Intermittent Stalling

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by whoareyou4, May 5, 2006.

  1. whoareyou4

    whoareyou4 Guest

    I have 96 SC2 that will at times stall. If it happens it usually only does
    it one time during the day then it runs fine.

    I can usually tell the car is going to stall at the next stop light or stop
    sign because I can feel the engine missing. If I put the car in neutral and
    keep reving the engine it will stay running or I can sometimes punch the
    accelerator a few times and that usually clears it up.

    The check engine light is on but autozone could not extract any codes.

    Plugs and wires are new. I have had the throttle body off and cleaned it.

    I am wondering if it could be a faulty coil pack? I had one go a long time
    ago but it was pretty obvious then. Can coil packs act up intermittently?

    Any thoughts? Thanks
     
    whoareyou4, May 5, 2006
    #1
  2. whoareyou4

    user Guest

    How old is the fuel filter?
     
    user, May 5, 2006
    #2
  3. whoareyou4

    Richard Guest

    My 98 SL has been showing a P0341 (camshaft sensor, doesn't exist), wouldn't
    start a couple of weeks ago, and sometimes misses when I come to a stop at a
    light. The diagnosis I got from the shop is an intermittent problem with the
    ignition control module.

    They wanted $400 for the part. I can get it at Autozone for $145. Until it
    fails consistently, I'm not going to worry about it. At least until winter,
    but I have a motorcycle for backup.

    If your coil pack checks out, you might consider the ICM. Maybe you can find
    a used one and swap it out?
     
    Richard, May 5, 2006
    #3

  4. IMHO,

    I would have my throttle body cleaned, and CTS replaced.

    hth,

    tom @ www.FreeCreditCheckGuide.com
     
    Tom The Great, May 5, 2006
    #4
  5. whoareyou4

    Private Guest

    The coil packs are prone to intermittent failure caused by corrosion on the
    mounting surfaces and grounding. At ~70 k km I had a miss and a ses light,
    IIRC I also had a cam position sensor error code. I found one high
    resistance plug wire which I replaced but the problem continued if somewhat
    reduced and the code reappeared after clearing. Saturn wanted to replace
    the coil packs for big $$$ with no guaranties but since I had another
    similar car, I exchanged with the known good coil packs of my second car. A
    Saturn mechanic suggested I should clean all the mounting surfaces and bolts
    and to install using dielectric grease on all the mounting surfaces and
    electrical connectors. The way he said it I suspected that this was what
    really cured the problems when new coil packs $$$ are sold to owners. I
    have not had another similar problem with either car in >300k subsequent km.
    Grease the mounting bolts to prevent corrosion and seizure.

    Real dielectric grease is expensive and is not applied at the factory. It
    is however a LOT cheaper than new coilpacks.

    Good luck, YMMV
     
    Private, May 9, 2006
    #5
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