Hi! I have a 2000 Pontiac Bonnie SSEI with 80,000 miles on it. Since i have had this car I can feel the power surging very slightly on a slight incline while just trying to maintain speed or very slightly accelerate. 2 weeks ago while getting off the highway on the exit ramp when i went to accelerate i notice the car had died. Kicked it into neutral and it started right up and ran fine. Today in heavy stop and go traffic on the hiway when I tried to accelerate the power bucked when trying to accelerate. let off of it and it did the same thing 3 or 4 times. Accelerated very slowly got through the traffic jam and the rest of the hiway trip home it ran ok. NO check engine light has ever come on. Temp was straight up at 200 deg which is normal. No other abnormal inidcations.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Randy

have you're codes read maybe have some past codes that did trip the light but now are hidden. Check your vacuum lines.

When it dies does it die like a switch was flipped, or is it more of a stutter and then die?

The check engine light has not come on at all. When it died the one time it was like flipping a switch. I didnt know it died until I pushed on the accelerator and nothing happened. Thanks.

I would check over the battery cables and other electrical connections on the ignition system.

Even though the light isn't on, have the car checked for codes. Most codes won't trip a light unless the car sees the code two consecutive cycles, it will however post a "saw once" w/o turning on the light. That could be key in figuring it out.

Almost sounds like a little water in the fuel or the beginning of 15 potential things. Tough to tell until it'* more consistent or some code shows itself.

I had a similar problem on my wife'* 2000 SSEi a few weeks ago. It started like you said, dies like everything just shuts off. Eventually the problem evolved to the point that the car would die as soon as the engine was up to temp and it wouldn't start until the engine cooled off. I never got any codes, but with some troubleshooting, turns out the MAF sensor had failed. I put a new MAF in and the Bonnie runs like a champ again!

Exact same thing happened to me. No codes etc.

Exact same solution. Bad MAF.

I figured out my problem by disconnecting MAF entirely and driving around. The check engine light stayed on and I lost a couple miles per gallon in fuel economy but the engine ran OK. Initially the engine run rough because the computer had to figure out it no longer had the MAF and compensated.

The MAF sits right up on top of the engine to the right, in between the air filter and the engine. It looks like a flat black square and is connected by a purple socket if memory serves.