.
    You should clean all electrical grounds wires connection points with WD-40. These ground wires are connected to the battery minus (-) or negative terminal and the other end of these wires are connected to both metal front fenders and the main battery ground minus (-) or negative big black wire. Removed the negative or minus (-) wire which one end of this wire is connected to the metal surface of the engine and the other end of this wire is connected to the negative terminal (-) of the battery. Remove and clean both connected surfaces of the wire. You should also clean the metal surface of the alternator that is making contact with the metal part of the engine. There is a good Cadillac repair guy in Brooklyn New York (NYC) who can repair your car. A friend of mine had a Chevy car that did the same thing. The problem was the main big black ground (-) negative wire from the battery. it had a dirty connection where it was connected to the engine. This Chevy car use to also loose power and shut off. He had replace fuel pump fuel filter and two computer diagnoses from two different auto repair shops indicated it was the air flow meter that was creating the engine loosing power and shutting off sometimes. Again the problem was cause by the main big black negative (-) wire from the battery and where the other end of this wire was connect to the metal surface of the engine was where the problem was coming from.
  • jgsbuffalojgsbuffalo Member Posts: 1
    I just purchased my 92, from an estate, put about 250 miles on it.
    I was getting on the freeway going around a sharp curve and lost for a moment power. Straightened out once going straight. Then again a few days later. Both times I did notice I had less then 2 gallons of fuel. I felt like the engine was not getting gas during both. I have now kept at lease 5 gallons super in.
    Also after I am out for a while it is hard to start, takes about 3 turns to start.
    **anyone have a clue ? I read about the cleaning of connections, anyone do that?
  • bolivarbolivar Member Posts: 2,316
    You probably have a problem with the fuel pump in the gas tank. There might even be a baffle broke loose in the tank. I think Cadillacs of about this age had problems with this.

    You are going to have to have the tank dropped and looked at. The loose baffle might be glued down with epoxy or even pulled out of the tank. If you do this, have the pump replaced. Even thought the pump/gauge sender might cost about $250, since the tank will be down, I would go ahead and replace.

    Or, you might just keep the tank nearly full and see if this keeps the loose baffle from causing a problem.
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