Thread: trac light on; rpms zero no power

Hello, i hope someone can help that has experienced this or is still in the throes of this aggravating problem. i have a pontiac grand prix 2000, up until know i have had a wonderful love affair with my car, outside of regular maintenance no problems. recently my car has acted sluggish it acts like it wants to stall the trac off light comes on and then the rpms go to zero in perfect weather conditions. the car will continue to run on occasion then other time i lose all power and the car dies, needless to say this is not good in traffic and praying i dont get rear ended. i have started driving in the right lane more often than not so that i can pull over if necessary. its scarry when the power goes. i have searched the internet and several web site offer different things. more often the owners have spent several thousands trying to pinpoint the issue. if anyone has the pr oper diagnosis i would appreciate a response thank you for your time

Sounds like the symptons of a bad Crank Position Sensor.

thank you for taking the time to respond do i need to wait till this happens again to have the computer read any guesses on the cost of repair

I am new to this site, and have found really helpful posts on here. I am having this same problem. The only difference is that the Service Engine Soon light just came on. I have litterally never seen it on until tonight. About a month ago I lost the RPM gauge, but that was all. The next day, it was working, so I thought nothing of it. Then, just a few hours ago the RPM gauge went dead, the Trac Off light came on, and then 30 seconds later, the SES light came on. I still owe a grand on this grand prix so I am hoping that I can fix it. I don't have much money, so taking it to a shop isn't really an option. It is a 99 Grand Prix GT. On top of this, I have also had the infamous hard shifting problem, but it comes and goes and has done it since I got it. I am not to worried about that problem right now, but this new one concerns me. Any suggestions or thoughts would be great.

Thanks in advance,
DIBS

New Info : I just got back from taking it out for a spin to see if anything had happened, and the RPM works and the Trac Off is off, but the SES light is still on. Honestly, it runs fine, doesn't feel weird or sound weird.

Originally Posted by dibs

I am new to this site, and have found really helpful posts on here. I am having this same problem. The only difference is that the Service Engine Soon light just came on. I have litterally never seen it on until tonight. About a month ago I lost the RPM gauge, but that was all. The next day, it was working, so I thought nothing of it. Then, just a few hours ago the RPM gauge went dead, the Trac Off light came on, and then 30 seconds later, the SES light came on. I still owe a grand on this grand prix so I am hoping that I can fix it. I don't have much money, so taking it to a shop isn't really an option. It is a 99 Grand Prix GT. On top of this, I have also had the infamous hard shifting problem, but it comes and goes and has done it since I got it. I am not to worried about that problem right now, but this new one concerns me. Any suggestions or thoughts would be great.

Thanks in advance,
DIBS

I have this as well. At one point when I was going for a drive, the Tach died and the trac light went on about 3 times in a 10 minute span. Each time it would die, I would pull over and restart the car, which would fix it, for a short time. The 3rd and final time, the SES light went on, so I took it to Autozone. They reported that it was the Crankshaft Position Sensor, and lo and behold, as soon as I leave, the light goes off.

So, it's an intermittent problem, but a problem nonetheless. It is not terribly difficult to replace yourself, and there is an excellent walkthrough at http://www.grandprixforums.net/cps.php

It will cost you probably 75 dollars, including the puller tool, sensor, and loctite, assuming you possess tools.

puller, lol you can use two crowbars or you can just buy the bolts for the normal harmonic balancer puller.

Well, ofcourse when I got to Autozone the light was off, but the part is only 26 bucks so that is good to know. Hopefully I will get around to doing it this weekend and I will let you know what happens. Thanks again for your help.

Thanks for explaining it, and honestly if I had the money I would go for a better part, but I just dont right now. What I was wondering is when I looked at that walkthrough, it seemed like they were doing more than just changing the CPS. From what I can tell, the CPS is on top and easy to get to, but he was under the car from the tire well, which makes me ask the question if he is explaining how to do something else or if this is necessary to change the CPS. If someone could explain this to me, that would be great.

Originally Posted by dibs

Thanks for explaining it, and honestly if I had the money I would go for a better part, but I just dont right now. What I was wondering is when I looked at that walkthrough, it seemed like they were doing more than just changing the CPS. From what I can tell, the CPS is on top and easy to get to, but he was under the car from the tire well, which makes me ask the question if he is explaining how to do something else or if this is necessary to change the CPS. If someone could explain this to me, that would be great.

The money difference is negligible. It's not terribly difficult to do, but you don't want to keep crawling under there. Spend the extra 5 dollars to never have to do it again.

In addition, you don't seem to understand what the CPS is. The Crankshaft Position Sensor is embedded in the crankshaft area, which does require getting under the car through the tire well.