Keeps dying

[jrock]

My wife was driving the 4th gen camaro home from work this afternoon and she made it all of 50 feet and the car died. She didn't let the clutch out and stall it. She said that the car just turned off. I drove the truck to get her and then i drove the camaro home. It acted fine to me. When i got it home (10 min drive) it rumbled again and died. I smelled gas from the exhaust. I was able to start it back up but after a min or too it rumbled again. I started it a third time and i reved it to about 2k for a second or so and then it ran for a good 10 min or so then i turned it off after inspecting the engine compartment. I did an oil change on it earlier today and everything is ok with that. A week ago i installed new coils and wires to correct a rough idle. The week after the wires and coils, it ran without a hitch. one question. The computer under the coil packs (2000 v6 camaro), is that supposed to have a clean surface to the mounting plate that is under it or is the white stuff underneath just heat sink compound? I did not clean under the ignition computer because i was under the impression that the white buildup/compound is supposed to be there. any other idea's why this thing is giving me this problem? i have no ses light. and i only have 66k miles.
Thanks

[ February 09, 2006, 07:34 AM: Message edited by: jrock ]

[98redcamaroV6]

One time my batery connecters were not tightned down all the way, and got lose from bumps. Luckly i wasn't on the highway when it happened, i got to resturant, ate, tried to start it and wouldn't. finger tight and i drove it home and made sure to really tightned it down.

Another time i was getting my dynatech highflow cat welded, and my alternator went out as i was leaving the auto shop, i could start it and it would die, i could drive a little then it would die.

[Fbody3400]

If it is your alternator, the car will not start completely sooner or later. If the alternator is gone, you're running off of your battery only.

[zymose]

After I changed my plugs and wires the first time my car started missing out quite frequently. I sarted unplugging the wires one at a time to find the problem, and it was my number 6 wire. Mine ended up touching the EGR and melted through the wire so that it was grounding itself out.

Now my car is a 3.4 liter, so I'm not sure if the EGR is in the same place or not with the 3.8, but it might be worth checking. If it is the plug wires, then I would guess that they have a warranty so that you can get that one replaced.

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

any codes or SES light?

[jrock]

no codes or SES light. Do you know if the surfaces inbetween the ICM and the Mount for it should be cleaned (is that the ground for the module) It happened to me two more times today. The first time i was at a light at idle rpm. started to die as i let out the clutch so i pushed the clutch back in and gave it some fuel. It took a second or two but the shaking and extreamly low power went away and the car was back to normal. the second time did the same thing except giving it more fuel didn't make an immediate improvement but after a second or two the power came back and idle is restored to normal. It seams to me that it would be an ignition problem since extra gas pedel didn't make much of an improvement, it just kept it from dieing.

[jrock]

I still have not figured out a solution to this problem. I have smelled gas from the exhaust pipes after it stalled on me so i am thinking that for some reason it is either running extreamly rich and causeing it to stall or the ignition is missing. This problem is very erratic. I started the engine and waited for about an hour with a timing light connected to see if i could tell if i was still getting a spark during the stalling process. it idled fine the whole time without any stutters. Could the problem be with a dirty TB and/or MAF? what other sensors could cause the computer to generate a rich mixture? Still haven't seen a SES light and no pending codes yet.

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

if it dieng when you push the clutch in take out the MAF..... look at the little wires. you may see biuld up on them, get some brake cleaner and spray on the wires till they are clean.... DONT TOCUH THEM WITH ANYTHING.

unplug the battery for about 5 minutes and then see if it still does it... if fixed mine....

[jrock]

I thought that crap on the MAF would cause the engine to run lean. I don't really know if it is running lean or rich but i think that it is running rich because i will smell fuel near the exhaust when the engine stalls. Also the problem is more random than what i would think could be caused from a dirty MAF. It seams like an electrical problem.

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by jrock:
I thought that crap on the MAF would cause the engine to run lean. I don't really know if it is running lean or rich but i think that it is running rich because i will smell fuel near the exhaust when the engine stalls. Also the problem is more random than what i would think could be caused from a dirty MAF. It seams like an electrical problem.

trust me mine would go for 2-3days with out stalling then it would start stalling again clean the maff and see what you get. its easy and cheap

[jrock]

an update:
I started my car thismorning and it ran good about a second at idle and then died. I smelled fuel from the exhaust. I tried to start it again and it started fine but after a second it died again and then i smelled more fuel. This went on for a few times then it didn't even want to start. It kept getting harder and harder to get the engine to turn over. I disconnected the MAF to see if it would help and I got same symptoms. I am going to get some carb cleaner and try to clean the MAF. I am not sure what this means but i guess that it is the injectors? I cleaned them with some fuel additive a couple of months ago.

[jrock]

I checked the ignition while the engine was dieing. I connected a timing light to wire #1 and looked at the strobe. The car started to die and the strobe slowed down with the rpms but it was still flashing. I don't know if this is a good check but its worth a thought. Does anyone have any other ideas of what i can do before i take it and a can of vasoline to the to the dealer

[Question]

Dealers don't use lube.

[jrock]

I understand this however, If anyone has any ideas of what i could do, then it would be highly appreciated. I was thinking that it could be dirty injectors but i only have 66k miles on the car. What is this seafoam everyone talks about and how would i use it to clean the injectors? I have used some of the fuel additive to clean the injectors a couple of months ago. I guess it didn't work. (i really don't want to tear the engine apart to clean the injectors)

[zymose]

One more thing that comes to my mind is the ignition computer. My last car would do almost the same thing. I tried changing the MAF, MAP sensor, and plugs but nothing worked. Finally I took it back to the dealer and they found the board went bad. $200 later I had a used board and was on my way.

Of course I have no idea how they diagnosed it.