Hi - I'm looking for some advice (or where to start). I've got a one year old 2024 2LT (no mods) with 775 miles (I know; small town, etc...) Yesterday, while driving on a country back road - after a little bit of gas, went from around 30 to 80mph. Then... the engine just quit at around 50 mph after I'd already let up on the gas. Thankfully, it was in the boondocks, and I was able to bring it to a stop. It started back up - sounded terrible, but smoothed out a bit. No warning lights of any sort. I kept it under 30, and had around 5 miles to go. It died again 3 or 4 more times - all while driving it at slow speed. One time it didn't want to crank (but did). I finally made it to where I was going and once there, started it a couple of times and it idled just fine. I know that may not have been the best decision, but I was in the middle of nowhere and it was going to get dark and stormy very soon. I left if overnight at my friends, and it cranked right up in the morning. Again, idled fine - but I didn't drive it, and again, no warning lights at all. OnStar worked great, got a flatbed tow truck and had it taken to the the dealership where I bought it, and the service tech found zero codes - absolutely nothing. He also said he'd never heard of this. Obviously, this could have had pretty serious consequences in regular traffic. I just recently had the car in for the potential battery draining update issue, and no problems were found. Has anyone else had this problem, or can point me in the right direction? I did try a thread search (and couldn't find anything with the title of this thread). Google AI comes back with possible battery, fuel pump or injectors. Thank you for any help, I'd like to have as much information as I can, so I can regain my confidence in the car (which is now zero). George H.

 

I've never heard of such an occurence. That kind of behaviour usually leaves codes.

 

I was really surprised when nothing showed up after the Service Tech looked at it.

 

I looked through all the TSB’s and nothing for the symptoms you describe. Define "It started back up - sounded terrible, but smoothed out a bit.” What did it sound like?

 

First - thank you for taking your time to do that! In the past year of driving it - the engine has (to me), been incredibly smooth in all respects at all speeds. After the first re-start last night, it sounded like "old-school" days of rough idle, and or a carb issue (fuel starvation). The second re-start (and it seemed almost like a dying battery - where it didn't want to start - but finally did), then did the same "roughness" (like an out of tune F-150) - plus, the the transmission then seemed to "surge / lug" a bit (like starting out in 4th gear in a manual transmission), and was anything but smooth. The 3rd and 4th attempts (after dying), went more "normally" - until it died again. The final starts last night and today (no driving - except 100' to the tow truck), sounded completely normal and silky smooth (idle to 2500 / 3000 rpm). If it were my old '69 C3 convertible, I'd have said it needed a complete tune-up, due to the roughness. I forgot to add that it was around 1/2 tank full, no new fuel, and from the same station that I use for my Hellcat and Tacoma (with zero issues). I'd hate for the dealership say they found no code, and therefore, no problem - which is obviously not the case.

 

Sounds like bad gas.

 

When the engine cut off did the electronics shut off as well?

 

They all stayed on - which made it really weird - it all seemed "normal" - except for just coasting to a stop...

 

Well my only suggestion is to try to recreate the issue with a service advisor ride along? Or record it on your phone/go pro.

you could check to see if the spark plugs are fowled, change the oil and open up the filter to if there are any bits/shaving inside. Send the oil out for analysis.

or better yet, go to another dealer and explain the issue.

best of luck, please keep us posted.

 

That what comes to mind, yes!

 

Wouldn't that cause misfires and codes though?

 

You'd expect that. But I would expect whatever is causing it to suddenly stop to cause a code. Maybe there is code. There are plenty of Type C codes that will not cause the MIL (aka the CEL) lamp to illuminate but can be read with a scan tool.

 

First - thank you for all the replies. I got the car back today and here's what they said; "CND Technician has inspected, monitored and tested your vehicle regarding your performance concern. However, at the time, all functions are operating properly. Please monitor and notify your advisor if complaint conditions repeat. 806 Could not duplicate concern 0.00 No codes are setting and vehicle is not in condition. Test drove vehicle extensively (28 miles *my addition) but could not get vehicle to go into condition. Shop foreman drove vehicle as well and could not duplicate."

So the why is still a mystery... I'm gonna push it hard for awhile and not worry about it. Had a very experienced military / airline mechanic buddy suggest a problem in the fuel line, that created the problem, then flooded it (hard start), then eventually cleared itself. I'll look for a better quality fuel station around here, and put the best I can in it very soon.

Now, if you could suggest why the passenger side Defog didn't seem to work on the drive home (* pouring rain - of course...). Just hope it's not going to be continuing problems.

Thanks again,
George H.

 

I don't know why my last post of what happened at the dealership didn't show up, so I'll try again.

"A C/S: Engine shut off when going 50mph. All electronics were still on. When restarting the vehicle it sounded like a MAC truck then shut back down. (* They didn't note that this happened 3 or 4 times.) CND Technician has inspected, monitored and tested your vehicle regarding your performance concern (*a mild understatement). However, at this time all functions are operating properly. Please monitor and notify your advisor if complaint conditions repeat. 806 Could not duplicate concern 0.00 Could not duplicate customer concern. No codes are setting and vehicle is not in condition. Test drove vehicle extensively (*28 miles) but could not get vehicle to go into condition Shop foreman drove vehicle as well and could not duplicate."

So, I'll drive it as normal, try a different fuel station and hope it doesn't happen again in a dangerous traffic condition vs a deserted country road. I know they can't fix something that isn't broken, but I'd think there'd be more interest in such an unusual and potentially deadly situation.

Thank you all for taking your time to read, and offer suggestions. Of course I'll update this is if it occurs again.

 

Bad gas could mean old gas that is bad, or it could mean water in the gas. Water, if in the gas, sinks to the bottom of the tank.

I hope that is not what happened. It may be rare, but not that rare. I had friend on trip in his C6 who stopped at a gas station for fill up. Not long after he experience problems similar to what was described. And it was water in the gas. The gas station actually owned up to it and paid for the repairs.

 

Agree. how long has that gas been sitting in the tank?

 

I was asked if I'd recently filled up. I had not, and it was around the 1/2 full mark when this happened. Realistically, it'd probably been in the car six to eight weeks. No, it doesn't get driven much (small town and also have a Hellcat and a Tacoma). I'm just one of those guys who should be driving it more. Hope it's a one time thing, and new gas will be going in soon

 

 

It very well could be bad gas. My mower would start then immediately die if it started at all. i didn't think it was the gas even though it had been a couple months but sure enough it was. Ethanol is crap and will seperate after a period of time.

 

Fuel issue, either bad gas or a fuel pump issue.

I had a C4 that this happened with after filling up at a little small town gas station. Drove like crap and wouldn't idle (i.e. died if I didn't keep my foot on the gas) but was able to limp it another 2 hours to the major city we were going to (drove decent at 2000RPM or higher). Let it sit overnight, and it was fine the next day. Drove it 4 hours home and had zero issues over the next few weeks. Changed the fuel filter as a just in case, but never had another issue.

On another C4 (ZR-1) I had issues with the primary fuel pump getting weak and once it heated it up, it would die. But in that situation, the pump wouldn't run at all once hot and the car would completely die and not restart until it had sat long enough for the pump to cool off, and then would run for another 30 minutes or so. I also had a 97 Tahoe that had a loose connector in the wiring harness for the fuel pump. It would run fine for a week or two, and then just die. Took several mechanics to finally find the loose connection, and then it ran fine.

So my guess with the experiences above, is that you got some bad gas. If you had filled up recently before noticing the issues, I would avoid that station in the future.