Couple of minutes and the car will then crank, start and immediately stall - crank position sensor?

KATHYJACKSON

MEMBER
2004 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
95,000 MILES

Since I purchased the car 2 years ago, the car has just died while driving down the road or will not start in the morning. No codes are showing up. I have had the O2 sensor, , fuel pump, the wire ends for the starter, and battery replaced. Occasionally, the car will "hiccup" (RPM's drop to 0 the go back to normal) driving down the road. Within a week after a hiccup, the car will just die while driving. The car has died at highway speeds and slow speeds, hot & cold days. When the car dies it just dies-it's like the key was just shut off. When I try to restart, the car will usually not crank. I wait for a couple of minutes and the car will then crank, start and immediately stall. I wait a few more minutes and the car will crank and start. We have had 4 dealerships look at the car, but no one has been able to find the problem for sure. Every time something is replaced, they say the problem should be fixed. Lately, the problem has been happening on a regular basis.

2 Replies

2CARPRO JACK

MECHANIC
11,533 POSTS

After it dies, when it wont crank, check for 12 volts at the small starter wire. This could be an ignition switch that is losing contact internally and has to cool back down to regain it. High resistance in a bad switch can do this. Any aftermarket electronics (car alarm)? If so remove them first, just to eliminate them as any possibility here is the crankshaft angle sensor replacement instructions. Check out the diagrams (Below). Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem.

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