1993 Cadillac EL Dorado Engine Shuts Off

Hi and thanks for your response. The car shuts off when under power. It has not happened when slowing down or braking. Also, it is the 4.9 L engine. Also, all the gauges are normal like the temperature (around 192 degrees) and battery (around 13.5). Also the battery is brand new with plenty of cranking amps and power. This is a scary problem because when it shuts off, I have no brakes or steering. So I have to hope I'm not in the middle of a turn or going through an intersection or something. Thanks for your help.

Hi. Thanks again for your response. I don't know if we've had the ignition or cap/rotor etc. Checked lately. It will take a few days to get it back into our mechanic as he is tied up right now. But I have printed out your reply, and I'll let you know what he finds. I'm sure this will help him, as he has not had an idea about it when I've talked to him by phone. Thanks again, and I will be getting back to you.

We took the Cadillac to our usual mechanic. He had left a ground wire off of the computer (in the trunk) when he had installed the struts. He put it back, but the problem with the car shutting off is still there.

We now have the car at another shop. The mechanic (owner) is an "auto electrical specialst". I spoke to him today. He admits he is stumped.

He said he "ran all the codes" but nothing in the code history indicated a problem. Basically, no codes are coming up.

He said he went to the "cadillac" site and checked for "bulletins" but nothing was posted.

He said, Chryslers used to have this problem of shutting off, (1992s). The computers would have to "re-learn" the firing pathways (or something like that), but this was usually solved by driving the car one time.

I asked him, could it be the battery. I forgot to tell you the last thing I did was put a new battery in the car. The one before that was only 2 months old and was bad! He said, no, it couldn't be the battery, or the battery cable.

I asked him if it could be the car's computer. He said, no, because if it was, the car wouldn't start up again right away.

I asked him if it could be plugs or wires (tune up). He said no, he thought that looked good.

I'm just updating you... I need to take your suggestions to him because now that I review them, I see we hadn't discussed some of these points with him. In the mean time, if you have any more ideas, please let us know.

Hi,
The "electrical specialist" couldn't find the problem. Truthfully, though, I don't think he wanted the job. We then took it to a friend of ours. We showed him your print out (of possible causes).

The first thing he did was look at the cap and rotor and sure enough - they were coroded. This is not what we were told earlier by someone else. So he replaced those items. He also said the battery cable was coroded and fixed a portion of it.

I got the car back yesterday, and so far the car seems to be acting normal. We put about 100 miles on it, and it has not shut off. So, with our fingers crossed, I guess you could say it is fixed.

The print out of your suggestions helped the different mechanics at least have a starting place so we appreciate that... If the problem should show up again, I'll email you back. Thanks so much for your help!