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Car turns off by itself randomly


sttubs

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it's not clear what's happening though. does the - stay illuminated or does it literally turn off like the ignition switch has been cycled?

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In my case, the car just dies, and the tach sweeps all the way right for just a second, and then to zero. All power is off, just like the key has been turned off. No power at all. But, like I said before, it always re starts instantly like nothing ever happened. No warning lights, and the  service engine soon light never comes on. The car is at the shop now to get the rusted rear suspension mount replaced, and the mechanic immediately thought crank sensor too. He's going to see if there are any codes stored, since it's a 97 and has OBD 2.

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a crank sensor wouldn't kill the power to the vehicle. it has a power problem or a ground problem.might not be a bad idea to start it up and reach under the dash and around under the hood and Shake wires to see if you can replicate it

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Sorry to hijack, but the Monte does this ever since the top swap. The engine just up and turns off while driving down the highway. The car isn't losing power (dash lights, radio, HVAC still on, just engine stalls). It's unconditional, but is so random and sporadic, I haven't been able to diagnose it properly. I've had it do it twice in one week, where it won't do it for 6 months. So, obviously very intermittent and difficult to work on. It has done this with both the auto trans and with the 5 speed trans, so that's not it. When it stalls, it logs a P0101 MAF code (circuit performance). I've tested the 2 good used MAF's, one new, and circuit integrity is intact. In addition to the code, the weirdest part is it WILL NOT restart (engine just cranks) until the code is cleared. Literally, the moment the code is cleared with my scan tool or code reader via Torque, it will instantly restart and run fine. I replaced the Crank Sensor with a new AC Delco piece a few years ago when I swapped trans number 2 in and did the front timing cover/ water pump, etc. Still does it before and after Crank sensor replacement. Circuit integrity is intact as well. I'm at the point where I'm thinking my ZZP-sourced/ tuned ECM is defective and causing the random stalling, as I have never heard of a stall/ no restart until code cleared condition before. 

 

Any help would be appreciated. I can upload the tune if anyone would like to look at it.

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Probably not literally the PCM, but I agree with Shawn, PCM related. Likely a glitch in the tune. Nothing good can ever come from a canned calibration.

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It was originally a canned tune from ZZP, but I sent it off to a guy from the clubgp forums; adammurphy, I think. I had him tweak some things that ZZP botched, as they had the wrong MAF and some other goofy things set to default (fan's running after key off; I didn't need that). So, I had him retune it so not entirely canned. Here's the BIN if anyone wants to take a gander:

 

It says I can't upload "this type of file"

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Tom, I've had too many bizarre issues over the year spring up from actual defective PCMs. After opening one and seeing the excellently bad wave soldering job Delco/Delphi did on them, I expect it's just going to get worse as they get older.

 

As for the BIN file, can you put the file up on a dropbox or something?

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Sorry to hijack, but the Monte does this ever since the top swap. The engine just up and turns off while driving down the highway. The car isn't losing power (dash lights, radio, HVAC still on, just engine stalls). It's unconditional, but is so random and sporadic, I haven't been able to diagnose it properly. I've had it do it twice in one week, where it won't do it for 6 months. So, obviously very intermittent and difficult to work on. It has done this with both the auto trans and with the 5 speed trans, so that's not it. When it stalls, it logs a P0101 MAF code (circuit performance). I've tested the 2 good used MAF's, one new, and circuit integrity is intact. In addition to the code, the weirdest part is it WILL NOT restart (engine just cranks) until the code is cleared. Literally, the moment the code is cleared with my scan tool or code reader via Torque, it will instantly restart and run fine. I replaced the Crank Sensor with a new AC Delco piece a few years ago when I swapped trans number 2 in and did the front timing cover/ water pump, etc. Still does it before and after Crank sensor replacement. Circuit integrity is intact as well. I'm at the point where I'm thinking my ZZP-sourced/ tuned ECM is defective and causing the random stalling, as I have never heard of a stall/ no restart until code cleared condition before. 

 

Any help would be appreciated. I can upload the tune if anyone would like to look at it.

Wow, just like mine, except it always restarts. 

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Tom, I've had too many bizarre issues over the year spring up from actual defective PCMs. After opening one and seeing the excellently bad wave soldering job Delco/Delphi did on them, I expect it's just going to get worse as they get older.

 

As for the BIN file, can you put the file up on a dropbox or something?

Embarrassingly, I'm not familiar with dropbox. Email or quick tip on how best to post or send?

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I am the OP. It was the Crankshaft Position Sensor. It's my daughters car and she was the one telling me that everything turned off but that was incorrect. Thank you everyone for your input.

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  • 9 months later...

It's been almost a year since I first replied to this post, but I wanted to say, that at least in my case, replacing the crank positioning sensor solved the problem. It would never go this long without the stalling issue, so I am confident this solved the problem. My mechanic told me he had seen my exact issue several times caused by that part. He said, that with no codes showing, that there was no way to be %100 sure, but he felt it was worth trying. I'm glad I did, and now I feel safe to let my wife drive the car. 

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