Now my car wont stay running

[nascarnate326]

Suddenly my car (99 se2 4door v6) will not stay running. When i start the car it seems to start, it will stay running for 2 seconds and then it dies. It will do this consistantly. We had problems with this on sat but eventually it started up. Its not passlock, the fuel pump appears to be running fine though i cant be for sure, it had spark plugs changed 10k ago, oil filter changed last nite, has 2k left before oil change if that would matter. My dads freind hooked it up to a computer and its putting out no codes. Oil sending unit? Fuel filter? I know neither of those have been changed recently. Please help. Dads on his way to try and tow it. Thanks

[Hurricane]

Try putting some gas in it. It wouldn't be the first GA to have the fuel guage sending unit fail.

[coupe]

That would be my first guess.
Your positive your security light isnt blinking?

[nascarnate326]

its got 3/4 of a tank. Yes i know its not security(passlock) because passlock wont let the car start at all. The car starts, it just will not stay running longer then 2 seconds. After the 160th try (not joking) it started and i drove it home. Put it in the garage, and shut it off. Starts up fine now. Seems when ever its cold it doesnt like to start. I know, this sounds crazy but it is.

[nascarnate326]

Fuel gauge sending unit, thats just the thing that says how much you have right?

[lone_wolf025]

Fuel gauge sending unit often consists of a float in the tank attached to a variable resistor and the voltage signal recieved determines the position of the gauge. Keep in mind this is a general set up and may not be specific to the Grand Am.

[nascarnate326]

So that doesnt have anything to do with the sending of fuel to the motor.
I just really hate this car right now.

[lone_wolf025]

No but it means that if the unit is messed up then the fuel gauge might read 3/4 when its running on fumes (just an example). I wonder if your crank sensor is bad. If that's the case the car wouldn't want to start and wouldn't run either. I'd say its worth a shot to at least check out...I dunno the exact location (I gotta get me a manual for this car) but its probably up by the harmonic balancer. Check it out make sure the connection is tight, maybe blow some compressed air over it or something. If that don't work turn the key to the on position in a quiet closed garage and listen for the pump and/or check the schraeder valve on the fuel rail to see if you even have pressure. If you hear the pump and fuel squirts out of the valve when you check it then it's probably something to do with the computer/spark. Check em out see what happens and assuming you reset the trip meter at every fill up see if your trip miles back up what the fuel gauge says.

[nascarnate326]

Ya it must be something electrical/computer. When I turn the key to on, the car makes a whineing noise that is the fuel pump for a few seconds. my question, is do your fuel pumps stop after a while, or do they just keep running as long as the key is to the on postion? Mine stops after 3-4 seconds. Any idea what in the computer could be making it do this? Could it be a fuse/relay?

[lone_wolf025]

The fuel pump won't run for more than a few seconds when turning the key to on. Why have the pump run if the fuel isn't being consumed? Regardless its supposed to turn off after a few seconds.

Ok so the pump is getting voltage and turning. Did you check the schraeder valve on the fuel line? It looks like the threaded portion of a tire valve stem. After the pump has run for its few seconds try pushing in the stem of the valve lightly to see if fuel squirts out. If it does you're getting pressure on the rail at least. As for spark that you really need a spark tester for just to be safe. I dunno where you can get one but do NOT pull off a plug wire and watch it arc to the engine...its a bad idea. If you have an additional regular wire with enough length you can run it to the battery ground from the plug wire and watch for arc. If you got fuel and spark something else is amiss. If no spark it could be the crank sensor.

[nascarnate326]

Just returned the spark tester. Orange with a hint of blue. Spark dies with teh motor, it doesnt stop before the motors off. my dad was playing with the ingition switch (thing the key goes into) and he said it pushed hard. squirted some wd40 in there and he said it started up for him. this thing is so random i hate it. time to get my saturn. I hope he wd40 didnt mess up the key swtich. Going to get some cheap front tires tommrow. Now lets see if it starts in teh morning. If it doesnt ill try your fuel rail thing. I think its getting fuel because it starts and runs, just for 2-3 seconds. Something electral. here at my house we are clueless when it comes to electrical. Thanks lonewolf for helpin me out, i appricate it alot.

[lone_wolf025]

WD-40 probably won't hurt anything. There are better things to use but no big deal. Anywho you're welcome for the help. I hope things work out better for ya.

-Edit-

If you still have problems keeping it running in the morning look into borrowing a fuel pressure tester so you can do a volume test on the pump. IIRC it should be able to do something near a liter in 30 seconds or less.

[BTarb24]

I have the exact same problem right now. Car will try to turn over and then on rare occasions it will start and run as if nothing was ever wrong. I get spark on all 6 and when i pulled plugs i could smell fuel on them.

Did you ever find out what was wrong?

[GTKnightRider]

try checking for a vac*** leak.

[BTarb24]

other than listening or feeling for air, i'm not sure how i would test that. the car does start on occasions and will run fine.

any pointers towards testing for a vacuum leak?

[Jetway]

I can say that my car has done that for quite a while now. I'm just now at 95k, and I cleaned the fuel system, and it seemed to help. However, it doesn't make any sense to me. It doesn't do it near as often anymore, although, I may have gotten in the habit of giving it just a little bit of gas to keep it from stalling. I haven't the slightest clue as to what it could be.

[BTarb24]

well, after doing the passlock reset my car has ran fine. I guess that was the problem, though i expect it will come back eventually.

[Jetway]

I know the passlock was somewhat involved with the stock radio. I haven't had the stock radio in for years. How would I reset the passlock just to try it?

[BTarb24]

there are lots of threads on it if you wanted to do a search. The gist is to leave the key in the ON position for 10+minutes and it resets the system.

[Amber99ga]

Originally Posted by nascarnate326

its got 3/4 of a tank. Yes i know its not security(passlock) because passlock wont let the car start at all. The car starts, it just will not stay running longer then 2 seconds. After the 160th try (not joking) it started and i drove it home. Put it in the garage, and shut it off. Starts up fine now. Seems when ever its cold it doesnt like to start. I know, this sounds crazy but it is.

my truck did the exact same thing to me a few weeks ago, I was driving home passing a car on the way up a hill (4 lanes here) and my truck just stalled out on me...try and restart it and it would run for 2 secconds then die, did this like 20 times before I gave up. Tony had to come rescue me and got it started & staying running by giving it tons of gas and revving it up for a little bit. Took it to the shop they coundn't find a single thing wrong with it, and I haven't had the problem since...

I wonder if something just got clogged up in the fuel line somewhere or what...I was afraid to drive it for a few days but hasnt did anything since that one incident???