97 Commodore cuts out

[Greeneyes48]

Hello, I hope someone can help me with this problem. It is a 97 Commodore Executive, automatic, air-conditioned. It has a fault and I will describe it as best as I can. Please be gentle with me if my terms aren't correct .... nervous female here!
The problem is more prevalent in warmer weather although it will occasionally happen on a bitterly cold Melbourne day. It doesn't seem related to distance travelled.
What happens is that the car loses power, seems to splutter a little, run rough and it can stall but not always. What I do is pull over to the side of the road and turn the car completely off, wait a few seconds, restart the car and away I go .... good as new. Sometimes I don't have to completely turn the car off but just restart the engine.
Initially our SA mechanic thought it was a fuel problem so the fuel system was serviced ... filter(s) replaced, spark plugs and leads were replaced also ... in his words, he did a full service on the fuel system. He did say he increased the fuel flow (not sure if that is the right term??) because he wondered if the engine was starving. Having said that, I do not ever smell fuel like it is flooded or something.
It was December and the car didn't act up again for a couple of weeks so I thought maybe problem solved but alas, no!
Next on a very hot day, they took the car and were able to make it misbehave while they had it. They replaced the crank case sensor and again, the car behaved for about a month. Had we not had to relocate around that time, I would have taken it back to the mechanic and asked him to either fix it once and for all or refund my money.
The problem never holds me up for more than a few minutes, usually it is like a minute or less.
I have spent around $800 on this problem so far and am loathed to take it to another mechanic, fork out more $s and still have the same problem. Being retired, we need to watch our finances.
Last Friday I drove out to Tullamarine from Wantirna South on quite a warm day and it only played up once. That was after it had been parked in the airport carpark for 90 minutes and it decided to have a hissy-fit coming out of the carpark. I switched it off, restarted it and it never missed a beat after that. That was quite a long trip but it will also occasionally play up on a trip to the local shops which is less than a kilometre.
If anyone has any questions, I will do my best to answer them.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all in advance

 

[mossy14]

not sure wht model u hav? cheack ur intake system, cheack filter or new 1 thier cheap, take the pipes off so its jst the thottle and body and run the car c how it behaves and if it looks like its normal, cheack exhaust 4 leaks, the cat might b bloaking up,

 

[Greeneyes48]

Thank you for the ideas, very much appreciated

 

[-=ApheX=-]

Hi Greeneyes48,

First let me welcome you to the forums, always great to see new faces around here

Second, disregard the above post, I don't believe there to be any information there that will help.

Righto first thing to do is go here, https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/checking-error-codes-vr-vs-revised.22307

This how-to explains how to obtain error codes that your cars computer system logs when problems occur.

Once you've retrieved an error code post it back up here and that should give a few of us a place to start directing you. However, things to have a look at in the mean time, and considering you've done the crank angle sensor and a few other bits here and there you are defiantly on the right track to getting this issue sorted out.

Personally with issue's like this, experienced myself that closely relate to yours, I'd be tempted to think it may be; coil packs, DFI module, Sparks leads, fuel pressure regulator, block injectors, anti theft system playing up etc.
So as you can see the need for these codes can stop some of the guess work.

I hope that I have helped, I know that some of this can seem overwhelming, however the error code how-to is something I believe most forum members here would swear by

 

[Greeneyes48]

Thank you so much! While I kind of understand the getting the error codes thing, I think I will wait until lovely son-in-law comes home from holidays on Wednesday and ask him to help me. He is far more mechanically minded than me! Once we get the codes, will post them here. Again thank you for your help!

 

[VS_Pete]

Don`t be afraid to get the codes if you follow the How To you will be fine.