Greetings,

Last night, my son pulled the car into the garage. It had been running just fine all day.

This morning at 9am, the car wouldn't start. It would crank and crank, but no start.

I just went out at 4pm to push the car out of the garage, so I could get something out that was in front of it. For grins, I flipped the key to start, and if fired right up!

I took the car for a little trip. It idled fine and crawled out of our neighborhood just fine. When I got out on the highway, I pushed the pedal down about 25 percent, and the car just cut off. I coasted to the side of the road. I put it in park and tried to start it. It cranked over a few time, then fired-up again. I crawled back home, and it was okay. I got home and revved the engine in park to about 2500 rpm, and didn't hear any popping or anything odd. I tried to rev the motor against the brakes in gear, but all it did was start spinning the tires.

What's up with this thing?

Every time we tried it, I would hear the fuel pump prime, but I didn't check the pressure. I'm pretty sure it has the original pump in the tank. Could it be the fuel pump?

The opti is probably only about a year old. I'd hate to think that I need to tear the front off this engine.

We had a problem with one of the plugs that goes into the coil. When that connector comes off, the car sputters to a stop. We open the hood, press that connector back on, and it will start right up. What are the signs of a deal/dying coil?

This morning, the car wouldn't start no matter how many times we messed with that connector. Plus, when it cut off, it didn't sputter... it just quit...

The last thing I need is to get stranded away from home. Please help me diagnose this problem.

 

Try looking at the coolant temp sensor on the water pump and check you fuel pressure. The sputter sounds like it is out of gas. And change the fuel filter. They're $7

 

+1 on the coolant temp sensor

 

I just saw that you were in Nevada. I work in Rockwall at Games Etc. If you can get the car up there, I'll get it done for you.

 

This afternoon, I couldn't get the stupid car to start again <sigh>

I was able to check the fuel pressure... it is fine.

I downloaded a copy of DataMaster to see what the data stream looks like.
It apprears the CTS is fine.

I messed with the car for a few minutes and was able to get it to start. It idles fine unless you rev it past 2300 rpm or so. I got a code 16 at the same time i reved it to 3000 rpm... and it died.

http://oldpizza.net/formula/run1.uni is the Datamaster log.

Please tell me it's the coil or Ignition Control Module....

 

I fixed it.

I did some surfing and discovered that the code 16 can be caused by loose/dirty wiring. I removed the Opti wiring harness, cleaned it, then re-installed it. It's running much better, and will rev all the way to redline without any sputtering.

The internet is a wonderful thing....