Car Keeps Dying

[Small_mind]

OK, the mechanic says that they can not find anything wrong with the car but it has left me on the side of the road twice because of this so far.

What happens is I'm going down the road and all of a sudden the tach spins around to 0rpm and it feels like I turned off the car. The lights, radio, etc. stay on but the motor is
shut off.

Once I make it to the side of the road, if I try to start the car back up it sputters and refuses to crank. I can sit there for some amount of time (10-20 mins) and then the car
will start back up.

The first time this happened I was able to wait and crank the car and get home.
The 2nd time I was able to crank the car, but I only made it a half mile before the same thing happened again.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ddavisaf]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184301

Update your profile first.

 

[Defiant]

Strap down your battery and put a vinyl cover over the positive terminal.

 

[Small_mind]

The battery is held down with a braket and there is a cover over the + terminal.
The mechanic is telling me that it may be a sensor? Does that make sense?

 

[ddavisaf]

Check Engine Light on?

 

[Small_mind]

No the Check Engine Light never comes on.
My brother in law and I changed the sensor the mechanic thought had a problem, but the car still failed. The only other idea anyone had been able to come up with is maybe the ignition coil is bad and goes out after heating up.

Has anyone ever had anything similar to this happen to them?
Does it make sense that it could be the ignition coil?

 

[halligoo]

Had these exact symtoms for about 3 days after I washed my engine with a pressure washer. Won't do that again.

Other than that, what Defiant said about the terminal shorting out has been a popular problem lately. Check all of the wiring around the battery area and alternator and make sure that nothing is touching or insulation scraped/burned off.

 

[ddavisaf]

After you do that pull the fuse box and check the wire bundles for damage underneath.

 

[luv2rallye]

The only other idea anyone had been able to come up with is maybe the ignition coil is bad and goes out after heating up... Does it make sense that it could be the ignition coil?

It's rare but I have seen a coil fail due to temperature especially if it's old. Unfortunately you almost have to swap it with a good one to find out. Before swapping, pull one of your plugs, hold against engine with wire on, crank and look at the spark. If it's weak, suspect the coil. Note that if it's strong it does not mean the coil might not fail at temperature however.