95 Trans Am Engined stalled while going 80 down a freeway

I was driving my boyfriends 1995 Pontiac Trans Am the engine was running really good, all of the sudden the engine just died, I got over 4 lanes and parked the car and tried to restart it, it turned over, started and stalled right away. We then called Triple A and had the car towed to one of their shops it was almost closing time, but the mechanic took a quick look check the computer for any DTC's, none, checked the fuel pump and relay, no problem there, he did determine that it's not getting any spark . :wtf: I guess what I'm wondering is how does the car just stall when you going 80 down a freeway? I've been driving this car for 8 years now so I THINK I know when it is acting up and when it's fine, I bug my boyfriend constantly about it if I think it's running weird, in order to avoid today's stressful ordeal. If there is any other information you need from me please let me know. Thanks so much!

Have you tried starting the car since the trip to the shop? If so, what are the symptoms... here it goes, if the mechanic said there is no spark, one of two things happened. 1, the coil packs went bad (assuming the 95s have coil pack) but for the coil pack to go bad all at the same time is very rare, rare...... I will say impossible. Two, more likely than the coil packs, it would be the control module, again, this is if the 95s have packs instead of distributor. Going back to the part that I mentioned symptoms..... if it just turns and no spark....module. let me know if this was helpful or if I can be of more assistance.

Have you tried starting the car since the trip to the shop? If so, what are the symptoms... here it goes, if the mechanic said there is no spark, one of two things happened. 1, the coil packs went bad (assuming the 95s have coil pack) but for the coil pack to go bad all at the same time is very rare, rare...... I will say impossible. Two, more likely than the coil packs, it would be the control module, again, this is if the 95s have packs instead of distributor. Going back to the part that I mentioned symptoms..... if it just turns and no spark....module. let me know if this was helpful or if I can be of more assistance.


The car is actually still at the shop, so no we haven't tried to start it again. We did try to start it along side the freeway and the car started like it was going to run and stalled right away. We have the 5.7L trans am which does not have a coil pack it has a distributor. When you are talking about the control module are you talking about the ECM/PCM or what?

Alright then, I was thinking throught it last night and you are right no coilpacks, but fuel pump came to mind. It probably it just started to go out, that's why when you got to the shop and the shop the mechanic said that there was fuel pressure because because on the way there it cooled down. Betcha if you call him(mechanic) to start it up, it will and it will run. So beware of him saying "oh, we have to change this and that in order for the other thing to work........" you know.

Alright then, I was thinking throught it last night and you are right no coilpacks, but fuel pump came to mind. It probably it just started to go out, that's why when you got to the shop and the shop the mechanic said that there was fuel pressure because because on the way there it cooled down. Betcha if you call him(mechanic) to start it up, it will and it will run. So beware of him saying "oh, we have to change this and that in order for the other thing to work........" you know.


Here's the things about the fuel pump, at the beginning of this year the car would not start for nothing so we took it to a dealer and to have the problem diagnosed and they said it was the fuel pump and wanted $1600 to fix it, we had the car towed back to our place and cut a panel out just above the fuel pump and replaced it ourselves. It still didn't run so I had read something on the internet about a fuel pump relay so my boyfriend replaced that and the car ran right away. So now we have a new fuel pump and relay. We just received a call from the mechanic, he said he started off doing his own diagnostics and they were leading to a faulty PCM and then he started following the flow charts from the manufacture and they are leading him to the distributor cap. Here's the thing the distributor cap, spark plugs and wires were all replaced with in the last couple months. The PCM was replaced a couple years ago but for some reason my boyfriend took the new one out and put the old one back in, I have no idea why, and also about a week and a half ago he reinstalled a PROM upgrade program he has for the car. I'll let you know what happens after we see the mechanic.

Ecm.....???????? Nah, my second option is that maybe it has a really bad vaccum leak. If you wanna find out is not hard, just take a bottle with h2o and just spray the intake. Don't forget around the fuel lines and everything that carries air to the engine. Just make sure that you don't overspray because if you do you better run like the wind......... hahaha nah I'm jk, nothing is gonna happen I promise. Well once you spray it (with the engine running ofcourse) you should notice it as you spray, if there is no change in the idle there is no leak.

Ecm.....???????? Nah, my second option is that maybe it has a really bad vaccum leak. If you wanna find out is not hard, just take a bottle with h2o and just spray the intake. Don't forget around the fuel lines and everything that carries air to the engine. Just make sure that you don't overspray because if you do you better run like the wind......... hahaha nah I'm jk, nothing is gonna happen I promise. Well once you spray it (with the engine running ofcourse) you should notice it as you spray, if there is no change in the idle there is no leak.

Update the Triple A mechanic found the problem it was the ignition coil wire which goes from the ignition coil module to the distributor. Remember how I was telling you the spark plugs and wires were replaced a couple months ago. I guess when they replace the spark plug wires there is a ninth wire that is also replaced the ignition coil wire, anyway, this new wire that a DEALERSHIP installed was is damaged inside of the boot so it was able to come loose and that's why the car just died. The Triple A mechanic reconnected it and we drove it to the dealership because their crappy work is the reason the car stalled. When we got there and told them what happened the guy looks at us and said well we'll take a look and see if there is anything else that could have caused the problem, I looked right at the guy and said we don't want you to look at anything else but that single wire that's it. He said okay and wanted us to leave it overnight but I think not because I'm insisting I want to be there when their mechanic takes the part out of the car. We already trusted that they did the job right the first time when they were paid 1200 to do it come on.

Got to be cautious when it comes to opti-spark units as well. The car doesn't so much as have a 'distributor' in the retro sense that a pre-90's vehicle would or some newer vehicles without the coil packs. The opti-spark unit is a POS and if it gets wet, moisture build up , too hot , yadda yadda it can fail.

Seeing how the problem is solved , next time something like that happens check around the optispark unit ( behind the underdrive pulley and water pump) hope everything works out for you. My recommendation would be a set of MSD wires & a MSD optispark to avoid future spark issues.

Good you guys stood your ground on this one. That reminded me of an similar incid.........well, to long of a story. Again, I'm happy that it wasn't anything major.