Car Stalls around low idle

[jruss1601]

Heres the problem: It really has only happened at stop lights or areas where i'm stopped and idling in reverse or drive. The car stalls and won't start up immediately. It may take a few minutes.

I really didn't want to post about this because there are similar posts to mine but i just don't know if they are having the same problem. People suggested a crank sensor or alternator on the forums. My dad thinks its a bad fuel pump or flooding of the engine and can't be the alternator, and the guy across the street thinks its something electrical like a computer.

The first time this happened i was on an incline waiting on a stop light. It stalled and I couldn't get it to restart so i backed down the hill. stopped in a parking lot, turned everything electrical off and it started right up. Then i drove to the gas station thinking maybe i was low on gas? (i was only a little less than half a tank), then i drove to advance auto and had them test the battery. Battery checked out. This was about a month ago on a very warm day (about 75 degrees).

Nothing happened again til today. Again it was about 80 degrees. I backed out of a spot waiting for traffic to go by. It started back up and i went on my way. Down the road it stalled again in rush hour traffic. After it stalled if the car was able to start it would idle for a bit then just die again. Or if it would idle for a few seconds once i stepped on the gas it would struggle then die, if not immediately die. I finally got the car going then i got on the interstate to go home.(no problems). I got off my exit and back in town. Sitting at the stop light it happened again. This time it took longer and i was losing hope it would even fire up again. It kept stalling every time i hit the gas. Probably after 10 or 15 minutes of people honking it fired up, i threw it in drive, slammed on the gas and the tires squealed through the stop light. Then i was in my alley going to pull into my spot at the house and the car died again. I was so fed up i just got a neighbor to help push the car to the driveway.

Once we got in the driveway we tryed the car and it started up right away with no problems. Sounded strong too. We shut it off and tryed it again. This time it caught but the idle kept decreasing until it ultimitely stalled. He checked the fuel line pressure by that little nozzle and fuel sprayed out telling him the car was getting gas.

So again i'm sorry to post this. It sounds like a frequent issue in the forums but i'm just hearing so many conflicting solutions. Any ideas?

BTW, its a 95 3.2 ATX. thanks alot for all your guy's time

 

[.RaMpAgE.]

mm ok well how does it idle?? rough?? first i would clean out the idle control valve with some carb cleaner or unplug it with the car on the car should die (tells you its working) check for a bad vac line to the Idle control valve....clean some sensors like your maf and throttle position sensor clean all that..
CPS mmm idk could be water pump could be leaking on to your sensor but idk about that one
doesnt sound like alt or elect or fuel

 

[jruss1601]

Well the car doesn't overheat, but i think it may have something to do with the temperature.

I actually took it out again tonight (waiting for the temperature to cool a bit and for traffic to ease up) to get gas. I don't know if that has anything to do with it either (both times i was a bit less than half a tank) and i had no problems. I can't ignore it this time though. Something has to be done.

It doesn't idle rough normally. It actually feels smooth except right before its about to stall. The only problem i usually have with it, is that sometimes in the morning or just after it sits for a while it takes a few (3-6) cranks for the car to actually start. And thats one reason my dad thinks that maybe its flooding the engine. He thinks i may have leaky injectors that slowly drip into the chambers and when i go to start the car it takes a few cranks to burn that gas off.

 

[.RaMpAgE.]

read up a lil on it:
could be a couple things but i really take a look at the crank sensor MAF and IAC

maybe one of the more experienced SHO guys will chime in

 

[digsj7]

Does your red oil light flicker on and off before it dies? Im going through the same thing right now and my cars parked waiting for rod bearings. Good Luck man!

 

[jruss1601]

Does your red oil light flicker on and off before it dies? Im going through the same thing right now and my cars parked waiting for rod bearings. Good Luck man!

It does flicker right before it dies...


Well i was driving the interstate today and the car did stall while i was going about 60. So its not just at low idles. Any new ideas?

 

[jruss1601]

Well i pulled some codes. Heres what i got.
111 - i forgot this one. My dad wrote "ok" by it
116 - temperature is below normal - makes sense because my car wasn't exactly at normal operating temp. close but a bit below
177 - 02 sensor. rich bank #2. I got this about 2 years ago and had changed one of them. so this puzzles me unless its the other one.
542 - fuel pump secondary circuit. I'm guessing this is the main one

So is this a fuel pump problem for sure? People i ask say it should be the crank sensor.

 

[digsj7]

I had the same problem...changed my oil pressure sending unit ($5.19 part!) and WHAAM!!, fixed! Try that first, it's cheap. Mine is also a 95 ATX and the sending unit is kind of a ***** to get to. I bought a oil pressure sending unit socket ($10 at advanced) that hepled a lot. Otherwise I think it's a 26mm. I put the socket on from the top, then layed underneath with a 8" extension and a swivel and hooked up to the socket. Like I said, kind of a pain...but after you get the swivel on the socket your golden! Good Luck!

