'95 SSEi Runs for 30 sec, then dies.
 

I have a '95 SSEi that I can't keep running all of a sudden.

A week ago, I was driving down the freeway and the car starting bucking wildly and all the gauges went haywire. I pulled over and the battery was dead. My brother came and gave me a jumpstart and the car has run perfectly since then.

Then, last night, I was driving home and the car bucked a couple of times and died. Jumpstarted it and got about two miles before it died again.

Now, when I let it sit for a while, it will start right up but dies after about 30 seconds. Then it won't start at all, but will turn over nice and strong.

Anyone have any ideas what to check first? I tried a different battery and cleaned the terminals/cables. Didn't help.

If it dies suddenly, I suspect a ignition problem. When this happens, check for spark. If no spark, then start checking things. Test coils, ICM, cam sensor, crank sensor, ignition wiring harness. On your year there is also a possibility of a bad PCM, 95s are known for flaky PCMs

Oy! I was afraid of that. No clue how to test any of that crap, but I have suspected the PCM was on it's last legs for a while.

Thanks for the info!

A test for the coils is in the tech info area. However, I don't suspect the coils, there's 3 of them and if one fails, it will just run bad. I don't suspect the cam sensor either. The crank sensor, maybe. Do you have any SES lights? A bad ICM, possible, but run for 30 seconds and then die does not seem to fit. Die when hot is more likely. A bad wire harness, that's more random. Another thing I forgot to mention is the VATs system. Each year is different, I'll have to check what the 95 does.

Never mind about the VATs. A 95 wont even crank.

SES as in Service Engine Soon light? Nothing currently.

When the gauges went haywire last week, the voltage light and SES light came on, but went off after the problem seemed to fix itself.

Currently no lights at all.

Right now having to guess, I would lean towards a flaky PCM.

Alright thanks. Guess I will bite the bullet on a $130 PCM and see if it works. Appreciate the assistance. I will post later if it works.

By the way, is this the right part? The only listings I can find are for Ignition Control Modules. Is that the same as the Power Control Module?

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/cat...&parentId=57-0

Look on Ebay. I hate to tell you that's the problem and have you spend that much and not fix the problem. But I simply don't know of a test to prove a bad PCM