PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

2002 Pontiac Bonneville SE

I just bought this car from a friend. She had a stalling and starting issue and ended up parking it after it just wouldn't start. Sat a year. So it started for me. Got the oil changed and other stuff that needed tending to from sitting. So this morning was the first time it acted up since I've put 60 miles on it. Got it and it was kinda cool out. Around 40 degrees. Took off and made it a half mile and the engine just shut off. Like keyed off. Stopped and tried to rdstart. No crank. Fiddled with the for a few seconds and it started then died. Took a few more times to get it to roll over. No clicking when not rolling. Died two more times in a half mile more then was fine. It even stopped rolling over while I just started cranking. MAF sensor is bad but I cannot keep it from rolling over and shouldn't die like a key off. Any ideas? I'm stumped. First GM product I've owned. Have a feeling it has to do with the security system of GMs?

save yourself a lot of time and trouble. the first thing you should do Is replace the crank shaft position sender its a 20$ part and about an hour of easy work. happened to me I was stalling while moving stalling when stopped, and it would never start RIGHT back up but it would eventually start up. I went to a bunch of mechanice and swapped out my icm plugs wires etc and nothing helped

GOOD OL' CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR.

plus one on the CPS...

Had exactly the same problems on a LeSabre with the 3800 engine.
Took months to finally nail down the cause..
CPS.

Good luck,

MW

MAF sensor can definitely make it die like a key off. Mine did exactly that when the MAF was bad, it would drive like normal, and then turn off just like I pulled the key out. When you say it doesn't crank or turn over, do you mean when you turn the key the engine isn't turning over at all? Like if you had a dead battery? While I'm leaning towards maf and crank sensor piggy backing for your issue, if it's not turning over at all sometimes, that would make me think something electrical, or with passkey.

Are you getting any codes/have gotten any read yet? Sometimes they'll trigger a code in the pcm and not throw a check engine light.

Unplug MAF Sensor, and drive/run car.
If it runs better, replace the MAF. Grab a good used one from Harofreak here on this site, or your local parts yard.
If no change, reconnect MAF and install CPS as suggested.

That is what I did, and car ran fine for years after.

MW

When it dies it is followed with a no crank issue meaning the engine does that roll over. There is no click of the solenioddash or anything. All the dash lights some on though like normal. MAF and CPS failure should still have the car roll over right? Codes are P0102 and P0449. I knoe the MAF sensor is bad. Waiting until payday to get one.

Yep, even with a bad MAF and crank sensor, the car should roll over. With the MAF, it would likely crank and then die pretty quick, with the CPS it would likely take a long time to crank, and may die during driving, which if it did, you would see the RPMs drop to 0 before it died - that's the PCM losing crank signal.


To me, it almost sounds more like an electrical issue, since it has time of not cranking over at all. If it was a sensor, it would definitely still turn over, unless your battery is dying.


The P0102 is for your MAF, try cleaning it with some CRC MAF cleaner before you replace it, it could just be dirty.
The P0449 is an EVAP code, usually the evap solenoid or a vent valve. That still shouldn't be causing your issue with the stalling though, unless you had a vacuum leak bad enough, but then that wouldn't explain the no crank.

Do you have a security light flashing on the dash when you try to crank it and it does nothing?

I am waiting for it to act up again to see if it does come on. I am thinking it is security thing because that is the only thing thay can interrupt the starter right?

Have you checked the battery terminals to make sure they are clean and tight. How old is the battery?

I had this problem almost as soon as I received my 2000 Bonneville. I would be driving down the street and then the car would just die. All of the lights and gauges would go crazy for a few seconds and then the power would be out and I would have to coast to the side of the road or into the nearest drive way. It happened once on the high way on an elevated portion where it was really scary. It seemed that all I would do was fuss with the battery terminals and it would come back on. Sometimes it needed a little jump. The first time it happened, I bought a new battery, but it kept on happening. It seems to mainly happen in the rainy season. I have read many reports online about this and people going through many different fixes only to have the problem return. The battery cables always seemed to be a little loose when the problem arose.

I finally had the last straw a few months ago when I took it to a repair garage, where it also died on the spot and would restart and then die again, and they said that the terminal and cables were just a little dirty, but the car was fine. That same day, after it was "Fixed", it died again, in the middle of an expressway, and then restarted after a few minutes of fussing with the battery connections. That night, my friend, who is very good with cars, decided to look at it. We checked out the cables and the bolt used to hold them on and realized that the bolt was not very long and that there was space between the metal connectors when the whole connector was assembled.

From this, we deducted a few things; 1. Moisture gets into these spaces and causes rust to form. 2. Because of these spaces the electricity would arc between the cables and eat away the metal. 3. The bolt itself, which was very eaten away, was too short and only screwed in the battery about the length of a pinky finger nail or less when fully tightened down.

The auto parts supply did not have any longer bolts. The one I had was already as long as the longest one that they had. I had previously replaced the stock one with an identical one when the problem first arose.

we used a longer bolt that my friend had in his garage. It was not made as an automotive accessory, but it fit and worked. It went all the way in to the battery terminal and was very firm. We also took metal washers and put them between the cable connections and the bolt to make it a solid fit without gaps between the spaces.

It has been a while and there have been some rainy weather and the car has not died yet.

I am hoping that this helps some people and saves them some money.


Albeit, I am posting this now, I did have another problem arise yesterday, but not with power loss or battery trouble. I think it is a transmission or sensor problem causing the check engine light to come on after a very much more than three point turn in a parking situation. It could be a "Hey this guy is broke and unemployed, so lets make him stress out problem" that has been sent from the fates. I will find another thread for the new issue.

Battery and cables are good. Drove it a few miles today then parked it. Hour later it won't crank. Everything lights up the when you turn the key lights go off and nothing. Are the dashlights and gauges supposed to go off ehile cranking? I don't recall. Anyways just kept turning the key many of times and a couple times it tried but I was turning the key fast so I stopped it. No new codes. Key switch?

Did you happen to see if the security light is flashing when it won't turn over?

No light flashing... kinda confused.

Started aftersitting yesterday. Drove it fine. Go out this morning and go to start it and I didn't roll it over wuite enough to start and then it wouldn't roll over. Is it possible to be the key switch? Could it cause the car to just turn off without turning the other electrical off?

I know you said the battery is good but did you fully charge it, remove it, and take it to a shop for a load test?

This may be a long shot, but is worth checking as it sounds similar to what 2000SilverBullet experienced years ago. IIRC, they found that the underhood fuse block got quite warm during the problem. The IGN1 fuse was not making good contact. Pushing the terminals in the fuse block together and putting a slight twist to the fuse legs solved the problem.

I would also check the ignition switch just to make sure that is not acting up.

I had to replace a ignition switch in a 2000 regal. Guy told me about his truck that was acting like mine that ended up being ignition switch. Broke at the time I got one at a junk hard for $5. Car would stall before that not start,Gage's & dash lights acted strange.

Okay the dying of the car is separate I think. Just the MAF sensor. I am thinking the starter now. The relay under the hood clicks. I guess I didn't fully understand the starter system on this car. So from the relay it goes to the solenoid right? I am going to replace the starter I think. Cannot see the battery being back seeing it starts right up just fine when it does?

Can the crankshaft sensor cause it to not roll over?