 

[jruss1601]

bump

I took it to a mechanic and he couldn't find anything. I figured....because its an i termittent problem. Any new ideas or is the oil pressure sending unit the answer? I figure i may just have to start fixing stuff anyways...so the crank sensor is that something that needs replaced or just wrapped up in tape. I mean if it does malfunction because the water pump leaks on it.....then if i just keep water away that'll fix it?

 

[ckinney89sho]

have you done the front 60K? do you hear the fuel pump whine when you turn it on accessories?

 

[jruss1601]

have you done the front 60K? do you hear the fuel pump whine when you turn it on accessories?

Yeah i had the timing belt changed at a garage along withthe water pump, thermostat, tensioner, etc. And yes i can hear the fuel pump turn on when i start the car.

What about the DIS module. Any reason that wasn't mentioned? Or is that just a MTX problem? I read it in a thread...i believe dennis was the name of the guy posting it. It was for his son's sho

I really can't take this car anywhere to be fixed because its an intermittent problem. At this point i would pay someone to fix this problem if i could

 

[ckinney89sho]

the reason i ask if you can hear the fuel pump is that if its loud that could be your problem. the DIS can be a problem for ATX and MTX. theyre about $60-$80. i doubt thats it though. have you changed the CPS. thats behind your crank pulley and timming gear pulley. theres really no way of finding out if thats the real problem that i know of. the CPS sends the signal out for the spark for how many times the crank spins. hope this helps

 

[jruss1601]

its a real loud fuel pump. Heck, you can hear it running when the car is running. My dad says it sounds like a spaceship. It does. I figured that was a SHO thing..

 

[ckinney89sho]

nope i would change it. its probably on its way out. mine was loud and had loss of power,then i changed it and it was back and my guage worked correctly.

 

[jruss1601]

Would i lose fuel pressure when the car stalled? I checked that valve in the engine and fuel did spray up out of it......

I kinda wish it would be the crank sensor if anything, thats alot cheaper fix than fuel pump. So does anyone have any advice on what to do first? look at crank sensor....see if bad, if looks bad then change it first. then drive around and hope it fixed the problem
If it doesn't fix the problem then change fuel pump and after its all said and done i may end up spending $600+ on it?

 

[ViPER1313]

Usually fuel pumps are not an on/off failure from my experience. When mine died, it felt like the car was gradually losing power until I was flooring the car and it wasn't accelerating. The car then idled like crap before it died.

I would look for something electrical - bad ground, loose battery cables, etc. If it were the cam or crank position sensors I would think the engine computer would have caught it by now.

 

[jruss1601]

Thanks. I've made up my mind. I put the car up for sale as is. I'm going to change the crank sensor first. If i end up fixing it before its sold and the problem seems to have stopped then good for me, i may keep it. If not, then i'll "know" its a fuel pump problem and figure it out when i come to it. Either fix and wait for the next problem or maybe still just sell. Its a wonderful car when its running right, but when its not...i can't keep up with it :-(


Update: SHO won't sell with a problem. haha. Looks like i'm stuck with it for now. So i'm still trying to figure this out

 

[SeanMc]

Hook a gauge to the schrader valve on the fuel rail, and tape the gauge to the window where you can see it out the corner of your eye. Go drive for a bit. If your pressure drops, you have a bad pump. I did this today after having stumbling problems on the highway, car losing power momentarily at 75mph, occasional hard starts, stalling at signal lights, stalling when putting the car into drive, hard restarts after stalling etc. Turns out when the car was stumbling and cutting out, pressure was dropping to 25-ish psi (should be around 35 when cruising). Pump is being replaced tomorrow. No codes are being thrown....even after it dies.

While this was happening, I actually got a CPS code, so that was changed (pretty much did a front 60k while in there). The idle was rough, so for about 30 minutes, cleaning out the IAC helped. Sooooo, do the gauge thing, it'll help you out to find what is going on.

 

[jruss1601]

not a bad idea at all. I was going to try and change the crank sensor this weekend but i may try that first. sounds logical. thanks

 

[jruss1601]

Well heres what i got from the fuel pressure gauge. Turned the car to on - the gauge read maybe 2 psi. Started the car. Pressure rose to 33 psi and stayed there. I shut the car off and pressure dropped to zero. That doesn't seems quite normal to me. Is it?

Also how can you drive the car with gauge attached? Mine has a line thats supossed to empty gas into a gas can. Let me know please