My car is stalling at random times

Tiny
COBE.REINBOLD
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 160,000 MILES
So a couple months ago, my car was having troubles driving under load. I would be going up hill and it would sputter trying to go into the next gear and it would make it feel like the car was jerking around. I just drive to school/work and back so it is not like it is doing hours of driving at a time. One day when I got out of school a engine light had come on. I called my Dad letting him know, hoping that it would solve our issue, and two minutes down the road it stalled for the first time. I was going about thirty KmH. After we got it home, my Dad checked the code and it read as the throttle position sensor, so we replaced it. It stopped jerking around when shifting into new gears under load, but now it will not shift, and the check engine light is still on and still reading the TPS, so we got a new one, since I had read that sometimes the new ones come faulty. The engine light was still on. The other day I was driving in the parking lot and it stalled again, but this time I could not have been going more then ten KmH. It is only having an issue changing gears at around ninety KmH and when I am going up hills, and the RPM's just seem to be stuck at around 2,500 so it i's not red lining or anything. Any help would be appreciated!
Sunday, July 8th, 2018 AT 9:28 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
HARRY P
  • MECHANIC
  • 2,292 POSTS
Hello. When you installed the throttle position sensor, did you make absolutely sure that the arm on the sensor caught the pin in the throttle body? If not, that is what is causing most of your current issues (including your service engine light). The best way to install those sensors is to stick it into place, and then rotate it counter clockwise to get the screw holes to line up. This way, the arm is caught by the pin inside the throttle body. Go ahead and fix that, then see how it is and let us know. Good luck!
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Monday, July 9th, 2018 AT 3:09 AM
Tiny
COBE.REINBOLD
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Yeah, I just went and double checked and it is in correctly. My Dad works on cars quiet a bit, and we also took it to a shop that we know does good work and they had no idea what our issue could be, and they also double checked our work on the TPS.
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Monday, July 9th, 2018 AT 9:45 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,690 POSTS
The TPS can be a false code brought on by the engine stalling. I have seen a crankshaft angle sensor cause this issue even when there is not a code for it. Here is a guide to give you an idea of what you are in for when doing the job along with the location for your car below:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/crankshaft-angle-sensor-replacement

Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what happens.

Cheers, Ken
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Saturday, July 14th, 2018 AT 12:38 PM

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