Vehicle stalls after driving fifteen to twenty minutes?

Jack,

Have you ever had one of these off yourself?

I have a puller on it and it is really under a lot of pressure. I am afraid I am going to damage the balancer / pull the outer ring off if I continue.

How will I set the .30 air gap if the balancer is off?
the new one says leave the balancer in place.

It looks ike there is a dust shield with three slotted holes on the front of the balancer that might come off.

What say u?

Hey merlin, just wanted to ask you a quick question. I was driving my car all day, and its been fine, all of a sudden when I stopped at a light it was idling for awhile and the engine just died. I already have disconnected the transmission from the computer. So I currently have no overdrive. Any Ideas on what you think I could do. The car started right back up and went right into drive, but it is wierd that it just died while I had been sitting at the light for a minute. Trying not to spend too much money, Im hoping maybe its a one time thing and it wont happen again, if you think of anything let me know.
Thanks again,
Art

Ok, then you can pop off the dust cover, Once off you will see the crank sensor.You may have to rotate the crank to find a large enough gap in the trigger wheel to remove the crank sensor. You can then instal lit and carefully rotate the wheel so you can tighten it down with the air gap set

Hey merlin I just drove it around again. I disabled the cruise control that I had turned on earlier today, which after I did that I started having this problem. Im hoping that fixed I guess I will find out. Let me know what you think.
Art

REMOVE OR DISCONNECT Negative battery cable. Serpentine belt from crankshaft pulley. Raise vehicle on hoist. Right front tire and wheel assembly. Right inner fender access cover. Using 28 mm socket, remove crankshaft harmonic balancer retaining bolt. Crankshaft harmonic balancer using tool J 38197 or equivalent. Sensor electrical connector. Foreign object deflector (do not use a pry bar). Sensor and pedestal from block face. Sensor from pedestal. INSTALL OR CONNECT Loosely install crankshaft sensor on pedestal. Position sensor with pedestal attached on special Tool J 37089.

Crankshaft Sensor Positioning Position special tool on crankshaft. Bolts to hold pedestal to block, face torque to 25-35 Nm (18-26 lb. ft.). Torque pedestal pinch bolt to 3-5 Nm (26-44 lb. in.). Remove special Tool J 37089. Foreign object deflector.

Special Tool; Assembly Place special Tool J 37089 on harmonic balancer and turn. If any vane of the harmonic balancer touches the tool, replace the balancer assembly. Balancer on crankshaft. Torque crankshaft bolt to 140 Nm + 56 °(104 lb. ft. + 56 °). Inner fender shield. Tire and wheel assembly. Torque lug nuts to 140 Nm (100 lb. ft.). Lower vehicle. Serpentine belt. Negative battery cable.

Check the engine and cruise unit for a vacuum leak, that's my take on it!
You may have a vacuum leak, get a can of spray Throttle body cleaner, spray the vac lines and maniflod area, when the idle changes, youve found the leak! You want the engine running and spray on the outside but do direct the stream onto the hoses, if it is a vacuum leak, the engine idle will change speed, then you have detected a leak, repair the vacuum leak and see how it runs! Also spray the line to the cruise unit, and the unit itself, the vacuum diaphragm may have ruptured inside. Disconnect the hose and plug it. Keep the spray away from the exhaust! Fire hazard!

Remove the two bolts holding the dust shield over the bottom of the flywheel and remove the dust shield . use a H/D brake spoon or other suitable tool tio wedge the teeth on the flywheel against the bell housing. (it helps to put a floor jack under the spoon to hold it in place).loosten the crank bolt all but a few threads. there are three threaded holes in the balancer. DO NOT USE A JAWED PULLER ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BALANCER AND FORGET ABOUT PRYING IT OFF (Deep below the three slots that are on the front) push against the crank bolt with the puller and remove the balancer. the sensor is held in place by one small bolt thet squeezes two arms together.(I do not think you will find the special tool)
take the new sensor and a roll of masking tape and layer both sides of the inner ring till the sensor will just slide on the tape. Align the crank so that the taped portion is lined up to the sensor and carefully install the balancer while lining up the slot in the sensor with the tape. once lined up tighten the sensor bolt ,locking it in position.Remove the balancer and take the tape off. inatall the balancer and torque while holding the flywheel as described.Reverse the rest of the instructions.

when i am driving my car will stall, but lights and radio and everything else works, there is no warning when it stalls, just all the dash warning lights come on like they do when you are starting car. the car will start right after you stop and sit a minute or two. I have no ecm code faults coming up, the computer is new, just installed, couple days ago, thought that fixed problem but no luck, any help would be very helpful.

Have you replaced the ignition module? This is where the 3 coils are bolted to. Looks like this.

Okay, I tested driving the car around today. Now the car is just dying while im driving it. Today I was driving slow about 30mph down a nieghborhood street, and it just cut out, no misfiring noises, just went off with no sound. Just now I tried driving it around again it was fine for a little bit, then I pulled up to my house it sat for about 2 seconds then died again. I tried restarting the car and this time it would just try and start but the engine wouldn't turn over. Im wondering if we can narrow down the problem, not sure what to do here.
Art

No Havent tried that yet, is there a way to test it before spending alot of money on a new one to check if it is bad?

Art, try holding the gas pedal part was down when cranking it. If it starts the TPS could be shaky, but we didnt get a TPS code, try reading the codes again, see if any new ones come up. I will check in this afternoon, off to real job! Have you checked for vacuum leaks like I explained? Outcome?

Do you have an auto zone near you? If you do pull it off and take it to them they can test it and tell you if it is bad or not. Then you not waisting you time.

