Thread: This car is more trouble than it is worth

Originally Posted by GothicWhiteTrash

I've been having problems on and off with my car ( 1997 Grand Prix SE 3.8 non supercharged). The major problem I have now is that it stalls at random. It doesn't matter where I am, it just dies flat out. And then, it doesn't always start right back up. Example - last night, at 11:30pm, I was stuck on the side of the freeway in downtown Detroit ( what a great place...). It took me almost a half hour to get the car started. I've had diagnostics done on the car at Auto Zone/Advanced Auto Parts/ you name it, and they keep giving me the same codes - possible bad EGR valve ( which I have replaced), ECT sensor is bad ( which also was replaced), throttle body sensor is off by 10% ( or something like that), and ......I can't remember the last code they gave me. When I remember it, I'll post. Anyway, after changing 2 of the things, the car STILL stalls out at random. Could the TBS be the cause of this?

Also, why is it that (again, at random) the ABS light, Check Tire Pressure light, and Trac Off light come on? They either come on altogether or not at all. When they do come on, they stay on, and my steering tightens up. What's the deal?

Any help or input would be greatly appreciated.

Well, to start, you are driving a car that is over 11 years old. You have to expect to have some problems with it. If you want a problem free car, sell it and buy a new one. You will pay a monthly rate to ensure that you are not going to have as many problems.

With that said. The stalling could be your Crank Position Sensor (CPS). Does the tach ever do anything silly like jump around on you? Or when it does stall and you are cranking it over, does the tach move at all? The CPS is a common thing that I see go wrong. Consider searching for more information on it.

As for the ABS & TCS lights. You most likely have a bad wheel bearing. Two ways to find out for sure. One, you can take it somewhere and have them hook it up to their scanner and tell you what ABS codes you have, thereby pointing you to the bad wheel bearing. Or two, wait for it to go bad. Sometimes this can take a long time for them to go bad enough for you to tell. I suggest having the car scanned for ABS codes so you can get the problems taken care of right away.

Hope this helps.

Mine does the same thing: Stalls at random and then won't start on occasion (the occasion is more often now). Once I also noticed that the Tach was on zero while the engine was running. I had the CEL only once, and got it checked right away, it was a CPS code. But it has not come on again. I will get the CPS and wiring for it checked out today!

I will let you folks know whether it corrected the problem.

Dre'