Help! Driving to work, got about 15 miles from home and
humming just along and without warning the car just dies and the check engine light lit up, I pullover to the side of the road and turn the ignition off. I waited a few minutes and tried to start. The car would crank but not start.
finally got a tow back to the dealer. Just before I was leaving I decieded to try and start car again. It started right up like
nothing had ever happened. I was baffled. I let the car sit in idle just to see if it would die again, but it stayed on. So I drove the car home crossing my fingers and it made with no problems.
Has anyone had this type of problem? My car has 133,000 oringinal miles, I used to drive it everyday but now once or twice a week.

 

Did you have spark when it died on you? Did you notice the tach when you were cranking it... did it sit at 0 or bounce like normal... if it was at 0 good chance it was an ignition problem.

If there was no spark or the tach stayed at 0, I would look under the distributor cap...

I would check the Pickup coil in the distributor, look for any cracks or anything... Might be a good idea to replace it regardless. Also could be the ignition module. I had one go out on me, no warning or anything, just driving along, all the sudden it backfired and died, that was it, wouldn't start even after it cooled off.

If you do decide to replace the Ignition Module, go with a GM/Ac Delco, the one that went out on me was an aftermarket, and I also heard other people have had aftermarket modules just go out.

 

Thanks I'll check those out.

 

As far as spark goes It was dark and I didn't look.
I could see the oil pressure needle move, The Car would
crank perfectly, but not fire up.

 

yeah i would go with a pick up coil cause mine did the samething. after i let it cool down it started up again and then after it got hot it died. the pick up coil was messed up. seem like water got in there and jack it up.

 

Quick question,
where is the pickup coil located on my 91 firebird
3.1 V6 and how do I change it, also who carries
this part, Autozone,Kragen etc.?
Sorry I'm not a mechanic.

 

im not sure but on my v8 camaro it is located in my distribuator. and yes kragen should sell it.

 

Happens all the time. In fact, it happens to me about every 150,000 miles or so. It's getting to be a habit. These things just don't last very long.

It's probably the ignition module. The pickup coil rarely fails suddenyl like that; usually it gives some kind of waring. The module, however, will just decide to retire one day, out of the clear blue.