Need any and all insight on what to do here.

Her camaro has had this happen 3 separate times, the last time when she was on I-10 going 70 mph. Power steering locked up, brakes wouldn't work, car basically shut itself off. She's had to roll to a stop (or put it into neutral) each time and restart her car.

We've taken it to 3 separate dealerships and they can't figure out what's wrong. 2 just hooked it up to their diagnostic computer and said everything checked out. It's still under warranty, but they said as long as they can't recreate the problem, there's nothing they can do.

She's scared to drive it and afraid she's finally gonna hit somebody the next time it happens. We're still a little upside down on it so we'd have to eat some cost to sell it back to the dealer.

Does anyone have any ideas on what we can do?

Also, she bought is used so as far as we know, we can't claim it as a lemon.

[This message has been edited by space_treadmill (edited 1/31/2014 11:52a).]

Do all the idiot lights flash on the cluster when this happens, has it dropped any codes?

[This message has been edited by Street Fighter (edited 1/31/2014 12:34p).]

LS9 Swap?

PCM?

Something is shutting down a major computer or control module. Could be a short or power surge or really bad signal from a sensor while it is running under load. There's almost no telling what it is until someone else has that happen, they figure it out, and issue a service bulletin on it.

I would start going up the chain of command.

Just blame it on Chrysler

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I would start going up the chain of command.

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this.

how long has it been doing this? maybe lemon law might be an option if it can't be resolved.

No lights when it stalls/shuts down. She lets it roll to a stop, puts it in park and starts it again. Theres no spurting or problems turning it over. The dealership still has it but isnt interested because no codes come up during the diagnostics.

[This message has been edited by space_treadmill (edited 1/31/2014 4:41p).]

If the computer dies before a code can register, it will retain no codes. In other words, it doesn't die becuse a sensor told it there was a problem and it shut down..it simply shuts down before anything is logged in memory. I think it is a bad PCM/ECM. The engine goes braindead, and that will kill it completely.

talk to the service manager and stay on them. remind them this is a dangerous situation and let them keep it as long as they need to so they can duplicate it.

A few questions:

1. Does your wife have 30 keys and 15 key chains on her car keys?
I had a guy that had a silverado that brought it to me and said it was dying when he went down a bumpy road or braked hard. Turns out he had tons of keys, carabiners etc and the keys were actually swinging and turning the ignition lock BARELY and it was shutting the truck off. He would pull over, start it up and go on his way.

2. Did you check the battery and connections? Some people have complained about the trunk getting water leaks from the seal/window area and the compartment will get filled with water, and when the water gets to sloshing, it will short the battery and kill it, then you pull over and it restarts till the water gets to sloshing again.

3. Theres also a battery recall but its for 2010 Camaros, #09121B: Product Safety - Positive Battery Cable Routing - Reroute

4. Could also be a faulty BCM not communicating with the key correctly.

5. Assuming the dealership has checked all the connections, like the ground strap near the oil dipstick and the harness that goes into the fuse box.

Had a Volvo years ago that would do that
Had it so called fixed about 5 times, they would change something out.
Had to litigate
Most have been a bad computer but dealership just kept trying to kick the can down the road
Every once in a while you get a lemon.
Get rid of it

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A few questions:

1. Does your wife have 30 keys and 15 key chains on her car keys?
I had a guy that had a silverado that brought it to me and said it was dying when he went down a bumpy road or braked hard. Turns out he had tons of keys, carabiners etc and the keys were actually swinging and turning the ignition lock BARELY and it was shutting the truck off. He would pull over, start it up and go on his way.

2. Did you check the battery and connections? Some people have complained about the trunk getting water leaks from the seal/window area and the compartment will get filled with water, and when the water gets to sloshing, it will short the battery and kill it, then you pull over and it restarts till the water gets to sloshing again.

3. Theres also a battery recall but its for 2010 Camaros, #09121B: Product Safety - Positive Battery Cable Routing - Reroute

4. Could also be a faulty BCM not communicating with the key correctly.

5. Assuming the dealership has checked all the connections, like the ground strap near the oil dipstick and the harness that goes into the fuse box.

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checked all of those with no joy. One dealership we called said there was a Chevy memo sent to dealerships with her Vin number saying that those Camaros could be susceptible to bad gasoline. When she bought it, the dealership said 87 octane was fine. Guess we have to stop being cheap. I hope that fixes the issue, cuz the dealership has run out of tests.

Hopefully it's just the crankshaft position sensor, which shouldn't be an expensive fix compared to a PCM. Same net effect as PCM going out (power shuts off), but my research on replacing PCM's for my 2003 GC wasn't very encouraging from a cost an reliability of replacements standpoint.

My 2003 jeep JC would stop running when I was driving along. I could always restart it while cursing down the highway, just throw it in neutral, start, put it back in drive. It sucked when it happened turning a corner though because as you said, the power steering goes out. The dash lights would stay on however, but all power would go out. The gauges would flash all the way to the left as if the car was shutoff.

bad gasoline is a BS diagnosis

Would a Bluetooth OBDII dongle doing some real time monitoring pick anything up?

They're grasping for BS now

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Would a Bluetooth OBDII dongle doing some real time monitoring pick anything up?

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from what I understand, no. The real-time monitoring will pick up any codes that are dropped. but if the power is cut before the code is dropped, then it has the same uselessness as the Camaro's on-board computer and won't register anything. But i could be wrong.

There was a story on the news today about a major recall by GM on The Cruze and Pontiac G6 because of the exact same issue you described. I didn't catch the entire story, but you should look into it for sure.

Runs deep brah.

I'd report it to the NHTSA especially given the recall announced yesterday on the Cobalt and G5s. It's not an immediate fix but will at least give the issue some visibility.

go to camaro5.com and run this on the forums... someone is likely to have an answer over there.

absolutely do not stop with something as dangerous as this. trust me, this is coming from some on that had a 335 go into limp mode on a 55 mph street. that's scary enough. i can't imagine cruising the high way and the entire car shutting down.

Sell it.

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There was a story on the news today about a major recall by GM on The Cruze and Pontiac G6 because of the exact same issue you described. I didn't catch the entire story, but you should look into it for sure.

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I think I heard that 6 deaths have been caused by the problem.

Do you love your wife?

I was wrong above. It is the Cobalt and G5. Just in case you need that info.

Sell it. Take your lumps and move on with your life.

What kind of SOB sells a car that loses it brakes at highway speed?

Oh, PICARD I GUESS!!

take it back to the dealership and demand they figure it out, with it being under factory warranty

And yea go to Camaro5, that's where I get all my info.

[This message has been edited by hennessy11 (edited 2/14/2014 12:58p).]

Is it yellow?

I think you have Bumblebee. He can't talk..

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Power steering locked up, brakes wouldn't work

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On a side note, they are still working.
She just lost the power assist.
Have to turn the wheel hard and stomp the brakes hard.
Not to minimize the danger, but she should know that she is not 100% helpless when the engine quits.

Wait... she should have enough vacuum left when then engine dies to depress the brakes easily at least 3 times. Not surprised power steering dies with engine shut off.