Stalling -- rpm gauge dies / motor running

[johnny402]

I'm having some problems with my stock 02 camaro ss - automatic - 160,000km (100K miles) here's a list

+ While driving - I sometimes get the feeling that the engine is kicking down - a slight loss of power but it recovers instantly and everything is normal.
+ While driving - the car randomly jerks when I step on it and the rpm gauge dies - but the car engine is still running - after a min - the rpm gauges comes back on - but car doesnt run right if I step on it.
+ It also sometimes stalls at very low rpm (ie at lights or backing up into a parking spot) Funny thing is when this happens - I cannot restart the car with it in netural - I have to put it in park - turn off everything and then it starts up no problem.
+ Sometimes while on the highway it just stalls - and I cannot restart it by putting it in neutral and cranking - I have to stop it - put it in park - turn off everything and then restart.

This happens randomly - like once every two days or so

Here's what I have done
- Dealership changed the plugs and wires, cleaned the tb, flush/cleaned the injectors and changed the fuel filter. At first when this was starting to happening - I got the error code for the Cataytic converters (i think p430, p420) - anyways dealership changed both cats - but the problem is still happening.

Any ideals?


I've also noticed for the last 3-4months that the engine will sometimes rev higher when I'm braking for a stop sign - this never happened before - starting happening in the summer time - only jumps up 300-500 rpms - but this happens randomly. Example - I'm driving like 20-30mph - rpms are at 800 - 1200 --- then I start to brake - speed slows down but the rpms just up and then comes down. It does this randomly - like once out of 20 times.

thanks for any ideals or thoughts

[lt1pwr1]

First, if you paid the dealer to do all that work and the problem hasn't been fixed then you owe it to yourself to take it back to them and tell them you are still having the same problems. It looks like they can't really figure it out as they have basically given it a tune up with new plugs and wires, fuel filter as you mentioned but it sounds like they can't really pinpoint the problem or maybe they couldn't duplicate the problem when they worked on it.

Have you put a fuel gauge on it to see what kind of pressure you are getting? I'd tape it to your windshield (be careful *my disclaimer*) and see if you are losing pressure as you give it gas.

When you say you can't start the car in neutral, are you getting it to crank over or is it doing nothing at all? You could have a neutral safety switch problem if it's not even trying to turn over in neutral.

Lastly, try wiggling the connector slightly (not too much that you break it ) on the mass air flow sensor and see if you can get it to cut out or act up at all as you are wiggling it with the car running. Could be a number of things but you can start with those if you are mechanically inclined. PM me if you want.

[Ed 2001 SS]

We're having the exact same problem. Please post if you find the answer.