Car Shutting Off Due to Low Oil?

[Valley olds]

Hello. Those that don't like to read may want to scroll to the end.

This thread is a bit related to my towing one. On Thursday night, I was driving at around 30mph. After 8-10 minutes, my car started shaking. I went to the center lane to make a couple of observations. The temperature was right, The RPMs did not seem to be out of the ordinary, and there seemed to be no check engine light on or anything. At that point, right in the center lane, the Alero stalled, and turned off. Somebody helped me push it to the nearest parking lot where I tried to turn it on with no luck. I then left the car there and went home.

Friday morning, my friend showed up to tow the car to the mechanic, this time however, the car immediately started with zero stalling. I drove all the way to the mechanic (13 miles away) with no issues.

At the shop the mechanic ran computer diagnostics, and checked the fuel pressure, but he found nothing due to the car not backfiring anymore. Still, I had him install the fuel pump just in case.

I drove home, and then back, and still no issues. I then went to my in laws, and that's where it happened again. My car was stalling to the point where it would not go forward and eventually turned off. My father in law told me to check the oil, and I did. Sure enough, the oil reached the part of the dipstick that says "Min". After adding one quart of oil, my car immediately turned on without any stalling or issues.

Now my question is: Will low oil, cause a car to not start, or stall very badly, or was my case of adding oil and having it turn on purely coincidental?

If it is coincidental, what can be another probable cause?

[a.graham52]

Low oil will not cause ur car to stall. What engine do you have?

[Redog]

It could be a safety thing. The oil was getting low and the PCM stalled the engine to prevent damage

[[ion] C2]

^wrong lol
won't do that

fuel, spark, air

low fuel pressure, bad spark plugs/wires/coil(s), vacuum leak, bad IAC
dunno

[tw0123]

If possible try and get a video if it happens again. Even grainy cell video could help diagnose especially at the mechanics if it's running right by the time you get there...

[Valley olds]

Redog:It could be a safety thing. The oil was getting low and the PCM stalled the engine to prevent damage

That is what I was thinking and hoping as well. I still don't feel comfortable though.

[ion] C2:^wrong lol
won't do that

fuel, spark, air

low fuel pressure, bad spark plugs/wires/coil(s), vacuum leak, bad IAC
dunno

I think I am going to try the ignition next if it does it again.

tw0123: If possible try and get a video if it happens again. Even grainy cell video could help diagnose especially at the mechanics if it's running right by the time you get there...

That is a great idea. I will probably do that if it happens again. Since adding the oil though, I have run it around 30 miles with no problems. If it does it again though, I will definitely record it.

[Valley olds]

Now I know that it was not the oil. Today it did it again. What is strange, is that this is the 3rd time it happens, and this is the third time that after waiting a while it starts again. I guess spark plugs are next.

[Nas Escobar]

I know we're thinking mechanical on this issue, but have you noticed anything strange on the gauges? Perhaps the security light being on or blinking? These cars were known for a bad pass lock system and it may very well be the issue. Not saying I'm positive it is, but it could be a possibility... Are there any signs of the car wanting to shut off before it does, other than the shaking? The shaking may very well be a motor mount gone bad and the engine can behave strange due to this.

[Valley olds]

Nothing strange at all. It is just the shaking. Even the service engine soon light takes like two minutes of backfiring to start.

Today I took it to the mechanic again. This time he caught it backfiring, but the diagnostic tool gave, what my mechanic calls, the most annoying error code ever. 300 Random misfire. He said that there are many things that can cause that code.

On the bright side, we now know it is not fuel related because the pressure was just fine during the misfiring.

What I am doing is leaving my car with him. He is going to borrow a more advanced diagnostic tool which will hopefully catch the error.

[a.graham52]

dont rule out fuel 100% yet. there is still fuel filter and injectors in that system. just an fyi.

[Nas Escobar]

Originally Posted by Valley olds

Nothing strange at all. It is just the shaking. Even the service engine soon light takes like two minutes of backfiring to start.

Today I took it to the mechanic again. This time he caught it backfiring, but the diagnostic tool gave, what my mechanic calls, the most annoying error code ever. 300 Random misfire. He said that there are many things that can cause that code.

On the bright side, we now know it is not fuel related because the pressure was just fine during the misfiring.

What I am doing is leaving my car with him. He is going to borrow a more advanced diagnostic tool which will hopefully catch the error.

0300 can be as simple as crossed spark plug wires. It's an overly generic code.

You should ask him if there's any pending or stored codes on the system.

[Valley olds]

Finally, after all this time, I seem to have gotten it to work. I replaced the coil, boots, and plugs. After doing this, it has not backfired for a week now. Thanks for your all your input .

[[ion] C2]

[Nate's Alero]

Ignition control module. When it gets hot it shorts, when it cools it runs. Same shit happens to Hondas all the time, if it's a v6 change the assembly, if it's a 2.4 change the IDI cover. If it's a 2.2... i don't know. I don't know anything about that engine.