Thread: 3.1 stalls at idle and on the road inconsistantly

I have a 96 Grand Prix SE with the 3.1 engine. It runs just fine when it is actually on, but it will randomly stall throughout the driving range, idle or moving.

When I turn the ignition the engine fires right up to idle, all of the dash lights come on, flicker, then the entire car dies. After that it will not even turn over, nor will the dash lights come on. All other electrical power seems fine.

I have checked the battery and alternator which are fine. Coil packs could be failing but I figure if they were the engine would run rough, which it doesn't. The fuses are all good. I don't know about the relays.

Any suggestions would be a great help. Thanks for your time.

I have been checking the grounds that I could identify. The difficulty is that I don't know where all of the ground connections are. I do know that the block is grounded as well as the computer and all of the fuse boxes. Battery terminals have been checked/cleaned as well. Do you have any suggestions as to other grounds I may be missing?

Sounds like your ignition switch is going out. Check to make sure the connector is nice and tight or look for melted wiring around the switch.

I'll look into the ignition switch.

I tested the security system (factory) to see if the car would behave as it has been. When the security system is active "security" flashes on the dash and the car won't start. The problem I have been having is that the car won't start but also has no lights on the dash. Also I tried activating the security system while the car was on to see if it would cause the car to shut off, it does not. I'm ruling out the security system at this point.

Thanks for the help.