Ladybird04LS
LVC Member
Greetings 
My husband and I are new owners of a 2004 LS V6 that we bought from my sister last week. She and my brother-in-law have been the only owners of the vehicle. At the time of purchase, there was a diagnostic run and a coil replaced. The car is in excellent cosmetic condition, but had not been driven for quite some time.
It ran very well for the first few days, but afterward, we experienced the following...
The first thing that happened a few days before the car completely stalled and would not start was when I made a right-hand turn off a small highway. I did not come to an almost complete stop to turn right because there was someone on my tail, so I slowed enough to take the turn safely, and when I did, there was a VERY loud "bang" "bang" as if the car back-fired twice. When I accelerated, the car did not want to go, and was really "sluggish". I took my foot off of the gas and let it roll, then accelerated and proceeded slowly. It was fine after that, and seemed to have no problems whatsoever.
The next time I drove the car, I had to use the lights and windshield wipers because it was raining pretty hard. On the day that it stalled completely and would not start, this is what happened...
It was working fine up until I had to stop behind backed-up traffic that had been detoured due to an accident. When traffic began moving, I went to accelerate, and the car completely stalled. I tried starting it, and the dashboard control lights were on, the A/C was still blowing, and I heard the engine try to turn over, but it would not start. I tried this several times until it went completely "dead"...no lights, no engine trying to turn over. I sat there for a few minutes and waved people around me. When I tried the ignition again, the car started, so I decided to just pull it over onto the side of the road to get out of the traffic. When I maneuvered it to the side, it stalled again, and did the exact same thing as before. At that point, I tried a couple of more times, and then just let it sit for about 30 minutes until the traffic congestion cleared out.
When there was no longer any heavy traffic, I tried cranking it again, and the car started. I was able to drive it all the way home without any issues, even slowing to take curves, but when I turned into my driveway, after slowing down then accelerating, it stalled in the middle of the driveway. I let it sit for a few minutes, started it up again, and parked it.
There has been a "burnt" smell coming from the A/C vents ever since we brought the car home. It does not happen all of the time. It seems to be noticeable "after" the car either becomes "sluggish" or "stalls". It did do it once when I was just sitting there with the engine and A/C running for about 15 minutes or more while looking at the owner's manual. I do not know if the smell is "oily" or "electric". It seems to be more "oily", but I cannot verify that.
My husband took it for a drive today with me following in our other car, and it did the exact same thing to him. He said he smelled the "burnt" smell right, and then the car stalled out about five minutes later when he stopped at a "stop" sign in our neighborhood. He was able to let it sit for a few minutes then restart, but after we circled the neighborhood again, it completely died on the same road as before, and I had to tow him home.
The "check engine" light does not come on, which is rather confusing to any mechanics we have spoken with. Various suggestions have been made to the cause of the problem, but nothing definitive without some kind of "code" to identify the origin of the issue.
I typed "stalling" into the "search" section of this forum and read what was posted, but did not find any answers to our problem...unless I have completely missed the appropriate "thread".
My sister is waiting on an answer from us as to the exact cause and how much it is going to cost to fix the problem. We have the opportunity of giving the car back to them if the repairs are very expensive, but it is such a nice vehicle, and I would like to see if we can trouble-shoot this issue on our own...as my husband may be able to do the work himself. He is just afraid that the car is going to be a money pit.
Has anyone on this forum been able to solidly identify the cause of this "burnt smell/stalling" combination, and if so, what is the solution?
We thank you all so very much for your time and consideration and look forward to hearing from you!
My husband and I are new owners of a 2004 LS V6 that we bought from my sister last week. She and my brother-in-law have been the only owners of the vehicle. At the time of purchase, there was a diagnostic run and a coil replaced. The car is in excellent cosmetic condition, but had not been driven for quite some time.
It ran very well for the first few days, but afterward, we experienced the following...
The first thing that happened a few days before the car completely stalled and would not start was when I made a right-hand turn off a small highway. I did not come to an almost complete stop to turn right because there was someone on my tail, so I slowed enough to take the turn safely, and when I did, there was a VERY loud "bang" "bang" as if the car back-fired twice. When I accelerated, the car did not want to go, and was really "sluggish". I took my foot off of the gas and let it roll, then accelerated and proceeded slowly. It was fine after that, and seemed to have no problems whatsoever.
The next time I drove the car, I had to use the lights and windshield wipers because it was raining pretty hard. On the day that it stalled completely and would not start, this is what happened...
It was working fine up until I had to stop behind backed-up traffic that had been detoured due to an accident. When traffic began moving, I went to accelerate, and the car completely stalled. I tried starting it, and the dashboard control lights were on, the A/C was still blowing, and I heard the engine try to turn over, but it would not start. I tried this several times until it went completely "dead"...no lights, no engine trying to turn over. I sat there for a few minutes and waved people around me. When I tried the ignition again, the car started, so I decided to just pull it over onto the side of the road to get out of the traffic. When I maneuvered it to the side, it stalled again, and did the exact same thing as before. At that point, I tried a couple of more times, and then just let it sit for about 30 minutes until the traffic congestion cleared out.
When there was no longer any heavy traffic, I tried cranking it again, and the car started. I was able to drive it all the way home without any issues, even slowing to take curves, but when I turned into my driveway, after slowing down then accelerating, it stalled in the middle of the driveway. I let it sit for a few minutes, started it up again, and parked it.
There has been a "burnt" smell coming from the A/C vents ever since we brought the car home. It does not happen all of the time. It seems to be noticeable "after" the car either becomes "sluggish" or "stalls". It did do it once when I was just sitting there with the engine and A/C running for about 15 minutes or more while looking at the owner's manual. I do not know if the smell is "oily" or "electric". It seems to be more "oily", but I cannot verify that.
My husband took it for a drive today with me following in our other car, and it did the exact same thing to him. He said he smelled the "burnt" smell right, and then the car stalled out about five minutes later when he stopped at a "stop" sign in our neighborhood. He was able to let it sit for a few minutes then restart, but after we circled the neighborhood again, it completely died on the same road as before, and I had to tow him home.
The "check engine" light does not come on, which is rather confusing to any mechanics we have spoken with. Various suggestions have been made to the cause of the problem, but nothing definitive without some kind of "code" to identify the origin of the issue.
I typed "stalling" into the "search" section of this forum and read what was posted, but did not find any answers to our problem...unless I have completely missed the appropriate "thread".
My sister is waiting on an answer from us as to the exact cause and how much it is going to cost to fix the problem. We have the opportunity of giving the car back to them if the repairs are very expensive, but it is such a nice vehicle, and I would like to see if we can trouble-shoot this issue on our own...as my husband may be able to do the work himself. He is just afraid that the car is going to be a money pit.
Has anyone on this forum been able to solidly identify the cause of this "burnt smell/stalling" combination, and if so, what is the solution?
We thank you all so very much for your time and consideration and look forward to hearing from you!
