Car trouble this morning...any ideas?

[mcurphy]

I have a 2001 Buick LeSabre with about 110k miles on it. It is kept in the garage, and I filled it up with a full tank of gas last night. It started up just fine this morning, as it always does, and I let it run for a couple minutes before backing out of the driveway. I got about two houses down the block and it shut off on me. It starts right back up, but then it shuts off after a second or so.

Any idea what the problem could be? It is about 10 degrees outside this morning, but as I said, the car is garage kept and it has always started up just fine even when it was 20-30 below zero just a week or so ago. Could it be a partially frozen line? A Fuel injection problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a local mechanic that I can have look at it, but I'd like a little more info before I give him a call. If it is possibly just a frozen fuel line, then I can have my wife dump some heat in it, and try starting it again this afternoon.

 

[Squeetard]

Is your garage heated?

 

[mcurphy]

Is your garage heated?

The garage is not heated, but it is attached to the house, and it is quite a bit warmer than the outside temp. My wife just called me and said she got the car started and running, but it shut off again when she tried to put it in gear.

I told her to try again, and to just let it idle for 30 minutes or more if she can get it running again. I am afraid now that she is going to kill the battery if it doesn't run. :/

 

[JCH13]

Sounds like it could be a frozen fuel line, especially since it only happened after you left the relatively warm garage.

Stalling when it goes into gear may also fit, if you're fuel-starved, the extra load from going into gear might have stalled the motor.

How did it act when it died? Was it an immediate cut? Or did it cough, sputter, and try really really hard to keep running?

 

[mcurphy]

Sounds like it could be a frozen fuel line, especially since it only happened after you left the relatively warm garage.

Stalling when it goes into gear may also fit, if you're fuel-starved, the extra load from going into gear might have stalled the motor.

How did it act when it died? Was it an immediate cut? Or did it cough, sputter, and try really really hard to keep running?

When it first died this morning, it just died, one minute the car was running, the next it was off. Same thing when I restarted it and it ran for a second or two and then just died. Not sure what happened when it died recently with my wife. I'm at work and she didn't specify anything when I talked to her on the phone.

She was unable to get it running again...the battery is now dead! Ugh. I called a tow truck, so now I'm just waiting for the shop to diagnose it and call me back.

 

[RLGL]

Put a scan tool on it

 

[Vetterin]

You got water in your gas! Pour a bottle of HEET into the tank.

 

[mcurphy]

I just talked to my mechanic. He hooked it up today and the MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensor is failing. Sounds like it is an easy fix at a reasonable cost.

 

[dud]

I just talked to my mechanic. He hooked it up today and the MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensor is failing. Sounds like it is an easy fix at a reasonable cost.

Thatsounds very reasonable. I pulled what follows off a car repair website. Check out the last bullet:

"Symptoms of a Faulty Manifold Pressure Sensor

A faulty manifold pressure sensor has symptoms that closely resemble a vehicle with injector problems or low compression problems. Here are some of the most common symptoms associated with a faulty manifold pressure sensor:

•A rich or lean fuel mixture. You may notice a gas smell after the engine has warmed up. The engine will knock or ping at times for no apparent reason
•Excessive fuel consumption
•A rough idle
•Hesitation or slight jerking during acceleration, or when putting the vehicle into drive
•The vehicle stalls or dies immediately after you try to give the engine gas to start the car moving"

 

[tracerbullet]

FWIW, my opinion as a MN resident but not a car expert, is that 10 degrees isn't cold enough to worry about frozen fuel lines, and that generally speaking there's enough ethanol in the gas especially during the winter that water isn't much concern either, barring specific unusual issues of course.

Glad you figured it out, but FYI for future consideration.

 

[mcurphy]

FWIW, my opinion as a MN resident but not a car expert, is that 10 degrees isn't cold enough to worry about frozen fuel lines, and that generally speaking there's enough ethanol in the gas especially during the winter that water isn't much concern either, barring specific unusual issues of course.

Glad you figured it out, but FYI for future consideration.

Yeah, I really didn't think it was frozen fuel lines, but it had some of the symptoms. It was 20-30 below zero with wind chill here last week and I had no problems at all with the car. 10 above is like a heat wave!

Thatsounds very reasonable. I pulled what follows off a car repair website. Check out the last bullet:

"Symptoms of a Faulty Manifold Pressure Sensor

A faulty manifold pressure sensor has symptoms that closely resemble a vehicle with injector problems or low compression problems. Here are some of the most common symptoms associated with a faulty manifold pressure sensor:

•A rich or lean fuel mixture. You may notice a gas smell after the engine has warmed up. The engine will knock or ping at times for no apparent reason
•Excessive fuel consumption
•A rough idle
•Hesitation or slight jerking during acceleration, or when putting the vehicle into drive
•The vehicle stalls or dies immediately after you try to give the engine gas to start the car moving"

Thanks for posting! Some good info here, and my car did have some of these symptoms. Mechanic said it is fixed and good to go!