Expert: Roland Finston - 2/10/2012

Question
I have a 1996 Chrysler Sebring convertible; the bigger 6cyl. Three weeks ago this happened and again today - on a major toll road!

I started losing speed and eventually my car was just chugging along at 5mph.  If I gave it gas it wanted to die. I left it alone and it went over a mile before it slowed to a stop.  It wouldn't start afterwards.  The last time, my gas had gotten to 1/4 tank before I filled it and same today.  Yesterday I ran it from full to half with no problems.  I didn't put dry gas in either time.  The weather has been unseasonably warm here in southern NH and I forgot.

Both times, after it was towed it started right up!  It was towed on a flatbed.

Getting everyone's conflicting opinions and I cannot afford to "try" them all.

Thank you in advance for any guidance you may give me.

Yvonne*

Answer
Hi Yvonne,
I don't think it has anything to do with the fuel supply. More likely it is one of the engine rotational position sensors that is beginning to fail as it heats up, and then when it cools down it recovers. What we need to do is find out which one, taking advantage of the on-board self-diagnostic capability.
You do that with the ignition switch: turn the key "on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that action in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the check engine light, which remains 'on' to see it begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat the whole process to be sure you have an accurate set of flash counts. Then tell me the flash counts in the order that they appeared and we'll go from there. That is called doing a fault code readout and it will likely point us in the right direction for a fix.
Also, is this a Sebring Convert or a 2-door coupe?
Roland