97 Pontiac Grand Am jerking

XKABAR

MEMBER
1997 PONTIAC 6000

I have a 97 grand am with 176000 miles thats acting up
sometimes when I press on the gas it's like the car is not getting the gas the rpms gauge does not even move though the car is still running.
also it takes jerking spells especially at around 45 mph. I had it put on a diagnostics test but they said it only showed transmission.
can anyone help?

1 Reply

MIKEYBDMAN

MECHANIC
623 POSTS

First off, do you have the 3.1L engine? If the RPM gauge is messing up at the same time you are having problems, then I would suspect a crankshaft or camshaft sensor. This engine has 2 crank and 1 cam shaft sensors. The PCM gets the signals from these three sensors and controls the ignition and fule injectors from these signals. It also sends the RPM informtaion from these signals. So it is a good assumption that if the RPM gauge is reading bad at the same time, it may be a bad sensor.
I do not understand the transmission statement that you said. If it is showing a transmission code, that may cause the car to jerk while driving. Did they list a code number?