QuestionQUESTION: My friend has a 1997 Pontiac Bonneville SSE with a 3.8L V6, the problem with the Bonny is that she keeps stalling out and eventually falls dead after about 30-35 minutes of driving if that. She purchased the vehicle from a friend of her family who has his own repair shop;he purchased it from some guy. It's had all three coil packs changed; (@ different times but all getting spark),the fuel filter has been changed,oil,plugs and wires, and just last week she put in a brand new fuel pump which was bought from O'Reilly's. And to no avail the Bonny drove fine around the block but when she drove it across town it died. So she put $10 worth of gas in it and she started right up,upon the return trip across town home she died again. With all that's been replaced and fixed where should we go from here? Please help!!!!
ANSWER: Hi there:
What happens when this dies? does it spit sputter and cough then die? Does it just cut out like someone turned the key off? if it sputters then dies it's a fuel related issue. If it just dies chances are it's a ignition system issue. If it's the second then I would suspect a bad crank shaft position sensor as the culprit. It's obviusly not a fuel pump unleff it was a cheap aftermarket pump. It could be a ground issue going to the pump when it dies out do ither things quit working as well like power windows? When ever you replace any eletronic part make sure it's original equipment not a cheap knock off. I don't care if you drive a Honda/Kia/Gm only used orignal equipemnt ignition and fuel system parts. good luck :)
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QUESTION: Thanks for your response! Well the car sputters,spits,coughs and dies out. Like mentioned abovd the fuel pump was just replaced after being bought from O'Reilly's last week. Everything works after it dies out. Could it still be the crank shaft position sensor or something totally different. Also when the car dies out after about 45-60 minutes of being off/dead the car will start right up and drive for another 30-35 minutes. Is there other suggestions you have or avenues to explore. Thanks for your time-
ANSWER: here are a few thoughts. whe it does die out check to see if there is fuel pressure in the fuel rail. there is a schrader valve on the fule like towards the front of the car there should be a black platic cap on the service port take the cap off and press on the valve and see if there is a adiquite amount of fule there. Comapir it cold and then again when it dies out. Turn the key to run and then off to prime the pump. Same thing hot when it dies. My guess is it's not a fule pump if it's acting the exact same way. it's obviously and eletronic failure of some kind. when it does die out of it indeed has fuel pressure check for spark. All of the partys stores sell a spark checker it's a spark plug with a aligator clip on the side of it take off one wire at a time and check for spark. you should have spark on all 6 wires if your missing it on all 6 then it's either a crank sesnor or and ignition module more often then not it's a crank sensor.
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QUESTION: If by chance it is the crank sensor (which is what I'm thinking is culprit) bout how much is that job or how difficult is it to do? And the same for a ignition module? B/C the plugs n wires have been replaced 3 mths ago,il Chek pressure from schrader valve to. But how likely is it that its not getting pressure when for the last two days the Bonny ran just fine,until today when it died out under same pretenses as before?
AnswerThe crank sensor is behind the front engine pulley (crank pulley/balancer) You need a special puller to get it off. other then that it's not a hard job. Use an original equipment part for this. either from the dealer or an AC Delco delaer. I would be more apt to "Guess" at a sensor rather then a ignition module. I hate to tell people to guess because guessing is expensive! when it dies you need to check for both spark and fuel pressure ans see which one your missing. Spark is what i'm going to guess is what your missing here. The root of making spark occure on the engine is the crank sensor.
