Thanks a lot for all the help today. My next thing to try will be the crank position sensor(again).

I am having this same exact issue with my 2000 SSEi. Just dies out of the blue and sometimes it takes a while to start back up. Please keep us updated with the crank sensor replacement and If I get to it before you I will do the same.

That does sound just like what was happening with mine. This time I went to the dealership and bought the sensor. It was $62. It'* kind of embarassing when you buy a part like a crank sensor at a cheap store and you find out you only saved $5! Especially if you installed two(cheapies) and they both do not work(like I did last summer).
I installed the good one today and the car started right up. It started so quick it was surprising. We have an ice storm going on so I'll report back later when I can get some miles driven. So far it runs like a new car.....

Update; The car runs like new again. I would like to post the symptoms I had for the crank sensor; Intermittent stalling. No way to predict it. The car would almost always restart right away. On three ocasions in a year the engine took 5 minutes to restart. The car always ran good after restart. Tach drops to zero occasionally. One thing that was prominent was late shifting. Usually only when the car was cold, sometimes even when it was warm. Every day when I first took off it would stay in first until I let off and hit the gas again. After a couple miles it shifted fine most of the time.
I have to think that all of these symptoms were the crank sensor because they are all gone now that I changed it.

Thanks for the update! Hopefully this one will last you a long time.

I have been searching for my problem, and I think this is it. My daughter has complained that the car has seemed to be driving fine, and then all of a sudden jerk and then her tac drops to zero, and the car then continues to run, and when she stops and restarts the car the tac and the car work fine. In the past 3 days the car has suddenly stalled in the middle of driving twice...no warning...and the the brake and power steering are lost and is difficult to pull over. There hadn't been any signs of sputtering, and she is young so she has not noticed if the shifting is delayed. I will check that tomorrow when we go off to get the code read...currently the Check Engine light is on; it has not been on prior to this. So hopefully it stays on. At this time too, I will have them look at the battery terminals. She lets the gas run low, so I guess it could be a problem with the filter; it was suggested that the fuel pump relay could be bad, but that was before I found out about the tac. The ignition switch or relay was also a suggestion. What was the code for the crank sensor? I saw it in someone'* post. Anything else I should be thinking about.

Before going threw the expense and trouble of changing the crank sensor. Check both ends of both battery cables for corrosion. This tends to happen a fair amount. Clean them and wait to see if that helps. If not, then start looking at the crank sensor.

What'* kinda cool was that was my first question to my daughter = ). Just knowing how things go; it'* never is the easiest thing that'* broke! Especially right after Christmas!