Car stumbles then dies...

[OneQuikSix]

Please help. My 2000 GS has recently begun stalling while accelerating or cruising. It seems to happen after the gear shift when there is a greater amount of load on the engine. It does not appear to matter what gear the transmission is in. The air conditioner does not seem to be a factor either. I can also eliminate spark plugs and wires as both of these have recently been installed. The stumbling/stalling was evident both before and after the installation of the new plugs and wires. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[GNX423]

Could be the crank sensor. My car would stumble and then the tach would drop to zero and stay like that until the next time i started it. After about a month driving like that, one morning the car just wouldent start. No engine code was thrown either, just no spark. It was only like $35, but i wouldent say it was easy to install.
This may not be your issue, but if your tach is doing the samething, i would think it was the same problem.
Other things it could be are, fuel pump, electrical issue, coilpack/module. or massair meter.
Does it actually stall or just buck a little?

Good luck with it,
Mike
BTW i have a 97 gtp grandprix

 

[OneQuikSix]

Mike,

Thanks for the reply. The car actually stalls and the engine completely dies. It is difficult to restart the car immediately after this happens. It ususally takes a few tries before the engine is running. However, once running, the car is as smooth as it has ever been. Do you happen to know a method of testing the coil packs and mass air sensor, either with a volt meter or by other means? I've got the feeling that the issue is an electronic one but there are not any trouble codes present. Is it likely that my oxygen sensors need to be replaced? Thanks for any help or advice you may be able to provide.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[JasonGS]

There is another well-known issue with the 97-00 engines. GM decided to put a large resistor inline with the fuel pump to quiet it down during low load (idle and cruise). However, the resistor likes to crap out a lot, leaving you stranded.

Let me ask you this: You say that it is hard to start afterwards. A typical symptom of this resistor is that the car will start right up, run for a couple seconds, then die. Is this what is happening? Or does it just crank without starting?

 

[OneQuikSix]

Nope...car pretty much cranks without success. However, I've noticed that if I barely turn the key (almost like a twitching action), the car is more likely to recover after one of these stalling incidents. I know I have not done a great job describing this recovery technique.

Where exactly is this sensor located? Is it easily checked/replaced?


Thanks,
Chris