2004 Oldsmobile Alero Engine Dies While Driving Sometime

Reader Question
I drive a 2004 Oldsmobile Alero and sometimes it does good driving, but twice so far when I was driving it, it shut itself down completely.

I took it to the dealer and they replaced the anti-theft system in may when it shut down the first time. after that was replaced they said that they could not find anything else possibly wrong with it and sent me home with it.

It went well since then, but today I had only gotten 200 feet from my house and it shut down again. i pushed it into a nearby driveway and i started back up.

I don’t know a lot about cars but I do know that it shouldn’t shut itself off. could you possibly tell me what is wrong with it?

Hey there

These types of intermittent problems are a nightmare to diagnose. This could be MANY things, a few items that tend to fail more often that others and that can produce the symptom you have are:

1. bad crankshaft position sensor
2. bad camshaft position sensor
3. bad fuel pump
4. bad ignition coil/module
5. bad ignition switch

Catching this problem in the act with some test equipment hooked up is going to be the real challenge. Testing the items I listed above when the car is running normally will not be a good test…as they will test OK.

You might want to ask your mechanic to read your on board computer codes to see if any negative information was stored during the last cut off…there may or may not be any data to report but it would be a good starting point.

I would also get someone to bang on the bottom of the fuel tank with their fist or rubber hammer AS you crank the engine over. This can sometimes jump start a weak fuel pump. you should also hear a high pitched whine noise coming from the fuel tank when you turn the ignition key to the ON position. If you don’t hear that noise the fuel pump located in the fuel tank might not be working At least you could rule out one of the items above.

Blessings,

Austin Davis