This is a V6 about 42,000 miles with power steering, brakes, windows, locks, a/c. When purchased in the spring it was checked over for mechanical operation, but not by a certified mechanic. The transmission had been rebuilt because the older lady owner messed it up. Unknown specifics. Then one day the car would just stop running, quit at any speed with the obvious loss of power. At first it was an occassional happening. It happened and then a few weeks later again, Then I tried driving the car, in town about 12 miles and then highway miles, after about 4 miles at 55 mph, the engine just shut off, nothing, I put it in Neutral and tried to restart, it acted like it was restarting but wouldn’t keep running. Coasted to a stop and after several attempts got it restarted. Checked for fuel line filters, didn’t see any, checked for gas cap venting, no rush of air after the car stopped, or at any time that I would remove the gas cap. I took it it to my brother-in-law, a certified mechanic, He checked it out at home and the engine quit twice while idling in his driveway. He thought it was probably the Crankshaft Position Sensor or the PCM. As the two had significantly different prices for the parts he was not comfortable telling me which part to try. He recomended I take it to a dealer. I took it to the garage I have used for 40 years and they came up with the same diagnoses, but didn’t really get any codes to come up. I took it to a Buick dealer, and on the way the engine quit at a stop sign and it took me about 5 minutes to get it to restart and keep running. Then it quit while I was driving at 35 mph but restarted after shifting into neutral, and a third time it quit. Again driving about 35 and I ended up coasting to the side of the street and it again took numerous attempts to get it to restart and keep running. Then I drove about 12 highway miles and into town and to the dealership without any further problems. The next day the dealer could not get it to act up, they went thru a tank of gas over three days of letting it run, on the third day it did quit but they did not get any codes. So, I told them to put the sensor on, then we found out there are two crankshaft sensors on this Buick. The third day after we got the car back, the engine quit again. It seems that when the engine quits there is a delay before the idiot lites on the gauge panel come on, maybe a little longer then you would expect, it is not an instantaneous response, but not being familiar with this vehicle I cannot be sure.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
For the symtoms you describe, the first suspects are the crankshaft position sensor or ignition module.
Tester
I agree with Tester, but I have to add, I did not read your post. Tester must have better eyes than I do. I just can’t read through those long messages without paragraph breaks.