For a few days, the ’00 had been randomly dying without warning – just like you turned the key off. It would start right back up with no problem. Finally yesterday it died on the road and I couldn’t get it going. Sometimes it would start but then it would sputter & die after a few seconds. The SES light never came on.

Called AAA & had the car towed. The driver said he knew exactly what the problem is – he has seen it many times on these engines. He said it was the MAF sensor. He un-plugged it and the car started and continued to run (SES light on though). He then plugged it in and car died after about 15 seconds. This could be repeated

I was skeptical and thought “All he is doing with that trick is forcing it into open loop. The problem still could be something else and if the MAF was bad enough to not let the car run, it should be throwing a code.”

After tinkering with it a little, I started to think he might be right. I bought a MAF sensor and that fixed the problem.

Has anyone else seen this and is it really that common a problem?

Common problem, especially in the last few weeks.

Where did you get your new MAF?

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Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Something like that happened on my 97 Altima. Some kind of intermittent broken connection inside the sensor, and if I "torqued" the MAF connector just so, it was OK. So I wrapped it up with baling wire and it was fine

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2004 Buick Lesabre Limited, Gran Touring
Bone Stock

1998 Buick Lesabre Limited, Gran Touring
Retired

also in this situation check the wires to the ICM, the same problem happened to me the night i got mine running with this motor.

driving then all of a sudden off. no cough no sputter no restart. the tow truck driver wiggled the icm wires and it started right back up, wiggled them while running and it turned right back off.

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90 Pontiac Bonneville SSE Series 2 L67/4T65-E HD [Frankenbonne 2.0] Swap complete, currently whomping on unsuspecting hondas.
85 Chevrolet Celebrity 2.8 2bbl/440T4
02 Ford Explorer XLT 4.0 SOHC/5R55
10 Mercury Milan Premier 3.0 Duratec DOHC/6F35

The most common cause of these symptoms are loose or corroded battery cables. The MAF sensor can do it though.

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Click here for mod list for both cars
93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

Looks like it was the MAF in this case.

On my old car I forgot to tighten down the battery cables enough. They looked like they were tight, but were loose enough to not make a connection. My friend's dad came out and diagnosed it in 2 seconds.

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco - Current car

1999 Buick LeSabre Custom - Former car

Learn from the mistakes of others, that way when you mess up you can do so in new and interesting ways.

I picked up an ACDelco remanufactured one from KOI (part of Federated Auto Parts chain) for like $20 more than Rock Auto. Used ones are hard to come by around here.
Which brand do people have trouble with?

The problem ones seem to come from Advance, Autozone, etc...

Good to hear yours is working

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Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Hmmm... I got one from advance about 15,000 miles ago, and it has been working great.

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2000 SE: 17" Chrome Grand Prix GTP wheels, Pirelli P-Zero Nero Rubber.
180,000 miles and running smooth

When I had my ford I bought one from autozone. It went south after 6 months.

I worked at Advance for 3 years and never had one come back...

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STOCK SUCKS

I would think if there is a problem, it would more likely be with the manufacturer rather than the retailer.
At the place I bought mine I had a choice of manufacturers.
PartsAmerica.com (Advance site) gives a choice of 5 different manufacturers for my car.

Ahhh, wrecker drivers. They're the salt of the Earth. Right beside the Carnies.

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Resident Tightwad

Screw you, Photobucket.