pvpham

Hi,

I have a 96 es300. Last week the engine suddenly turned off while running. After awhile when the engine cool off somewhat, the engine start again and I was able to get home. The next morning I started the engine and tested run a block around home and the engine turned off again. It restarted after awhile but it won't go far enough for me to get to the Auto Zone for reading the code.

The last time that I had the engine tune up was 7 years ago when I had spark plugs, timing belt, water pump replaced and coolant flushed. Never have any problem until this coming up. I had the engine light came up 5 years ago. The code was vacuum leaks and I just turned it off because FL does not required inspection.

Any help in diagnose the problem is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance

polatok

thermostat? you definitely do need to give it a good tune up though! time to change those plugs! you do change your oil atleast, right?!

mdbrown

Did it show an overheat condition? If not then the thermostat is not the issue and if it did and it shut down from overheating you'll be having far more serious issues. You need to get the codes as there are many things that can cause this. Could be a marginal sensor that fails when it gets hot, could be a fuel pump failing (sometimes you can confirm this by waiting for the car to stall then attempt to start the car while hitting the fuel tank). Could be an ECM issue... need codes and/or a more complete and accurate symptom list.

pvpham

Thanks for your reponds.

There were no sign of engine overheating problem. Gage read normal. Engine compartment is warm but not hot after engine stopped on the highway as previously described.

I have had oil changed regularly every 3000 or 4000 miles. I shall have the plugs and wire replaced this time.

mdbrown

In the absence of more complete information I would venture a guess that your fuel pump is likely failing. No check engine lamp?

BDSL

Maybe it is the ignition switch....maybe......or other ignition components. Once the contacts heat up, they don't make contact anymore.

GEORGE_JET

check for codes. if there are no stored codes, check for spark the next time that it dies. Crank sensors are a common problem with any OBDII car, and when they get intermittent, it will stop the engine and leave no codes. Once the engine cools, it will start back up. Checking for spark is the easy way to see if this may be the issue

pvpham

Thanks for all of yours respond.

Please be tolerant of my ignorance about car

I have my car at the local mechanics and he ruled out the fuel pump after checking it. Now he said the problem may be at the Ignition Control Module or the car Computer. My question is are they (ICM and Computer) are the same thing ?. If they are different thing is there a way ? that the problem can be pinned point to either the ICM or the Computer ?

Thanks for your help

GEORGE_JET

ThenICM and computer are two separate modules, and yes your mechanic can run tests to check each on.