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1996 Oldsmobile 88 1SA 4dr Sedan -

1996 Oldsmobile 88
Trim Info:
Front Wheel Drive, 4 Door Sedan, Large Car
19 mpg city / 30 mpg hwy
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January 12, 2012, 10:11 am

Tileen P
 

Question: Why does my car stop while driving, it does not matter what speed I am driving.

My car stops, no matter what speed I am driving. The lights will come on, on the dash board and the motor shuts down and I can not move the stearing wheel after a few seconds. After the car has come to a complete stop. I will turn the key off and try to restart the car, must of the time it will start up right away, sometimes I will have to waite a while for it to start agan. This has happened on I-95 and in local traffice. Help


January 17, 2012, 11:53 am

Elizabeth K
Expert Mechanic

The most common causes of that problem are the crankshaft position sensor and the ignition module. Testing both before replacing is always best, but they will need to be metered and watched when you're driving around so they can be observed when the engine dies. This will require being monitored by a scan tool, but if you skip the step of testing them, you could easily be spending money on parts you don't need.

That is for the most common cases. Here is an article worth reading in case yours is an uncommon case--you can compare symptoms here:
http://www.oldsmobileforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11791


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