I have just purchased a 1992 Bonny SSEI. I LOVE the car. I purchased it at a good price due to some electical .... Issues. The car dies after it warms up. Runs fine before that. All the gauges seem to do the reset thing and at times don't work at all. When the car dies no spark is pesent. It won't start until it cools down. I know the previous owner ( original purchaser ) and the car has no mods at all. Any one have any ideas ? I'm not the master mechanic but I'm pretty good
with cars. I understand what does what on an automobile.
I like this car alot and want to put some serious miles on it, if I could just get it reliable.
I've been reading this forum for about a week and you guy'* seem to be pure geniuses at times. I respect that and all replies given.
I will follow any ideas or directions to the T. Thanks for the help and advice.

JLathem

1992 Pontiac Bonneville 120k miles ( hopefully 100k more )

Not this again! haha welp the Crank Position Sensor (CPS) is the most likely culprit, its a fairly common problem with hot-start issues and would explain the lack of spark.

http://www.wellsmfgcorp.com/counterp...erpoint3_1.pdf

There are a few other possibilities also.

I thought crank sensor caused the car to start 1 in every 10 shots? Does it start everytime, except after it is warmed up and dies out?


-justin

It does start every time right up until it warms up. I have not tried to restart 10 times in a row after it dies. When it dies it'* very abrupt. I understand that the crank position sensor gives the PCM a reference for the number one cylinder to fire. Is that correct ?
Any more idea'* ?

JLathem

its ignition related then, I am going to side with dr. jay on this. I bet its the crank sensor.

The CPS gives the Ignition control module the info which cyl to fire. PCM gets told this by the Camshaft Posistion sensor, but the PCM has NO control over ignition, just the Crank sensor tells the ICM when to fire, which tells the Coils to give spart, and so on.


-justin

Thanks for the replies. I guess the next thing I need to do is go get a crankshaft sensor.
It'* worth 27 buck'* to try. It makes sense that it could cause the issue. I have read in past post where they become temperatue sensitive.
I assume the gauge resets are a seperate issue. Hopefully, the sensor will work and I can get onto some mod'* ! Thanks for the help !

JLathem

Hello........how come nobody has suggested pulling codes with the flash feature, or getting a scantool on the car first?

Let'* not waste any money until we do some troubleshooting.

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/techinfo/?article=34

Willren,

Unfortunatey, it doesn't throw any codes for some reason. It just dies. That'*
why I came here . The computer says all is well . Right up until ... it pukes.

I've got a MAC scantool. I've nearly worn that thing out trying to catch something.
I'm willing to try a few low cost things. Even though that sensor is only 27 buck'*
it look'* like it'* gonna take a week to get it out ! Anyone know any tricks ?


JLathem

Soft codes don't always throw an SES light. I have a P0171 (I thinkit is) that keeps popping up every now and then, but it only registers a light after 3 instances of it within a given time frame.

Can I also suggest to test with another battery? I had an isue a while back where my car would all the sudden die for no apparent reason. Turned out the battery was bad. The plates inside it came loose and they would occasionally shift causing no starts or stalls while driving. In the case of driving, ot usually came back up before I could even start to slow the car down. ... Just a thought if you had one to test with.

SSEi95,
I'll give it a shot !. I have a '91 Buick with the same battery. Like I said I'm willing to try anything. I will win. Even if I have to drive a new car under it.
Again, that'* why I'm here . I needed some unconventional advice.Thanks for the reply.
On a side note ..... how does that exhaust you listed sound ?

JLathem