1994 Pontiac Transport motor cuts out.

Tiny
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  • 1994 PONTIAC TRANSPORT
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 300,000 MILES
My van starts great and idles smoothly but started shutting off around 2500rpm a couple days ago. I've changed the fuel filter, wires, and plugs but it hasn't improved anything. Is is my fuel pump, sending unit, or possibly a crank or cam sensor?
Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 7:06 AM

10 Replies

Tiny
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Does it immediately start back up?
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 7:39 AM
Tiny
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Yes it does. It turns over in neutral while coasting to a stop but has never started unless put in park. Fires immediately, idles smoothly.
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 8:05 AM
Tiny
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Then it's going to be very difficult to find. Certain functions have to be monitored DURING THE FAILURE only. This will not be easy to accomplish. Simply throwing parts at it will only serve to empty your wallet.
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 8:09 AM
Tiny
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I appreciate the honesty and speed of your response but I don't know any other way than to elimate possibilites and hope for the best. I was going to buy a code reader but was told that since no check engine light is on I wouldn't learn anything from it. How can I monitor it while driving? Especially since it only runs up to around 2500 tops then quits? Any knowledge or educated guess would be great since right now we know jack.
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 8:16 AM
Tiny
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Believe me, these are issues that we deal with every day and it can be very difficult.

The things that need to be monitored are fuel pressure, spark and injector pulse. They have to be observed at the very moment it dies to see which one drops out first. There are ways for us to do this but you are not equipped for this. The possibilities are endless and expensive so throwing parts at it should not be an option. You can spend twice what the car is worth and still have the problem.
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 8:22 AM
Tiny
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Well sir, I thank you for your help but since I only have $1100.00 into it including a new windshield, fuel filter, winter wipers, plugs and wires, and minor crap I guess I'll have to gamble till I reach $2000.00. I got a great deal on it and for a Canadian vehicle it's otherwise in remarkable shape. I've ordered a rebuilt fuel pump/sending unit assembly for it so maybe say a prayer for me. Lol. If you're ever in Canada, you've got one person you can call anytime. Thanks for the response. How do I give you a top notch rating on this system?
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 8:36 AM
Tiny
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I have never heard of a "rebuilt" fuel pump and honestly, it really doesn't sound like a fuel pump issue. You would have more symptoms just before and just after the failure. I would be thinking more on the lines of Ignition Module, Engine Control Module, Crank sensor, etc but again, you don't have enough evidence in any direction to justify the expenditure.
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 8:42 AM
Tiny
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I wondered about the crank sensor, could they diagnose it if they plugged it in and killed it deliberately? I'm not averse to garages but London, Ontario is a hot bed of crappy shops and shoddy work. I had a thermostat and gasket done in my convertible and the thing blew up on me. Another shop did my rear brakes and they seized on the 403 and 70+mph. I've been avoiding them since. Wonder why? Thanks for helping. I meant refurbished and tested fuel setup. You get a 6 month warranty on used parts up here.
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 8:47 AM
Tiny
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I don't know how valuable that 6 month warranty would be to me since it requires removing the fuel tank to change the pump and they don't cover that and again, there is no such thing as refurbished. That's a fancy name to call a junkyard part that has been sitting in a scrapyard in stale fuel for what could be years.

There is no way to test a working crank sensor. It can only be tested during that split second when the engine dies so you see how hard this can be. Your trying to tackle something that some of the best techs around would struggle with because you simply can't fix what isn't broken and that is the condition whenever the tech would examine it.
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 8:55 AM
Tiny
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A gas tank I can do in my driveway. I guess there is no easy answer to this. Have to start somewhere, it'll be snowing here by the weekend so I'm pretty much screwed unless I get lucky. Thank you again for your time, think I'll get drunk now. Lol.
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Monday, November 8th, 2010 AT 9:03 AM

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