2001 Buick LeSabre turns off while backing out

[EMan213]

I just bought this car at 97,000 miles.
On three occasions, I was trying to back out of a space, and then the voltage light would come on, and the car would lose power. After a few attempts, the engine would restart, and the car would work again. I went to an AutoZone to get my battery and alternator tested, and they were both fine.

I noticed that on the occasions my car lost power, I was running the AC or the radio before parking the car, which suggests to me that the car has some kind of electrical problem. I’ve tried to avoid the problem by not running the AC or the radio, and so far, it has not come up again.

What else could cause this kind of problem with the car? This is my first car, and my family didn’t have a car when we grew up, so my knowledge of cars is pretty limited. Thanks in advance.

 

[ulycyc]

Could be lots of things but I would start with the IAC. It's not controlling the idle/rpms under light load like backing up. Try and clean it but replacement is a better idea. If you cant do much yourself take it to a shop and look for codes and see whats needed in the tune up area like plugs, wires, filters etc.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

You can start with the basics and check the battery cables are clean and secure. While there check the battery date, you can check online for where it's at from that manufacturer. As a example if it's rated for 36 months and it's going on 40 months it may be time to replace.

 

[EMan213]

Could be lots of things but I would start with the IAC. It's not controlling the idle/rpms under light load like backing up. Try and clean it but replacement is a better idea. If you cant do much yourself take it to a shop and look for codes and see whats needed in the tune up area like plugs, wires, filters etc.

I went to a few shops and they won’t be able to take a good look at the car until next week. I decided to look up how to change the IAC and it was actually a surprisingly easy job. I’ll have to keep an eye on the car over the next few days, especially as it’s unusually warm in Southern California right now and I’ll be tempted to turn on the AC.

 

[EMan213]

I went to a few shops and they won’t be able to take a good look at the car until next week. I decided to look up how to change the IAC and it was actually a surprisingly easy job. The IAC was filthy, so there is probably something there. I’ll have to keep an eye on the car over the next few days, especially as it’s unusually warm in Southern California right now and I’ll be tempted to turn on the AC.

 

[EMan213]

I also had someone clean the throttle body, and that seems to have helped. I looked into doing it myself, but the process of doing so seemed…strange. No problems since, even when I turn on the AC. Thanks for the heads up.

Could be lots of things but I would start with the IAC. It's not controlling the idle/rpms under light load like backing up. Try and clean it but replacement is a better idea. If you cant do much yourself take it to a shop and look for codes and see whats needed in the tune up area like plugs, wires, filters etc.