car just dies

[89 Firebird]

I mentioned yesterday that I had another problem with my car. Two years ago on a dry hot day in July (about 87 degrees) I drove to Reading PA about 35 miles away to have a friend of mine fix my computer. Drove down without any problems had the air on low all the way down, got to his place and waited a good hour before he looked a the computer and realized I needed a new ribbon cable. Got in the car drove about 5 miles to Best Buy got back in the car and you guessed it, dead. Wouldn't even turn over just dead. We tried for about 30 min to get this car to start, AAA was on their way and by buddy thought it might be the bar on the key. He worked on it with pliers and as AAA was puling up with the tow truck, doesn't it start. It did the exact same thing in August of 07. We were in Allentown for a funeral, very hot out in bumper to bumper traffic crawling at a snails pace and in the middle of the highway it just died. We coasted off to the side of the road and waited again for AAA. The car was off for about 20 min and then it started right up, we got out of there so fast and came straight home. Does this car hate hot weather? It has done this on 2 or 3 other occasions but I was only 3/4 miles away and it was always in the summer. Any ideas? Again, sorry this is so long.
Oh when I dropped the car off yesterday I mentioned the seafoam to two techs and neither one of them ever heard of it.

[kristen]

Re: car just dies

i doubt that it has anything to do with the heat? cause your car would have over heated.


to be honest....it's going to be plugs, wires, coils

or the fuel pump.

when you put your car in the on posi do you hear a hum coming from the pump?

[89 Firebird]

Re: car just dies

No I hear nothing. It's in the garage right now for the sputtering problem. They did tell me the fuel pump was OK so I guess it's a wait and see what they come up with kinda thing. I really find it hard to believe that there are so many mechanics at that garage and none of them can come up with a solution.

[Leonard 3.8L]

Re: car just dies

Im thinking it could be something like your battery because it sounds like it just randomly dies - that's what happens when it dont get enough voltage

[3.4 slow to go]

Re: car just dies

I guess there haven't been any codes. A mechanics nightmare would be to track down a ground problem, due to so many wires. If the car jsut dies, chances are (not 100%, but a chanve) there's something up w/the dizzy, coil, and/or wiring, as that's the only thing I can think of tha could just kill a running car. Also,

[kristen]

Re: car just dies

could be just one tiny little wire that keeps grounding out.

they could have fixed something and not grounded it right

[89 Firebird]

Re: car just dies

Just thought I'd let you all know the car is gone 1 week tomorrow and I haven't heard a word from them, I guess they haven't found the problem yet, a rental would be nice.

[Rob Bell]

Re: car just dies

It sounds like an intermittent heat-related issue. Some component gets too hot and quits working. Twenty minutes later when it's cooled down a little, it functions again. When it dies, you would have to check for fuel and spark. My bet is that there will be no spark because it's probably some electronic part. So then you have to start eliminating sensors and circuits based on what would cause it to totally die. Some sensors and circuits, like coolant temp, EGR, and maybe the MAF, will just set a code and/or let you limp home. Others, like the ICM or the crank position sensor, will leave you stranded. If it were a coil, it would probably be only one of them, so it would just run like crap, but not totally die. This could be a nightmare to diagnose because of the intermittent nature. You could try using a heat gun on various components and sensors to see if one of them makes it die. Then you've found your problem. Just don't melt anything LOL.

[cam98aro]

Re: car just dies

it sounds like a bad ground somewhere to me

bad plugs,wires,fuel pump, crank sensor, etc will not cause your car to not crank after it dies

[89 Firebird]

Re: car just dies

From how complicated this all sounds I should just forget about it, park it and buy something else. I would love to get a later 90's model Firebird, but finding one of them is next to impossible, let alone quite expensive. I should hang onto this one for another 5 years and it will be a classic.

[cam98aro]

Re: car just dies

where in pa do you live?