Hi, I'm from ASEC.net, I have a question about my moms car. I think it is an SE, its not supercharged, but it has the 3800 engine. Anyways, every now and then, the car will just shut off when it'* being driven, without warning. No check engine light, no check gauges no nothing. Then, it won't start. The engine will turn over, but it just cranks and cranks. It never makes any strange noises of any kind. Then the weird part is is that if you wait a while, the car will start back up and it will be like nothing ever happened, until the next time it shuts off. My friend had the same car, and had to sell it because of this same problem, so maybe this is common, I don't know. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm clueless.

come on...nobody has any ideas?

Give it a little time for someone who'd had a similar experience.

Has the car been scanned for any codes? This only happens when the car is fully warmed up, right. It would be nice to be able to check the fuel pressure the next time the engine cuts out on you. Also, I would also check the Ignition Control Module for a possible crack in it. Please let us know what you have checked so far. I don't think it'* time to sell it yet.

Taking the car to autozone, they said they could only scan the '96 and up pontiacs, so no luck there. The car doesn't have to be warmed up to start...for example, it sat at home all day today, then I tried to start it tonight, and no luck. So far we have changed spark plugs, wires, and fuel filter.

check is it overheating? cause my 92 sse n/a used to shut off without warning but it would crank but it wont start then i would let sit and cool off then it would start right back up check your cooling system and your temp sensors

Sounds like a faulty cam or crank sensor. My mechanic (for the heavy work) has told me about this problem with the 3800'*. Said that is doesn't happen very often, but if the engine just dies without warning, and there isn't anything that seems out of the ordinary, most likely the magnet on either the cam or crank sensor is bad/gone. Niether one is cheap, but then again it could be alot worse.

If it helps any, I had the exact same problem with my 94' SE, would happen once and a blue moon, got it checked out and is exactly what OlBlueEyes mentioned here, the Cranksenor failed and was hitting and missing in it'* function.

Got this replaced and never had the problem since....I had oil and crap getting on it etc. and eventually ruined it.

Let us know what happened with your results,
Cheers,
FatPat3

Hello,
It sounds like it could be the crank position sensor. This sensor is located behind the harmonic balancer. The car will run great until hot, then it will just die. Once the car has had a few minutes to cool down it will restart. I would take it somewhere and get it scanned for any codes. This sensor is less then $50.00 for a Delco.

Good luck,
Sellncars

Uhmm do me a favor and clean your battery cables... Mine did that 2 or 3 times going down the road when the cable shifted and didnt have good contact and it killed the car and couldnt start it. Give that a try before anything else. 67% thats what it is.