I have a 99 silver arrow with the SC 3.8. Ive owned it for about a month now. Three times since I've owned it the car has randomly stalled out. Twice I was driving at 55mph and the engine shut down. I was able to restart the engine no problem. Once the engine stalled just after I was at WOT. About 5 seconds after I slowed back down the engine stalled. All 3 times have been easy restarts. Anyone know if this is a common problem? I will tell you that I know the car needs an alternator. Atleast thats what a friend who tested said. The batter also put out about 11 volts with the car off which I know is low. Could the bad abttery and alternator be causing the problem?

could be any number of things - crank sensor, ignition switch, flaky PCM...

Since you are restarting with not much problem I'd guess ignition switch. This is only a guess - you can determine whether it's bad with a Tech II (dealer) scanner.

Ignition switch replacement is an expensive repair at a dealer - but they can tell if it's bad by using the Tech II scanner to check the resistance in the circuits of the switch. Any significant resistance indicates that you likely need a new switch. What happens is that over time the contacts "burn" (get carbon buildup) and the resistance goes up to the point that the switch turns various circuits in the car off all by itself. This problem does not set any OBD II or other diagnostic code. (neither does the crank sensor actually).

If the ignition switch turns out to be the problem and you have a dealer or shop fix it, be sure to ask them while they are in there to tighten up the steering tilt mechanism and the screws that anchor it. This may involve replacing the tilt spring (an easy item).

Be advised that you can do the replacement and tightening yourself (teardown instructions are somewhere on this site) with hand tools and a steering wheel puller but it might well take you the better part of a day and you have to remove-reinstall the air bag. You have to first disconnect the battery then remove the air bag fuse and disconnect the inflator module form the deployment loop (circuit). IF you do that disconnection the airbag immediately becomes benign, except for accidental discharge due to static electricity - but that's fairly easy to avoid. Anyway - it would be worth buying a factory service manual just for the details of column teardown/reassembly and details for safely working with the airbag. Because at a dealer it could cost as much as $700 - $300 for the switch and the rest for labor (it's WAY in there).

You do not HAVE to pull the steering wheel to replace the ignition switch - just the upper and lower steering column covers. BUT if you do pull the steering wheel, and you tighten up the tilt wheel mechanism while you are in there, the odds that you will have to do it again for the life of the car (especially if you use loctite blue on the screws) is slim to none. See what I am saying. I am not saying you must pull the wheel. I am saying (1) let's figure out what the problem is (2) if you have the time, and if it is indeed the ignition switch that is the problem, going in there to tighten things up now can save you pain later (3) get and read the factory instructions.

WHAT TO DO - it will cost you $100 or less, but go to a GM dealer and have them check for stored trouble codes to diagnose the cause of intermittent stalling. Remember that dealer mechanics usually work on late model (4 years old or less) cars and your showing up for diagnosis only is not a big deal. Unless they have some mechanics who are real gearheads or drive the late '90s GM cars, they won't especially want the job anyway.

Albertj

Thanks for the info. I forgot to tell you that a few times the car has failed to turn over as well. Dash lights come on but nothing happens when i turn the key to start. As far as having the codes read. Do I need to go to a dealer or can I use a friends code reader? Im guessing since it has failed to crank a few times that this is probably the ignition switch and not a sensor.

same thing happened to my car....found out that the fuel pump had started to go out...
specialy when the thank was half full or under...
fuel is the only thing what cools it.
sometimes it did not even start...and the next day it did.

have had other problems tho like bad/broken coil.. bad wires...bad plugs..
my car had 146k miles when it happened

I had this problem for 6 months. There was no diagnostic codes and I changed a ton of parts. After all the parts the engine ran better than ever but it randomly stalled at 55mph on the highway. I drove the car to NYC for Christmas and the car died at a rest stop in Syracuse NY. The problem was the fuel pump failed. The mechanic who changed it said the filter sock on the intake pipe was very plugged. After a new pump was installed, the car has not stalled once in the last 9 months.

Yep it could be fuel pump clogged.

Any scanner will read emissions codes but with the TechII the technician can activate and test any computer controlled function or interface. A scanner will not test the ignition circuits for resistance level for instance (and be aware that many dealer technicians don't know how to do that with a TechII but they can if they just Read The Fine Manual if needed). So in the interest of saving time and avoiding headaches I'd suggest a dealer diagnostic trip.

Albertj

could be the TPS sensor.

Im thinking its not the fuel pump simply because the car sometimes wont even crank. Its only happened a few times but within a month the car has stalled 3 times and failed to start 3 times. That is no bueno. Thanks for your replies. Im going to have a friend see if he can retrieve any stored codes tonight. I'll let you all know my findings tomorrow.

Keep in mind that fuel pump issues and ignition switch issues both don't store any trouble codes.

I havent messed with this car since I posted the topic. I stopped driving it. I recently about 1 week ago started driving it. The car has shut off on me 5 times just today. 3 times while moving and twice idling at a stop. I was thinking about the ignition switch and do not know if this matter or not but when the car stalls the lights on the dash stay on such as when you turn the key to the on position before you engage the ignition. If it was a bad ignition switch wouldnt the lights go off? Also I wanted to add that when it stalled at idle today i could feel that it was stalling. It did not sputter or shake. The engine simply started dropping RPM's. I feathered the gas peddle a little bit and it didnt even act like I was trying to give it gas, just stalled out. Any other ideas?

Could be a bad MAF, but you should get a code for that. Could also be a bad cam position sensor, sometimes there is not a code thrown for that, although usually there is.

It _could_ be a lot of things. It's hard to diagnose because it's inconvenient, but you're going to have to start carrying some electrical troubleshooting tools around with you.

Next time it dies out go see if there is fuel pressure in the line (with the key off). You can quickly test this by relieving the schrader valve on the fuel injectior rail, it should spray you right in the eyes if there is good fuel pressure... (read as warning!)

I had a very similar problem, it turned out to be the fuel pump on mine as well.

Thanks for the info. A friend of mine said he would loan me his fuel pressure gauge. I suppose I could drive around with it taped to the windshield and see what happens. What is the recommended fuel pressure for this car?