Car starts then dies in a few seconds

I'm gonna say there's a problem with the system ground....undo the lug that connects to the chassis ground and wirebrush that lug...and the space where it bolts to, think that insufficient ground to the relay box has the relays dropping out....combined with a battery that may be older than five years old has led to a relay dropping out....the fuel pump or ignition relay is not seeing sufficient voltage to stay engaged....test at the relay box for GROUND...and varying voltages from the corrosion that is holding up the show~

I went down and shook the wires and connections under the hood, cleaned the ground wire as you suggested, and continued to try and crank it. After about 10 trys, it finally sputtered and began to run at idle. I let it sit for about 15 seconds, put it in drive and got the car home. Runs now with no problems. Which is good that I got the car home, but still don't know what the original problem was. Any suggestions on a mechanical problem that would self correct that still needs to be fixed? If it were the system ground, wouldn't the car crank the first time after I cleaned the contact point for the ground wire?

Im guessing in your case the computer had a few things to relearn after the ground was right again -- Id be tempted to replace your battery cables when you can and even add another ground or two.

Consider trying a different fuel pump relay if the problem happens again. You can normally do this by just using the one from the horn relay or make a jumper. Just diagnosed a gmc 2500 with a similar problem. Good fuel pressure, starts, runs for about 7 seconds, dies after a sudden drop in fuel pressure. I ruled out the fuel pressure regulator by clamping off the return line. Confirmed it was a problem with fuel delivery and not with spark/ignition by spraying starting fluid into the throttle body after the engine was started. This left me with three options that I could think of 1) Security feature shutting down fuel (no security light was on and no codes being thrown) 2) Fuel pump relay failure. Easy to check by jumping the connections or trying a new/different relay. The owner had said that it died on him a few weeks earlier and didn't think anything of it. So it sounds like the relays can have intermittent problems or complete failure. Though in your case, bad ground is possible but the fact that it cranks most of the time makes me think it could be a relay. 3) Fuel pump failure. Had good starting pressure so I was just hoping this wasn't the problem.

what the odds of it happing to two of my cars days apart

im worried sombody put sugar in our gas tanks !!! would that cause it ? istart the car and it dies out .

1.check your speak plugs 2.check your fuel filter 3.check your fuel pump The engine won't stay on if their not the right mix of fuel going to the engine.

It might be spark plugs the reason engine start and then stops?

Same thing happened to me and I checked all of the above and failed. In the end I disconnected my air flow meter (sensor) and started the ignition and it worked. My air flow meter blew and the engine was not receiving info on the air flow and how much fuel to inject at any point in time. Therefore after it started the fuel stopped pumping and the engine died. I had to buy a new air flow meter. Hope that helps. Your engine light may come on so just remove your battery poles for five minutes and restart the ECU. Otherwise you need a diagnostic machine to restart the ECU.

my cars starts but it dies the first 2 times . when the engine is worm it drives good. does anyone no the problem ? please help ?

my car will start run for a second an shut off .I was told the cat was stopped up so I took it off an it still won't stay running does anybody kno y. it's a 2003 saturn ion 2.2 fuel injected

I am having the same problem with my it is a Hyundai santa fe 2002. Answer please

I am having the same problem with my car it is a Hyundai santa fe 2002. Answer please

I have 2004 Ford Crown Vic and I am having the same problem. I changed my intake manifold because it was bad and i also changed all spark plugs and ignition coils. Car was running fine for a few days but then it shut off on me while i was driving. Now it starts and shuts not long after. What could be the problem here ?

Wierd, but my problem was in the transmission. The engine would stall when I made a sharp turn, and then eventually stopped alltogether. The transmission fluid runs thru the system, my seals had broken down and stopped the transmission fluid pump up, which caused the engine to stall.

Yall all might wanna check your Fuel Pressure Regulator

my crown vic. 2000 was tune up. and was fine lats power , but ofter 3 monts .. takes 3 to 4 times to start- what could be the problem if . anybody. i. really a ppreciate

I'm having the same issue. It turns over and dies within a second or two. If keep trying to crank it, it eventually stops turning over. When it does turn over, if I mash the gas pedal, it runs for about an extra second or so, but still dies.

I just experienced this with my Dodge Caravan. The reason for it was a Key recently made had no chip in it. This is an anti-theft measure. Many cars have a chip inside the head that needs to be read in order for your car to start/run. Your key could be damaged or a duplicate made wrong.

My 01 Pontiac bonneville is doing this now, and before it started my girlfriend bent my key in the door by mistake , could it be that the key got bent a little and is messing it up now

needs a new fuel pump, or a mass air flow sensor

Same problem 2008 crown vic runs great but will turn off while driving. Wait 5 10 min car starts fine, will run for a while. ONLY HAPPENS WHEN HOT AND SOMEWHAT MUGGY. All spring,winter and fall ran great NEVER turned off. Car never spurts, missed etc. It's a shutdown by a sensor, I guess.

I have a 2011 Crown Vic. One day it lost all axillary power and over heated. Replaced the thermostat all the axillary power returned then had to jump start. The car began hesitating so I replaced the plugs. It continued to hesitate. Then it lost axillary power again and over heated had to let it cool then jump start it. Apparently the computer shut off all axillary power then cut the power to the engine then eventually the transmission stopped pulling. I stopped and let it cool. All the axillary power returned but had to jump start it. It ran fine again for a short distance after I straight wired the fan. I am waiting on a cooling fan module to see if it fixes it. The alt and battery passed all diagnostic test. I was told the computer will shut down everything to save the engine from overheating. Any ideas if not too be continued.

I had most of the problems stated here. CELS kept pointing to the coils, after 3 sets I figured that was not the problem. Check with spark tester, coils, wires and plugs all good. Map and Mat good, and finally accepted it must be the PCM. The car run good in the heat, and terrible in cooler wet weather. Now I am reading up on where to purchase a PCM. This is just as hard as testing all the components.

Fuel pump

Mas air flow sensor! Have tried everything there is to try. Comes down to mas air flow sensor.

My wife’s 2004 crown Vic would die completely while driving, including accelerating from a stop. What I found was the positive battery cable that connects to the fuse box had loosened. After I tightened it, no more problems. I will add my wife took it to a professional shop 3 times prior to finding the real problem myself. They kept saying it was the idle air control valve.