i have a '08 uplander. transmission & alternator installed within the last 6wks. battery purchased xmas 2010. car starts goes a few blocks then shuts down. any suggestions on alleviating this problem?
any codes?
Suggestions? None based on that description since you didn’t really describe anything specific.
This problem happens after you start the car. From cold only? What about after a hot restart? When you start the car at these times it runs perfectly well?
Then it goes a few blocks. Is the car all the way up to temperature at this point? E.g. how much time has elapsed since you started it? one minute? two? twenty?
Then it shuts down how and under what conditions? You’re tooling along at X mph and it completely and suddenly goes dead - maybe just leaving you with dash lights? Or you’re tooling along and it starts to spit and sputter and jerk and then finally stalls? Or you tool along just fine and the van is running great with no sign of a problem - until you come to a stop sign, so it stalls when you remove your foot from the gas pedal. And again, when it stalls it does it suddenly? Or after some spitting & sputtering?
So it is now shut down. Then what? You turn the key, its starts up and you go about your business the rest of the day? You can’t get it started again and call a tow truck? It starts but not easily? And then it runs how?
Is there a check engine light on when the car is running?
Anyway, there are 100 reasons a car won’t run. Describe exactly what is going on.
this has been occurig the last 6 wks. the car may run a mile or two before it quits. when it stops it asif i.ve run out of gas- though there is susficient gas in the tank. sometimes the car won’t even take a charge.
OK, the “shuts down”. What happens when you turn the key to restart it? Just a clicking sound? The starting motor turns over the engine very slowly, or normal. Does the motor sputter at all?
You’ve got to give much more specific information to get any kind of decent reply.
trying to restart the car sounds like its out of gas, then the battery goes down.
what kind of codes?
Obviously it needs to get to a shop to be properly diagnosed, but it sounds to me like a fuel pump on its last legs.
could the battery have a bad cell: or, could there be a problem with the voltage regulator?
peco411 - you has apparently missed this. Based on the information you have given, all we know is that your car stalls once in a while. That’s it. Until you describe everything that is going on & how it happens, in some degree of detail, the only thing anyone can do is blindly throw darts at a board.
It could be a battery or charging system problem - and that could become its own separate list of “could be…”
It could be a fuel problem - and that could be its own separate list…
It could be an ignition system problem - another list
It could be an IAC valve
It could be a crank sensor problem
It could be…
There’s no point in this if all you can do is type in 10 vague words at a time. Just take it to a shop.
anyone willing to take a shot at this? i just drive and i’m not mechnically inclined. i just spent $2,600 on transmission and alternator, and haven’t got 10 miles. no car no money.
You don’t have to be mechanically inclined to describe exactly what the car does and the conditions that make it happen. And until you do that all anyone can do is take pot shots. I’m telling you - there is no way for you to get anything definitive is all people know is that the car stalls.
when the car stalls it needs a jump to start. once started it runs fine for a short while then dies as if out of gas.
Charge the battery, start it up & connect your voltmeter to the battery. what is the reading? Should be around 14 volts.
“i just spent $2,600 on transmission and alternator, and haven’t got 10 miles.”
Go back to the shop a tell them you are having a problem with your vehicle that may be related to the work that was done. I don’t think you are going to fix this yourself.