The girl that bought my car said it stalled twice on her, once while she was parking and once while she was leaving. I've asked her all the normal questions, and I scanned for codes and all I got was code 12 meaning the ECM is functioning properly. It doesn't sound like a battery to me because it died while it was running, but she did say when she turned the key after it stalled, it didn't crank, but was fine after a minute or so. I cleaned the terminals at the battery. the conditions were as follows-

foot off gas and possibly on brake, wheels turned, blower off, radio on, lights on, underdrive pulleys, temperature was about 65 degrees outside.

Where would you look for the cause of this?

 

is it an 89 camaro? heh. Ive noted lots of 89's do that sort of thing. Mine does it. There are 2 possible things at play:
#1 starter. The part about not starting while hot? well a starter was needed to fix it here.
#2 Vapor lock. Ive noted when real hot, around city with accessories on and not moving much My car would just DIE. Then it wouldnt start back up immidiatelly... It was vapor locking! I bent the fuel lines away from the exhaust... problem solved!

Im not saying this is your problem, just giving you possible causes to look into.

 

It's a 92, but identical to an 89. My buddy has an 89 RS and his car did the stalling thing every once in a while- we replaced the fuel filter and so far so good. But the one on the 92 is fairly new. As far as the starter being the culprit, it wouldn't cause the motor to die while running, would it? But I do agree that the not even cranking part points to the starter. I like the vapor lock theory, I'll look into it. Thanks alot for the suggestions, hopefully I'll come out of this looking like a hero, instead of hearing "you sold me a f'd up car, etc".

 

Check the alternater to see if it is charging the system. Pull the neg battery cable and see if it still runs. Just a shot is the dark.

 

Could be ignition system related, like the ICM going out.

 

ok remember that a stock starter is very susceptable (susceptible? suskeptable?) to HEAT. After running the car for a while, the starters "little contact thingys" (whatchamacallems) will sort of expand in the selenoid and then you will not be able to crank the engine over. It doesnt take much driving time to do that to a 10 year old starter...

<b>As far as the starter being the culprit, it wouldn't cause the motor to die while running, would it?</b>
You wouldnt think so eh? Me either, until it happend to me. Im still not 100% on the vapor lock, but replacing the starter seemed to remove the problem entirelly... It had somthing to do with the wiring inside the starter giving some "feedback" to the ECM i think. Im not sure, I have no idea, And as far as im concerned, the starter did NOT cause the car to die. Its just that it <b> hasnt happened since I changed the starter </b> and thats nothing to scoff at.

Also, I just changed the starter about 2 weeks ago to remedy this problem, so maybe it will still die, but I will still be able to start it back up? Maybe I only fixed half my problem... I just havnt drove the car enough to figure it out yet?

And other people will tell you things like "its the neutral safety switch gone bad" or "get a remote selenoid for it" or "your ECM is going bad" Of course it could be any of those things, but I would look into the obvious first. Whatever THAT is.

 

could be the fuel filter and/or injectors are clogged causing engine to run lean and thus causing the starter to get heated from lean exhaust and stalling from vapor lock of exhaust heating the fuel.

Just throwing my $.02 in.

 

i had to replace my intake manifold on my lo3 and i didnt set the timing right. The car would sometimes just stop when i put it in reverse or slowed down like at traffic lights or when parking. Get a timing light and check it out. Hope it helps u.

 

I think it's a lean condition. It won't through a code unless it's REALLY bad like not going to run bad BUT when it gets close to that point the car will stall. Trust me, I had this problem.
I don't think it's vapor lock because I've never heard of TBI getting vapor lock, only carbs.
When an engine runs lean it'll run but when you shock it with some load it will stall. Putting it in gear, coming to a stop quick, turning your steering wheel at idle, a/c on, electrical drain at idle, etc. will all cause the IAC to open rather fast and the IAC is nothing more than a computer controlled vacuum leak. This vacuum leak will cause a stall. Yes the ecm has a built in "enrich" when IAC is opening BUT it usually isn't enough if fuel pressure is low or your BLM is pegged to it's upper limit.
The reason I don't think it's ignition OR electrical related is obvious; the ecm makes adjustments in fuel delivery depending on fuel pump volts and battery volts. If low batter the IAC tries to open some more (thinking it's electrical) yet you're running lean and cough, sputter, it stalls. Definatly check the fuel pressure under all driving conditions. It also might be too much base timing but I would have hoped you looked at that already and made sure it's not above 8. If not, that could also be the problem.
Good luck and keep us updated.

 

I thought I was the only one. Mine stalls once about every 200 miles. Normally after a good run of say 30 miles, and then I stop at some lights (in D, no accessories running), footbrake on, wait 30 seconds..stall. Re-starts immediately, no codes.

Really not that tiresome, so I'll leave well alone. (Had a new starter 2000 miles ago, major service, and plugs)

 

Timing is at +6 degrees, fuel pressure doesnt fall below 10 psi when it get warm with throttle open. When it's cold it'll be somewhere around 13psi. Car seems to run fine, beat a stang tonite. I have yet to check a couple of her plugs, but that seems like the next step. thanks for all the help

 

welcome to the mystery of the '89 LO3...

My '89 RS has done this same thing as long as I have owned it. Happens once every few months, usually during city driving while the engine is hot. I'll pull up to a stop and after 5-10 seconds of idle, the car will just die. Always starts right back up, then won't do it again for a few months. I've never considered the started thing, I may have to look at that one. I've always just thought it was an ECM glitch.