2.2, auto trans, 220K. Wife is driving at highway speed (65mph), and engine stops running. Power is on. She coasts to a stop on the side of the road and tries to start it -- power is there, but car does not turn over. Puzzled, she sits there for 5 minutes, and then tries again, and it fires up.

 

Since she is in Denver and I in the hills, I advised her to take it in for a look. She got it to the mechanic fine and he could not replicate the issue on three separate test drives. On the fourth, it occurred again.

 

They have checked: MAF sensor, alternator, plugs and wires. Codes thrown for a vacuum pressure leak. Gas cap was replaced in an effort to remedy that. I also checked the fuel filler pipe and while it has rust on it, it didn't look like it was rusted through.

 

The car does not stall, per se, like it is starved for fuel -- it just stops. Any ideas?

bad coil??

several things - coil, crank or cam sensor

timing belt is a good guess

 

You think so? I didn't realize timing belt could cause intermittent failures -- I thought it was either broken or operational.

 

It was last replaced at 180K.

 

*Posted this before your edits - thanks.

What you have is a major power distribution problem if it won't even turn over. You need to check the power connections at the main fuse panel under the hood. Something is amiss in the circuits that feed 12v to the starter solenoid......

 

GD

Just to clarify:

 

When you say it won't turn over do you mean NO mechanical motion or engine cranks but does not fire up and run?

Which shop is it at? I would check the wires on the bottom of the underhood fuse box, cam and crank angle sensors and then just do a scan with a diagnostic scanner to see if anything is tripping when it does die.

It is at Mancinelli's, on Logan. As far as I know, when it isn't starting it's similar to when the starter contacts are bad -- the starter does not engage. I am not with the car though and I'm trying to translate through the wife.

On some cars that could be the alarm as well then.

 

 

Does it have an alarm - and OEM or aftermarket?

 

Checking connections on power to the ignition and starter, then to crank and cam sensors would be my first things.

No alarm. Wish I could be at the shop with them or have them reading this thread. After it stalls, it won't start for 5 minutes, but then it starts again OK. It seems pretty random.

Could be-

Alarm

Main relay

Ignition switch.

Bad battery cable

Bad ground(s)

 

Next time it happens (amuse me) put the car in neutral and try to start it.

 

There is not much bewtween the battery and the starter on this car hence why I am leaning towards a cable ground or ignition switch or main relay. Also those would kill the car.

The mystery continues. Mancinelli's has given up. They were only able to duplicate the problem once. Did a full diagnostic of the vehicle and couldn't find any issues except the aforementioned P0440 CEL, which they don't believe is the source of the problem. Got the car to "shudder" once this morning while hooked up to computer, but nothing registered.

 

A couple more details from the wife -- she was going 30mph under light acceleration when it occurred. No sputtering or stalling, just off.

 

She is on her way back up I-70 so I hope it doesn't happen again today. If it continues I guess I will print this thread out and take it somewhere locally. Thank you for the suggestions and I will post an update if/when we identify the source.

Next time it happens remove the battery cable then put it back on and see if it starts

I sure hope it makes it. If not, have it towed to me if its closer than home.

Battery cables/posts?

She made it back without issue. I'll try to take a look at some of the other things mentioned over the weekend.

 

Shawn - does your shop do straight up repair work as well, or are you focused solely on restorations? I'd love to bring our vehicles to you in the future.

Crankshaft position sensors are the bane of mechanics as if they do not thorw a code you can never really fault them. Sometimes you have to take a shot and replace it and not be disapointed if it does not fix it.

She made it back without issue. I'll try to take a look at some of the other things mentioned over the weekend.

 

Shawn - does your shop do straight up repair work as well, or are you focused solely on restorations? I'd love to bring our vehicles to you in the future.

 

Yes. Mostly straight repair work in fact.