Today I was heading home from school and my Intrepid broke down. I was going about 45, and suddenly the RPM gauge went straight to 0. The other gauges were working though. Also, the cruise light came on. I turned off the road, and there was no power steering. The engine was still running though. I parked it, turned the car off for a minute or so, and then it wouldn't restart. It turns over, but doesn't start. Could it be a computer that went bad?

We've had problems with this car for the past few years, but it was mostly in the transmission with bad shifts. Although sometimes I turn the key on(not start it) and none of the gauges come on. Usually I can sit there a while and they pop on.

Any suggestions? I haven't tried the key test, maybe once my dad gets home we can go check it out and see what it says.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that when it did this on the road, I hit the gas and it didn't do anything.

 

Everything you said points to a speed sensor on the transmission going out and now dead. Check for codes, but my first rxn is the input sensor. Speed sensors are used in VSS calculation which is used for the idle air motor setting (for target idle speed). They are also used in RPM calculation, shifting (transmission gear ratio) and cruise control! The input sensor measures the engine speed of the shaft going into the transmission (RPM), while the output shaft gives the transmission output (and your MPH indication). These sensors while on the transmission, are direct inputs to the PCM for it's calculations.

The input sensor is located near the driver side (I'm pretty sure the driver side) CV. There is an electrical harness that comes down the side of the tranny. It splits into three connectors. The one nearest to the CV is the input sensor connector. (BTW the furthest back one is the out put sensor and looks exactly like the input connector. (The middle one looks different.) The part is less than $50 and takes about 5-10 min to change.

Let me know what happens,
Kurt

 

Thanks for the help. We had a buddy come over to run it for codes, turns out the crank sensor went out. Replaced it and it started right up! Haven't ran it yet, but I'm sure if it started it will drive fine.

 

Glad to hear your running again! Yea, a crank sensor (or map or cam....etc) coud cause a no start. That's why they put monitoring circuits!

Let me know if you need anything else.

Kurt