My 95SE died this morning . . . . .

Started fine, warmed up good, took off to work. Got abut 2 miles down the road and she started acting like she was starving for power ( plugged, running on half the cylenders). No waring lights, no check engine light, no smoke, no stink, and no drop in rmp'*. When stopped at a light I put it in neutral - and the car smoothed out! But, when I put it back into drive - she was acting like she was starving for power.

Got it home, shut it off for about 5-10 min, got the hubby, he took it around the block, car was running fine, then stumbled - a little pop - and died!

Now, it cranks, tries to fire, but no go.

Any ideas?

Fuel pump? Is it in the tank?

Can someone tell me where or if there is a shut off switch?

"My Bonnie Lies Dead In The Driveway"

Thanks,
Wendy

could it be the dreaded upper intake on the Series II?

It sounds like a fuel or ignition issue to me.

What were all the guage at when this started?

All gages were in the normal range: rpm, oil, water temp, and amps. No drop - and no increase.

Rpm'*: 800
Oil: 45 - 60
Water Temp: 200 - 220
Amps: 14

The gages have always ran at the above since having the car.

Sounds like it maybe could be the dreaded cam/crank sensors dying?????

Checked around intake - couldn't see any cracks or signs of leaking. No coolent in oil. No loss of coolent.

All fuses and conections in good shape.

Fuel pump is working, and has great pressure at the fuel rail.

Checked 3 different plugs (grounding to metal) but getting no spark, car just cranks.

"dreaded cam/crank sensors dying?????" Need help checking this - no manual came with car: location and testing.

Thanks,
Wendy

the sensors are both quite inexpensive, so if you can't check 'em, just replace em. I had a *somewhat* similar problem when one of the vanes on the harmonic balancer got bent which screwed up the crank sensor signal. only probelm with replacing the crank sensor is getting the harmonic balancer off which requires a gear puller and some patience. the cam sensor is like $16 and super easy to replace.

i hope it isn't your ingition control module

You may want to remove the Coils and ICM, and clean all the contact areas [all metal on top of ICM bracket, and metal bottom of ICM]. The ICM grounds off this, and if a proper ground is not achieved, the car WILL stumble, and act funny, and when taken out of gear, often times the car will smooth out. This is ignition related, and the Cam sensor will put out an SES light, crank sensor, won't, however it WILL cause the ignition to crap out on you.


-justin

I'm concerned with the lack of a dummy light in this case. That would indicate to me that there is nothing worng that the PCM can detect. This would mean the cam and crank sensors are ok. I would lean more towards the ICM in this case, or the loss of the ICM may not be detectable by the PCM.

It could still be the cam or crank sensor, but just not as likely as the ICM. Don't count on an ignition module tester to give you accurate information, either. The best thing to do right now is probably find a friend with any other 93-04 3800 car, and swap ICM'* to see if that solves the problem.

i have a good ICM in my garage...unfortunately i'm halfway across the continent from you