Starts, drop into gear, then immediately dies

BLACKHAWK357M

MEMBER
GMC

1995 Pontiac Transport, 141, XXX miles, , 3.1L V6
OK, I just got the van and after about 4 miles the SES light came on. After a few miles, it went off. I went another 15 miles, on the highway, came to a stop light and just before I stopped it started running VERY bad. Then, just as I stopped, it died. But it immediatey fired right over when I went to restart it.

I got it up to a parts store, checked the codes, and came back as a code 32 (EGR System)

Later, I was driving down the highway for about 20 miles, exited, and as soon as I stopped it died. Started right up, but this time as soon as I put it in Drive, it jerked hard and died. Restart, jerk, die. Restart, jerk, die. Finally stayed running and got it back home.

Later that night, doing about 50MPH came to a light and same thing. Stop, jerk, die. Restart, jerk, die. I ended up having to have it towed. It would not go into gear without dying. The next morning, fired right over.

The EGR Valve looks brand new, I took it off the motor, depressed the piston and it moves freely with some resistance. While depressed I plugged the vaccum fitting and it did not move (so I figure its good holding the vaccum) What could be causing the problem of the dying?

Thanks for the help,
blackhawk357m

5 Replies

KENVCR

MEMBER
105 POSTS

Ok you are not going to like this but, it is all likely to be your transmission. The TCC or lock up solenoid may be the problem. Basically it is like you have a standard tranny and try to start driving in 3rd or 4th gear. Runs really rough until you get up to speed but when you stop and you have no clutch to depress, the engine stalls.
A local tranny shop can do an electrical analysis on your tranny without having to drain the fluid. Call the closest shop to your home and ask for a price over the phone to do a diagnostic.
If they tell you it is the lock up or TCC, the repair is inside the tranny pan. You will pay for the part ($50.00 in canada, lot less in U.S.) New fluid about 6 to 8 quarts, new gasket & filter, shop labour. This repair only takes about an hour for the experienced technician.
I know this because I just did it in my own garage 2 weeks ago.
Good luck, please post a reply when you get this issue resolved.

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Sunday, February 26th, 2006 AT 7:05 PM

MVANNESSJR

MECHANIC
223 POSTS

Yup, Torque Convertor Solenoid. What a treat, the vehicle is drivable just don't exceed 44MPH and the TCC will not engage and the car will not stall. Getting it fixed isn't usually very expensive.

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Sunday, February 26th, 2006 AT 9:38 PM

BLACKHAWK357M

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4 POSTS

:D That's what the problem was! The job wasn't too bad, it was in the side tranny pan, I got to it through the driver's front wheel well. $8.00 for the gasket and $42.00 for the TCC

Thank you for the replies, sounds like you guys know what you're doing :lol:

I now have another problem though :evil: I will be posting it in a new thread as well as here.

OK, now when you start the motor, it wants to idle erratic (runs at 1200 RPM then drops to 700 RPM for a second, then back up to 1200 RPM) After about 5 minutes of this, it seems to level out. Then when you put it in gear, and go to accelerate, it lacks power, goes for a second, then bogs and stumbles real bad for a sec, runs ok a sec, bogs for a sec, may get a backfire etc. Now if I keep steady pressure on the gas, after about 20 to 30 seconds it quits and runs fine.

If I stop and shut it off for 10 - 20 minutes it will do it again.

I have replaced the injectors (boy did it need it), replaced the front 3 plugs (getting ready to do the back 3 today once I figure out how to get to 'em :lol: ) replacecd the air filter, feul filter, PCV valve, Dist. Cap & rotor. I will be replacing the thermostat (looks like it's overcooling) and oxygen sensor today.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I would REALLY appreciate any input

Blackhawk357m

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Friday, March 3rd, 2006 AT 7:32 AM

MVANNESSJR

MECHANIC
223 POSTS

Check the Idle Air Control and Throttle Body Position Sensor. This one is a bit harder to diagnose. You've done replaced major components of both the fuel system and spark. I would suspect the problem may be related to the oxygen system assuming replacing the rear plugs doesn't correct the problem.

Glad to hear the TCC was the problem! Did this start after you replaced the TCC or has it been a problem?

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Friday, March 3rd, 2006 AT 2:57 PM

BLACKHAWK357M

MEMBER
4 POSTS

It's been a problem, , just didn't really noticec it till the other got fixed. I replaced the IAC valve and the TPS. Still does it. Replaced the plugs, , still does it. I'm getting ready to check the base timing and see if it's been messed with at all. Well, that depends if I can find a VECI label to get the correct timing procedure. Mine doesn't have the label, and it has a salvage yard hood with the wrong motor catalyst label on it.

So I don't even know where the base timing is supposed to be set at. Also, it says to unhook the tan/black wire before setting the base timing. Well, I found the wire and it is already unplugged and there is nothing to plug it into. Do I just grgound that wire then do the base timing?

Blackhawk357m