Hello all! :)

For some odd reason in the last 3 months my caddy has cut
off three times on me while at a light. the first time it happened it
started right up with no problems. the second time it didnt, but after calling a tow truck it decided to start up. =p the dealer said it was a bad battery
and replaced it. so this past week it cut out again at a traffic light, and didnt start.(turned the key and it was dead, but the radio and lights work). this was on friday and we towed it to the shop, so when the shop opened on monday, it started up(go figure hehe). they cant find any problems with it, and have done all the normal tests.

the cadillac is a 1996 STS.

Has anyone else had this problem?

i had this same exact problem on my 89 deville, it only seemed to happen when i drove the car for a while and it got warm enough. what it turned out to be was the fuel pump, whenever it got hot it would quit and as soon as i let it cool off for about 45 min to an hour the car started back up and drove fine, until the pump got hot agian that is. hope this helps.
Dre

thanks for the reply!
For an update, the cadillac shop again today just ran tests on
all of the computers and none of them came up with errors. =(

the last time it shutoff on me was only about 2 miles down the road. temp. outside was hot, and the car was sitting outside so maybe. Ill have to look into the fuel pump.

When you car shutdown on ya(fuel pump). would it try and turn over at all?
mine will just sit there and make no kind of noise, like if the battery was completely dead(radio and lights work). but i just replaced that, and if the cars sits for awhile itll start back up again.

It doesn't sound like the pump. This is just a wild educated guess, but I might want to have a look at the fusible links and the connections into the body. The reason I'm saying that is you mention that everything dies- not just the pump. If the car cranked normally and everything else worked- yeah, definitely
look at the pump. A wire, just like most all other things when it gets warm it expands. If a fusible link is broken- they're not always readily apparent- when it warms it will seperate. Please know- this is not a definitive answer, just something to check if the pump checks OK. As always, check the battery hookups first before anything else for corrosion and looseness, both ends, both sides.

well, if the engine dosent turn over its not the pump, you should look into that starter it may have bad brushes inside. most of the time its usually the simple parts, worry about the computer and wiring last because all your doing is creating a headache, and stuff like that is very expensive to replace.
go for the starter, im in buffalo ny and up here you can get it rebuilt for 35 bucks, alot cheaper than anything comp. related, start there and work your way up and hopefully you'll find the cure before you get to anything like that.

Dre

I have the same problem except mines cranks sometimes but don't turn over, it has never not made a sound at all. I've been doing some research over the net and also spoke with my dealership. They say that this has been a recurrent problem on most Caddy's and the problem is the Crankshaft Position sensors need replaced, i'm going on Saturday to have mine replaced.

I had the same problem. It was the instrument cluster on my 96 STS. They have a intermittent internal ground in the cluster. You would need to have it rebuilt by a GM dealer as there is only one place in the country that can rebuild that particular cluster. Hope this helps.

Hello all! :)

For some odd reason in the last 3 months my caddy has cut
off three times on me while at a light. the first time it happened it
started right up with no problems. the second time it didnt, but after calling a tow truck it decided to start up. =p the dealer said it was a bad battery
and replaced it. so this past week it cut out again at a traffic light, and didnt start.(turned the key and it was dead, but the radio and lights work). this was on friday and we towed it to the shop, so when the shop opened on monday, it started up(go figure hehe). they cant find any problems with it, and have done all the normal tests.

the cadillac is a 1996 STS.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Sounds like dirty / corroded battery terminals / power cables to me. Easy enough to remove the battery and clean all the cables, connectors, removing any green or white mysterious growth (corrosion).

If you find any corrosion on the battery cable end connectors, be sure to check under the insulation of that cable for at least 12 inches from the connector. Possible corrosion under the insulation will not be obvious.

While you are doing all this clean up, have an auto parts retailer load test your battery also.