My incident is not a failure, but a constant problem. Since I bought the car used in december of '03, there has been major hesitation when idle or accelerating. In february of '04 my fuel pump died, leading me to assume this was the problem. I purchased a new fuel pump and installed it. I just had to replace my fuel pump again because I was beginning to hear a high-pitched squeal from the pump and the hesitation had worstened (may '04). These problems are still there, leading friends to believe that this is a head/head gasket problem instead of a direct fuel system problem. My car has already stalled in traffic due to this on 4 different occasions (all within less than a week since the fuel pump repairs). I am now not able to use my car for more than small round trips out of fear of my car stalling and leaving me stranded.
1996 Pontiac Sunfire: engine stalls while driving
6 of the 201 complaints about the 1996 Pontiac Sunfire describe engine stalls while driving.
- owner complaints
- 6
- of this car's complaints
- 3%
- recalls
- 0
Engine stalls while driving by model year
What owners say
Head gasket on my 96 pontiac sunfire blew and caused my car to stall in traffic and almost caused an accident with my family aboard. My car went from 195 operating temp to 260 with in 1 minute. The car could have caught fire and caused tremendous injuries.
Consumer stated that the tranmission stalled the engine causing the engne to smoke. Ts
The federal safety agency recall 02-v-070-000/ manufacturer's recall 02008 while going 55-60mph black smoke was coming from exhaust and vehicle stalled. Guages on dashboard read normal. General motors indicated that problem had to be repaired to determine cause. Consumer was in an accident that totaled vehicle.
While driving the vehicle engine shuts down, causing the vehicle to stall.
When driving on four occasions the car stalled, please describe .
Service bulletins that may apply
- Expanded Availability for Remanufacture and Return (R&R) Electronic Control Modules
- Some owners may comment on leakage of a few drops of coolant after parking their vehicle
- Some customers may experience a failure of the cylinder head gasket leading to external coolant leaks from...
- Voluntary emission campaign involving vehicles exhibiting symptons resulting in the illumination of the...
- Information regarding additional corrections from privious campaign 99088, conditions that concern rough...
- Vehicles exhibit symptoms resulting in the illumination of the check engine light or the engine running...
- Comments that a metallic noise or cold rap heard on cold exhaust system
- Comments that a metallic noise on cold exhaust systems
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 1996 Pontiac Sunfire stalling
Is engine stalls while driving a common problem on the 1996 Pontiac Sunfire?
6 of 201 owner complaints about the 1996 Pontiac Sunfire (3%) mention engine stalls while driving. The model year with the most reports is 1998.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1996 Pontiac Sunfire?
There are 0 recalls and 17 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1996 Pontiac Sunfire
Headlights 14ABS 11Won't start 10Fire or smoke 8Wipers 8Brake failure 7No deployment 6Fuel pump 6Overheating 6Check engine light 5
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