2006 - Engine shuts off without warning, turns back on

[slywookie]

Yesterday I was driving my wife's 2006 Vibe when suddenly the engine just died. The radio, air and everything else was still on, so I know it's not the battery. I pulled over on the side of the road and cranked it right back up. Drove it to and from my destination without any more problems. I warned the wife and she made it to work just fine. This afternoon on her way home it happened again. Same thing, cranked right back up. There is no check engine light on and engine runs fine (other than when it cut off). I'm sure there is probably a simple solution to this and don't want to have to pay a mechanic $$$ just to find out it's a PCV valve or something similar. Any ideas? The car has been maintained properly and we have had absolutely no other problems out of it. I would just hate for her to be on the interstate and have this happen. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[jimincalif]

Sounds electrical. A loose connection, or perhaps a chafed wire somewhere grounding out.

[keithvibe]

85-90% sure it's going to need a new ecm/computer. thats what usually happens when it's acting up

[ToolGuy]

Keithvibe is probably right...These kinds of things are hard to diagnose, especially since there is no check engine or other lights on. Was any repair done to it recently?It really sounds electrical and could be a loss of communications between computer modules or loss of comm in one, again like keithvibe mentioned. GM dealers all have a tool that is called a flight data recorder, some call it a co-pilot. The tools can be given to customers with intermittent problems like this, it plugs into the diagnostic port under the dash and when the issue happens, the customer pushes a button. This button take a snap shot of what the computer is doing and then the dealer can access it and diagnoses. Until it really surfaces and the car needs a tow, you may have to roll with it, gamble and continue to drive it until it dies.

[slywookie]

Thanks for all your help. I ran into a friend who's a mechanic and he said it sounded like it was possibly a sensor problem. He told me to at least get the codes checked at Autozone just in case something is logged and my wife did not notice a check engine light. Luckily we do have a warranty, so if it is anything big we will only have to pay the $50 deductible. I'm going to get it checked out tomorrow and hope for the best.

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by slywookie » There is no check engine light on and engine runs fine (other than when it cut off). There won't be any codes for autozone to read with out the check engine light being on.What toolguy suggested is going to be your best option.

[slywookie]

Well, it happened again and the engine light did come on this time. Took it to Autozone to get code read and sure enough it was ECM failure. Currently at dealer to be repaired. Luckily we had the extended warranty and will only have to pay $50 deductible. I was told by my mechanic friend that even if the engine light had come on briefly and my wife didn't notice that it would have shown up as an inactive code...but since it came on that didn't matter anyway. Thanks for all your help. Hopefully all will be good in the next couple of days.

[nschmidt]

Hey, I just fixed the same thing with my '03 this morning. It will continue to shut off randomly till later if not fixed. What I checked was the fuse box, located at the driver side of the engine, under a plastic cap. Check the 30a "Main" fuse, as in pull it out and magnifying glass it. If it's clean, replace the ECM. The most you can lose trying this fix is the $1 for the fuse. Good luck!

[slywookie]

It actually ended up not even costing us the $50 deductible. Pontiac covered the repair and replaced the PCM free of charge. Good news indeed.Didn't even think about checking the fuses as it didn't seem like a problem they would caused. If it ever happens again (or something similar), and it better not(!), I'll definitely give it a look. Can't hurt.Once again, thanks everyone. The advice/help is much appreciated.

[keithvibe]

i know the 03-04 had a tsb on the ecm so it should have been covered, not sure about the 05-08's though. good to hear they covered the cost.I hate it when i'm right though, especially when it's the computer