2000 Bonneville SSEI shuts off while driving

corsomom309corsomom309 Member Posts: 1
edited June 2016 in Pontiac
Need help please, love my car, but she gives no love back! Seems to be a popular theme that these die while driving.. I can be 75 in the wind & all of the sudden I drop my RPMs.. sometimes it will keep going, most of the time that's the warning it will die. It usually starts back up after a minute, and my not do it again for a couple of days. Other times it's every 15 miles or so & it dies, sometimes it takes a shot of ether to get it to crank again. This last time it gave me he** starting again even with ether & black smoke from front n rear of car. Let it sit for a couple days after getting it home, hussy started right back up! I have replaced fuel filter, fuel pump, mafs, another computer component in the engine (I'm a girl & don't remember. ), and still the problem continues. I have noticed the more gas in the tank, the more it happens. Right about 1/2 a tank and it's happy.... suggestions, please?!?

Answers

  • 93tracker5spd93tracker5spd Member Posts: 194
    Hello! Don't own this car or model, but looked up your problem and sure enough, many of these cars have this problem. And it is linked to the fuel evaporator system in most, now that includes the fuel tank and fuel filler cap. Most of these folks found that when the leak was fixed, the problem went away! I suggest having the fuel system pressure tested by a reputable garage and find that leak... Good luck to you.
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,401
    Does the tach drop to zero as this happens? Does the tach stay at zero when cranking instead of showing the cranking speed like it will when doing normal cranking?

    If so that indicates you need to look at the crankshaft position sensor. That sends a signal to the spark control module under the coils. No signal; no spark.

    If it's in the no start mood, have a spare plug and pull a plug wire, insert the extra plug and lay it on the metal of the engine and have someone crank to see if you're getting spark.

    A classic test for some is carry cold water and if it won't start right back up after dying, pour cold water onto the crankshaft position sensor slowly to cool it back down.

    I've learned this from being on Pontiac/Buick forums through 3 leSabres with the 3800. It never happened to mine, but I read what a lot of others have learned.

    The only thing odd is the black smoke you mentioned. You might have a computer problem. But I'd go with the simplest and then progress.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

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