98 Bonnie shuts off while driving. sometimes. PLEASE HELP.

[chevrolet.power.420]

just havent had a chance to make it to the junkyard. when i do i will let yall know if that solves the issue. thanks!

[chevrolet.power.420]

okay, seems as if i fixed the problem. lately the stalling got much more persistent, wouldnt go anywhere without getting at least a CEL with the p0102 code. today i replaced the plug for it. didnt change a thing. cut one off a bonnie at a local scrap yard and cut mine off and wired it in its place. big fail. then i went to another local scrapyard. found a MAF off a 98 bonnie still hooked up and in place. (this wasnt an easy find). well long story short i threw it in while still in the parking lot there. no stalling since. no CEL. it SEEMS as if all the symptoms are gone. hopefully it wasnt "just having a good night" hopefully it is actually fixed this time. wish me luck. will post a reply in a few days on the status. (or tomorrow if it wants to act a fool)

a big thanks to anyone who read or replied to my post. i have been absolutely at my whits end with this car. i want to keep it so badly, but the chances were slim if i didnt figure it out soon.

Bonnie lives on!

[chevrolet.power.420]

Update. Today i put,at minimum, 100 niles on Bonnie. No problems whatsoever. Minus the minor hesitation here and there on takeoff, directly resulting from the dire need of a tune-up.

Side question, do all bonnevilles of this generation hate bumpy roads? Seems like the smaller bumps even really mess up the ride quality. Maybe i need suspensoon parts. Maybe they just dont like bumps? Idk.

[MKMike]

Glad you posted an update and that the second MAF solved the problem.

My 98 SE is fine on bumpy roads.
Your car most likely needs some steering or suspension parts.

[chevrolet.power.420]

Got quite a bit better on the bumps with new properly inflated tires. Still needs something for suure. Still no stallibg.

[MKMike]

Here are a couple of decent videos on checking steering and suspension components
This is KYB's how to check shocks and struts video (skip the first 2 1/2 minutes to get to the how to check parts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiW0ISi8N-w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgEV85Bti0E is AutoZone's steering component check

[chevrolet.power.420]

Thanks will look into that tonight when im home. Currently tuning my sub and amp. Priorities ya know. Hahaha

[StraTact]

You may be incorrectly testing your Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor if you follow the instructions above, especially for an AC Delco MAF.

Before you go testing any MAF sensor, you should determine which type you have. There are two MAF types, a hot wire MAF and a hot film MAF. The following two paragraphs briefly describe the different voltage outputs you should expect for these sensors:

"The hot wire version, which Bosch introduced back in '79 on its LH-Jetronic fuel injection systems and is used on a number of multiport systems including GM's 5.0L and 5.7L Tuned Port Injection (TPI) engines, generates an analog voltage signal that varies from 0 to 5 volts. Output at idle is usually 0.4 to 0.8 volts increasing up to 4.5 to 5.0 volts at wide open throttle.

The hot film MAFs, which AC Delco introduced in '84 on the Buick turbo V6 and have since used on the 2.8, 3.0 and 3.8L V6 engines, produce a square wave variable frequency output. The frequency range varies from 30 to 150 Hz, with 30 Hz being average for idle and 150 Hz for wide open throttle."

Note that for a hot film type MAF, the amplitude of its output square wave should always be about 5 volts, and a DVM set to measure DC volts will show its average value of about 2.5 volts, at any throttle setting, which is correct but doesn't tell you if the MAF is faulty unless it always reads some value significantly different from 2.5 volts. To correctly test a hot film type MAF, you would need an oscilloscope or "Hertz enabled DVM."

More detail about the above information can be found at http://www.aa1car.com/library/maf_sensors.htm

How do you test both of these these types of MAFs? The detailed test procedures can be found at http://easyautodiagnostics.com/gm/3.8L/ ... ic-tests-1

Have fun testing!