Thi happened to me once. The wiring harness for the crank sensor moved a little out of the holding clips and rubbed on the harmonic balancer. This rubbed threw the insulation, when the wire core touched the harmonic balancer the engine would die.

I had the exact same symptoms on my 2001 Bonneville, and it was the crank shaft position sensor. Driving on the expressway everything would shut down, the tach and oil gage would drop to zero, then it would start back up on its own.

As it gets worse, eventually there will be occasions where the car won't start.

Check the wire like Dan suggested, and change the sensor if the wire is okay. Actually, by the time you take off the harmonic balancer to check the wire, you should change the sensor anyway. Its not an expensive part, and 90% of the installation effort is removing and replacing the harmonic balancer.

Thanks for the suggestion. I could have sworn I had my mechanic check the crank sensor awhile back and he said that it was practically new at the time...but I will have him check the sensor again.

jkramer0306,

Good luck and please keep us posted.

Thank you,
Caron, GM Customer Service

I have afew questions about this!

When the wire shorted out and killed the OBDII engine , did this cause the SES light to come on?

Does the computer react differently to a shorted wire in the system ? , compaired to how it would react to, too many pulses/ not enough plulses from the crank sensor?

Just trying to narrow down a way to isolate a problem area.

I got no SES light when this happened. The engine just shut down. No spark. Then, it started working, then shut off again. I pulled the harmonic balancer to change the crank sensor, that'* when I noticed the wire.

More questions:
Ok! No spark!

Im just guessing here!
I assuming here that the inturnal driver shut the computer down to protect it (NO spark), but only for the time, that the ignition remained in that ON cycle! Turn the key off and then back ON again , spark would come back until it happened again, triping the driver or circut braker.

Is there a way to test or check for this at the computer?

As long as its grounded there was no signal from the sensor, no signal, no command to the ICM to spark.

isnt the oil pressure sensor part of the ignition to . low oil pressure the car quits or stalls so you dont blow the motor. could be bad sensor . just a thought

Was your gauge working before it died?