QuestionQUESTION: I had the head gaskets replaced and after sitting for a couple months I started it up and began to drive and the car shut off so i tried to start it back up and it did. It happens intermittently.
ANSWER: Hello,
Two issues here. First, without the year make and model, I have no idea how to address your question.
Intermittent problems are next to impossible to fix. Many times people throw money at the problem, only to find such repairs never fix the problem.
Unless you can get some absolutes when this problem acts up, you are not going to find it.
http://www.autotheftexpert.com
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QUESTION: its a 1998 Cadillac sls theres no security light on no check engine it just dies then starts back up i did a little research and it said maybe the ignition or the computer?
ANSWER: Hello,
Trying to research an intermittent problem on the web will get you into trouble.
The security anti-theft system will not cause a vehicle to stall. It only works on the starting system. Once the car is running, any factory security issues are disabled. Your problem, I can say with certainty has nothing to do with the factory-installed anti-theft system.
People get confused when the word ignition is used. Most think of the key and lock. The key and lock are mechanical and obviously can't be hot wired. The key and lock actuate the electrical ignition system.
You have the primary which is 12 volts at the electrical ignition switch. Then you have the secondary high voltage (50,000 volts) at the coil to the spark plugs in the engine area.
When referring to ignition, one has to question primary or secondary?
Keep in mind to, ignition only refers to starting. If you think of it this way-ignition-(to ignite), it may be more understandable. That is what happens in the combustion chamber of an engine. The spark plug ignites the gasoline in the engine.
Once the engine is ignited, battery power from the electrical ignition switch at the column goes to the anti theft module to the computer with a constant 10 volts to the computer, which supplies power to the secondary circuit in order to keep engine running.
Yes, this stalling problem could be a computer problem and about a thousand other things. Usually if you have a computer or sensor problem, the check engine or service engine soon light will display creating a diagnostic code to follow for a technician to correct the problem.
Intermittent problems are the worst to diagnose and guessing will just cause you frustration after replacing a good part and having the same problem three weeks later.
Unfortunately, until the problem is constant or you can replicate the problem, you will not be able to fix the problem successfully.
Look, I have no financial interest in fixing your car or giving you the exact answers to fix your car. I have been a tech for over 30 years and I know what I am doing. In fact, I have answered problems correctly from this site, in which the mechanic working on the car could not figure out. The point I am getting at is an intermittent stalling problem can be anything but a factory anti-theft problem.
There is not a competent technician that will take on an intermittent stalling problem unless he is either stupid and wants to marry the car for life or a crook out to steal your money.
You are grasping at straws or what we refer in the industry to "chasing ghosts."
Until you can get the car to stall all the time or give a diagnostic code, you are not going to find your problem.
http://www.autotheftexpert.com
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QUESTION: Does intermittent mean it happens at different times when you repeat the same actions because that is what it does. Everytime you drive the car it turns off just at different times.
AnswerHello,
Nothing iritates me more than to give an extensive answer and not to have it post. Such is the case in the answer I wrote to you two days ago that you never saw because it did not post. My time is very valuable and I know you appreciate it, but my last answer did not post and if this continues, I will be leaving this site.
Now, for your answer: The term "Intermittent" refers to a problem that only shows at times. If a technician cannot replicate the issue, the problem will not be successfully be repaired.
If you say can replicate the problem every time you go through a puddle or hit a bump, a technician may be able to repeat the problem and know if he actually fixed it.
If your problem only happens after 15 minutes of driving once and the next time is an hour down the road ands the engine starts right up and the stalling doesn't start for another hour, the stalling issue can not be repaired.
Bottom line unless you can pin down an absolute when the engine stalls, the problem cannot be reproduced in order to be repaired. If you just change parts in an effort to stop the stalling on a guess, you will find you are spending money for nothing.
There are hundreds of sensors, multiple computers and just to many things that can give you the same symptom.
Cars are not simple any more. Years ago, an intermittent stalling problem might just have one answer. Not any longer.
I understand the frustration, but everyone wanted good emissions, good gas mileage and performance and this is what you end up with.
Even if the service engine light would come on, at least there would be a diagnostic code to trace, but you say that has not happened either. In order for a proper repair, a technician has to see the problem more than once at times.
