On 7/26 I posted the problem described below. On 8/4 I took the car into the Pontiac dealer for diagnosis and repair and he found a chaffed wire bundle. The dealer did not define exactly which wire bundle was defective but the speed with which he located and repaired the problem leads me to believe there was a service bulletin already out on this problem. However, I have not been able to confirm that.
Problem Description
I have recently experienced the following problems with my 2000 Gran Prix which is equipped with a 3800 Series II engine:
- Instantaneous engine shutdown ( or momentary stalling) while travelling at speeds greater than 35 mph.
- Tachometer periodically drops to zero even though the engine is still running.
- The "Trac Off" light comes on intermittently.
- Check Engine light is illuminated
For condition 1. above the transmission can be shifted to neutral and the engine can be restarted immediately.
For conditions 2. and 3., shutting down the engine and restarting usually resolves the problem.
Occassionally , the trac off light goes out only after being parked overnight.
These conditions don't always happen at the same time but on occassion all of them have occurred simultaneously.
Question:
Has anyone else experienced this problem and if so, what was the solution? On the surface it appears to be an intermittent computer failure but I am not sure all three conditions are controlled by the same computer.
Ray