[garboozle]

Oldsmobile 88 1992 3.8L Eng.

Okay, so I was driving down the road when my car completely shut off,all the warning lights came on, the brake pedal became rigid, and I lost my power steering. I managed to turn onto a side road as the car came to a stop. I tried restarting the car, the engine would turn but the car wouldn't start. The radio, lights and windows worked. About 10 minutes later the car started right back up and ran fine although the brake warning light was still on.. However it did this exact whole routine twice more on the ride home.. Other than this the car runs fine... Oh and the gas gauge is way off (Still says I'm full). The brake warning light doesn't come on any longer as well.

Now I took it to my bro's buddy who is a mechanic in training, he hooked it up to his computer and it said it was giving anti theft code and that it was most likely a bad key... When I went to get a new key they told me the key was acting up BUT if my car was already running the key/anti-theft system wouldn't give me trouble... And another mechanic said roughly the same thing.. If it's already running the anti-theft won't effect the car and that the crank sensors are known to go on the fritz with the 3.8s.

So now I'm wondering should I take it somewhere else to get it scanned, or just get a new key and see if it happens again?. The car seems to run fine on short trips, drove it to work today (4 minute trip) and to the library (10 minute trip) and no problem... Advice would be much appreciated :)

[cdad]

The crank sensor should be cheap to replace. Also make sure you get the updated one for your engine if it has never been replaced. Be sure to use locktite when you reassemble so the bracket doesnt vibrate loose.

[garboozle]

So you think that's the problem then?

[CaptainRich]

You may be losing your fuel pump. You might just replace the 'tank unit' which includes both the fuel pump and the fuel level sender as one.
If the crank sensor was the culprit, you'd have a code. Fuel pump failure won't set a code on that car but it will allow the start and stop that you've described.
Also, I wouldn't use locktite on ANY sensor that may fail again in the future.

[cdad]

CR- locktite is part of the factory instructions for that part. The fact that you wouldnt use it puts you at risk for failure of that part again do to its location.

[TxGreaseMonkey]

It sounds like classic Ignition Control Module (ICM) failure, to me, especially if the problem persists after replacing the Crankshaft Position Sensor.