Yeah I dont think its a vacuum leak, I brought it into a friend who was a mechanic, and he just changed two of the hoses. I just tried starting the car up, and what happens is if I drive it around for a bit and then pull to a complete stop it idles for a bit, and then just shuts off, no misfiring, just off. After it goes off the first time then it becomes difficult to restart the car. I don't really have any extra money for another couple of weeks so I can't really spend too much money which is why I'm trying to narrow it down as much as I can so maybe I can fix it.
Thanks,
Art

I had the ignition module check and still have stalling issue. Could it be the catalytic converter?

Well it costs nothing to re read the codes, and check the vacuum leak as I stated, You did pay for advice?
Why not try the advice given?

Ignition moduler checked out to be good, could it be the catalytic converter?

Okay I checked for a vacuum leak it doesn't seem to have any leaks. Now when I start the car and it sits on idle it revs up and then revs down and just shuts off. I thought of maybe adjusting the idle adjustment screw but I cant figure out which one it is. Anyways I read the codes, here goes its long:

1 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 6 2 6 2 6 27 27 27 28 28 28 33 33 33 44 44 44.

Well there is that I dont even know if my model car has a idle adjustment screw. Lemme know what you think.
Art

No I don't think it could be a catalytic converter. When they go bad it runs fine cold then when the car is at full operating temp. they loose power badly and may eventually die but not like you shut it off. Have you checked the crank position sensor at all? Here is what it looks like.

26, 27 are either quad driver circuit fualts, or bad TPS, 33 is the MAP sensor, try unplugging the vacuum lines and plug them, if it smoothes out, could be the source of the vacuum leak I have been chasing. and 44 is the O2 sensor, I have been talking about vacuum and O2 sensor since we started...check MAP, if you have an volt meter, with the engine running, backprobe the TPS and test the tps for smooth changes in volts, it should read .5 volts closed and 4.5 at wide open throttle, NO spikes!

No i havent checked it, wouldnt a code come up for that, i get no codes at all.

I can't find the throttle position sensor where is it on my car and what does it look like.
Art

The car shuts off and use a lot of gas

Not alway's does will it set a code it just depends on the situation. Just for questions sake has the fuel pressure been checked? If so what was the pressure?

Hey merlin, I did unplug the Torque Converter Clutch, is there anything else I need to disable as well as just that, I heard something about a ground wire not sure. Let me know.
Artie

Have the fuel pressure checked and the trouble codes pulled. Any Advnace Auto or Auto Zone will pull hte codes for free and they loan out fuel pressure test lkits.

Just wanted to give you my problem fix. I have a 1988 ciera that was doing the same thing. Almost caused an accident doing this. I had it to several dealers and mechanics and had everything replaced like tps,iac,cat.conv,fuel filter,the computer and software chip, plugs and plug wires,coil pack and torque convert clutch solenoid. What a grocery list huh? I asked about the egr valve and was told that it WAS NOT popping any codes. This was from at least 3 mechanics. FINALLY I found an sort of retired GM trouble shooter who is in business for himself now. First thing he found was that the dealer who istalled the computer and software chip in put the WRONG chip in it. After fixing this he drove it around and it stalled on him. It took a few days for this to happen. His computer saw a code for a problem I dont remember what but there was a tsb(technical service bulletin) that a hidden problem for that code was the egr valve. He replaced the erg and it has been STALL FREE since he installed it. This is going on 2 yrs+ now. Needless to say.he is my mechanic fulltime now and he is very reasonable. Hope this helps.

TPS Is on the side of the throttle body, usually held in place with 2 small screws... The MAF is also on the throttlebody, but the TPS is aligned with the throttle plate, to measure movement of same...

What do you mean exactly when you say backprobe, I know where it is now just need to know how to backprobe and how exactly to open throttle.
Art

Hey merlin, I just tried disabling the TPS from the engine, the vibration in the engine went away and I drove it around the block, no more stalling issues. Is it okay to drive the car around without the TPS and the TCC plugged in, I don't have the money for a new TPS right now just wondering.
Art

Yeah merlin, the car is runnning like a champ without the TPS plugged in, in fact it sounds better than it ever has. Let me know if its okay to drive it this way.
Art

The ECM just wont know the exact position, so it will leave the value at mid range... On an old car like this? No harm no foul! But if you buy a new one, you might be able to plug that TCC back in for OD.

The car stalls after so long,one time after I drove over a curb with the RR tire it stalled just like you turned off the key.It usually takes twelve to fifteen minutes for the car to restart.

Hey merlin, you're not going to believe this after all that troubleshooting, I just got into the car to go to the store and now the engine won't turn over, just clicks and clicks. I dont know if I shorted something out or what. Let me know, my car is a mess.
Art

When the problem occurs, if it cranks good but won't start, have a helper crank it, while you visually check for spark at the plugs. You can carry a known good spark plug or spark tester in your glove box. Then pull spark plug wire, use tester in plug boot, ground metal part of tester to metal part of engine, watch for spark. If spark everywhere, use a gage and check fuel pressure. Intermittent issues are a pain. How long since a tune-up? Any applicable mil codes?

Sounds like a dead battery, have you tried to jump start it?

Yeah man, the car died again. I was in the middle of the road this time, I put the car in nuetral after I couldn't start it, and it started, drove about halfway down the street and the engine just cut out completely. A few times again from just turning it around and trying to get it back home.
Art

pLUG THE tps BACK IN SEE IF THAT HELPS!

Yeah it helped when I was stranded in the middle of the road. I got it back to the house at least, it was working fine the other day now the engine just will go for awhile and cut out.
Art

Test that TPS like I explained, then install a new one if the test confirms it's bad.