I have a 1999 Bonneville SLE with the 3800 engine. I have been intermittently having this issue, and I can't seem to figure out what the issue is so it can be fixed. The car dies while running, almost always when I hit the accelerator after coming to a stop. The car will also die when I stop it at a stop light or stop sign, although that'* not quite as frequent. What happens when it dies is that the RPMs will drop to zero, the car will run extremely rough, and then when I hit the accelerator, the car will do nothing. Sometimes the engine will shut off, sometimes not. The check gauges light sometimes comes on when this happens, sometimes not. However, since this first happened about 3000 miles ago, the check engine light has come on and stay on. I have taken it to an auto parts store and ran the computer on it, and what has come up as the result is that the catalytic converter is running below efficiency. I do not have the code for this. However, I have talked to two different mechanics and they both say that the catalytic converter would not cause this problem. I have taken this car into three different mechanics and they all say that they can't find anything wrong with the car. I had the crank sensor changed just in case, because that seemed like the logical thing wrong with it. That has not fixed the problem. Someone on this forum suggested that the gas gauge could be reading wrong, as when the problem first started the car was only doing this at 1/4 tank of gas or less. Now the car is doing this with 3/4 tank of gas, so that'* not the issue either.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem would be with my car? Nothing I have done has fixed the problem, and I'm extremely frustrated. Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I had a car here a while back that did that. I'll ask you, has your gas mileage gone down? Does it run fine when driving and die when you get off the gas. Does it start fine cold, but if you shut the car off and then start it back up a short time later it wont start?

Take the vacuum line off the fuel pressure regulator and smell the vacuum line. Do you smell gas? If so, the FPR is bad. Replace it.

Dan,
Every time my car dies, the car will restart. However, when this happened the most recent time [it died 5-6 times within 10 miles], the car struggled to start, but it would turn over. I really don't know about my gas mileage as I think my fuel gauge doesn't read quite right, and I bought this car in July from a private owner.

How do you go about checking the vacuum line? Can you give me some instructions?

Thanks!

You just locate the FPR, it'* on the fuel rail up front. You will see a vacuum line connecting to it. Pull that off and smell inside the vacuum line.

Found the write up on it. https://www.gmforum.com/trouble-shooting-test-procedures-141/fuel-pressure-regulator-fpr-test-284305/

Thank you! I really appreciate your help.

Not a problem. Be sure to let us know if this is the problem.

I definitely will. I will reply to this thread. My dad is going to look at it this afternoon, and I'll repost then.