This is for my dad and I figured id give this a shot first before he blows a shitload of cash on nothing you know? Anyways he drives a 99 Buick Lesabre with 145,xxxmiles on it. The other day hes cruising through buffalo and comes to a light and his car dies. He throws it in park and starts right up, drives off shrugs his shoulders to it. Two days later hes coming off the thruway and has to slow down for the tolls and his car dies again killing his power strearing and almost gets killed. stops the car puts it in park starts right up again. Later that day happens again at a light when he goes takes his foot off the gas and presses the brake. Now he tells me that he got it to where if he takes off his foot from the accelorator the RPM gage goes down dramatically and the power basically shuts down in his car. as long as he gently touches the gas pedal as he brakes the RPM gauge goes down like normal. than once to a complete stop he can let go of the accelorator pedal and let it idle like normal without stalling. He also tells me if happens when hes going around curves like turning left or right onto a street. I think its a vaccuum problem. He thinks its a tranny problem since the car is older with high milage. (he also claims the tranny slips from time to time). I tell him the two arent really connected! Help me prove him wrong! Its probably something with a vaccum leak or something right? Thanks Guys!
I drive this thing once in a while and I feel like an old man cruising this thing as a sidenote!
I would check Coil pack first. That is typical on the older 3800s. Hesitation could also be plugs or wires. Get a tune up afterwards but my money is on the pack.
Power steering loss at engine cut-off…could be due to the coil pack cutting out. Same with the “wanting to die” while braking issue.
For some reason these larger motors burn the shit out of those packs. No wait, it is becuase they are in a bad spot and get sprayed with water, dirt, salt, blood from running over animals, etc…and over time basically errodes away to nothing.
had a pack go back in my probe. would happen anywhere. even once on the 190 near the skyway with no where to pull over. after a few minutes of it cooling down, it would fire right back up like nothing happened.
You mentioned “put it in park” over and over, as if he kept saying that. If the car stalls and is in Drive, it won’t start due to safety systems built into the car. It has to be in Park to start up.
It definitely isn’t a transmission issue. 100% positive on that.
If it was a trans problem (light the torque converter staying locked) lightly feathering the gas as he stops wouldn’t prevent it from stalling. If he really wants to prove it shift into neutral when stopping and see if it still dies. I suppose that’s not 100% proof since the lack of a slight load might be enough to keep it running.
I’m will BDR though… MAF. Check engine light on? Even if it’s not scan it and see if there are any pending codes.
Check the MAF first. is it idling rough? With it idling, if you unplug the MAF sensor and the idle gets better, chances are a faulty MAF.
Also, I would check the battery cables. They tend to get corroded at the ends by the battery and cause intermittent problems. To test it, with the car running, try moving the cables around a little bit (careful of the belt right there.)
I had the same issue with my taurus. Would stall at most stops and would almost die going around sharp turns. I would have to keep my foot on the gas slightly at stops to keep it from stalling.
Threw a code eventually of fuel rail pressure sensor low pressure.
Scoured the ford forums and took their advice.
I changed the fuel filter and the intank fuel pump and the problem is gone.
I know it’s not the same vehicle but it sounds like a fuel delivery problem.
Would be better if you had a code that gave you some direction.
thanks for all the replies. to answer everyones questions: Last Tune up was about 1 1/2 year ago. included new wires and plugs. check engine light has been on for a bit of time i guess. hes going to run it over to advance auto to see if the codes thrown out are the MAF sensor. checked battery cabes and they are clean. i think he said something about the fuel rail a while ago but not sure like he needed to get that fixed but hasent yet. it does stay running when in neutral, just jumpy when idling. Ill take this info back to him and tell him to tell this crap to his mechanic. Thanks again everyone!
I have this same problem with my stratus… Drive on the highway, car heats up, then when I come to a stop… (tolls, exit ramp…) I would lose all power. I was told the PCM was heating up and losing connection…
Sounds like MAF or IAC. To me it doesn’t sound anything like a coil pack. There are 3 coil packs on that car so if 1 were going bad the car would have a bad misfire, not die on decel. I’d have someone check the codes and go from there. Good luck, keep us posted. :tup: