I've been all through two service manuals and I still can't figure out for certain if the 4 cylinder uses a crankshaft position sensor or not. They didn't used to on the front-wheel-drive vehicles, but just to be sure, look on the passenger side of the front of the transmission bell housing to see if there is a crank sensor poked in there. If there is, it will have three wires on it. That sensor is another good possibility as they often fail by becoming heat-sensitive.
The next time it stalls and won't restart, measure the voltage on the dark green / orange wire at the ignition coil, any injector, or either small wire on the back of the alternator. You should find battery voltage there for just one second after a helper turns on the ignition switch. What is important is it must come back during engine rotation, (cranking or running). If it does, check for spark. If there is no spark, suspect the ignition coil.
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 AT 5:16 PM
