I put this in the tech/general engine forum and didn't get any answers, so I figured I'd ask my question in here too...

I took my Camaro out for a cruise today for the first time in 2 weeks. I drove it around town for about a half hour and it ran fine. Then I came to a stop light on my way home and I started smelling a real strong gas smell. When the light turned green I went to give it gas and it bogged down almost to where the car wasn't moving at all. I let up off the gas and the car started running normal, so I gave it gas again and it ran fine. I took it through a couple of stop signs and then all of a sudden it started bogging down again to the point where it was creeping down the road about 1 mile an hour. Luckily I was only about 2 blocks from my house. Just as I was turning into my drive way it died all together. I tried to start it about 3 or 4 more times and it would run for a second and then stall. I let it sit about 2 or 3 minutes and then it started up fine and I was able to pull it into the garage like nothing even happened. When it stalled it threw up the "service engine soon" light. Would this be some sort of sensor problem or something a bit more serious?

 

well since the SES light has come on there obviously is something wrong and the car knows it. get someone to scan the car and see what code it is throwing... thats about all anyone can tell you.

if you have a voltmeter ohm the injectors and see what you find, it sounds like you have shorted injectors

 

If the problem is shorted injectors will the bogging and stalling happen every time I run the car, or will it come and go?

I let the car sit for a couple of hours and I went out and started it up and it started up just fine and ran with out stalling. I backed it out of the garage and all the way to the end of the drive way and drove it back into the garage. It didn't bog when I stepped on the gas pedal. I'll probably take it out and drive it around the neighborhood within the next couple of days, just to see how it does.

 

shorted injectors can run fine when the motor is cold and then act up once the motor is hot

 

Well, yesterday I pulled the car out of the garage and pulled it all the way to the end of the drive way. I let the car sit there and idle till it got hot enough for the fans to kick on. It got up between the 220 mark and the red line. The car never stalled at all. I pulled it up to the entrance of my garage, then put it in reverse and pulled all the way to the end of the drive way. I did this a few times and it never bogged down or anything. I was afraid to take it out on the road for fear that it would quit on me again. The car ran fine just like it always has.

Today I took it out on the road and drove it around the neighborhood for about 10 minutes. I live close to city limits so I took it out on some country roads and drove around some country roads where I could get the rpms up a little higher. The temp gauge only read around 200 or so. The car ran just fine. I'm really wondering if this is something that I should worry about or if I should just chalk it up as a fluke occurrence.


Should I still assume that something is wrong or should I chalk what happened the other day as a fluke?

 

only thing i can tell you that will be useful to you, is to go get your car scanned. even if the SES light isnt currently on, the code that was there at one point will still be stored in the computer so you will get a idea where to look at.

 

Well, I scanned my car myself using the paper clip method, but all I got was a code 12 over and over. I know for a fact that the SES came on the other day. I've had the car for over a year and it's came on other times too. I wonder why nothing showed up? Is there anyway to clear the memory?

 

constant flasing 12 means no codes stored. Did the SES light come on when the engine died? if so that what its supposed to do. I would have the ignition module checked and maybe a tune up.

 

Yep, as soon as the engine died out the SES came on, but there's been other times when I've been driving and the SES came on and stayed on, so wouldn't those codes still be stored? I did put a new battery in the car after I took it out of storage for the winter, so would unhooking the battery clear it out?

 

yes, disconnecting the battery will erase any stored codes.

 

That explains it then. At least I know how to scan for codes the next time it comes on!