Daymon66

UPDATE FRIDAY 2-08-2008

OKAY GUYS. THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP.
I CHANGED THE PLUGS AND PLUG/COIL WIRES TODAY. HOLY BAT CRAP THAT WAS AN EFFORT. ONCE I REALIZED THE BERU WIRES WERE NUMBERED AS WELL AS THE DISTRIBUTOR CAP IT WAS EASY. I GOT THAT DONE I FIRED HER UP AND HELL YES!!!!! NO MORE MISS, ALL THE POWER IN THE WORLD AND ACTUALLY IDLES BETTER THAN IT DID WHEN I GOT IT. SO THE PROBLEM WAS BAD PLUG WIRES.. YEEHAW!!!!!

I WENT AHEAD AND GOT THE HATCH OPENED AND ADJUSTED BOTH THE TOP AND BOTTOM MECHANISM. GOT LUCKY AND IT WORKS.

WENT AND BOUGHT A NEW BATTERY AND GOT IT INSTALLED.

DROVE IT UP TO SAM RAYBURN AND BACK, ABOUT 180 MILES. NO ISSUES. HAULS *** AND I LIKE IT....

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND CARING ENOUGH TO LEND SOME IDEAS AND EXPERIENCE TO A NEW HARD HEAD... I WILL PAY Y'ALL BACK SOMEHOW IN TIME.

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guys i bought the 89 S4 from PO Sias and PO Carl, AT and blah-blah-blah. got the car last tuesday. ran fine all week. drove it saturday for 60-70 miles. stayed parked sunday and just went to go for a ride this evening and instead of starting like it has done so far it started then dies. then started again but sounds like a 4 cylinder lawn mower. no power and idles rough. put it in reverse and wants to die. turn on AC and wants to die. it idles but rough and when you give it some pedal it idles up but is very rough and feels like half the motor is missing.
i've had fouled plugs and ignition issues on past cars and this feels like it's running on half the motor.


this is the **** i was afraid of. great car, no ideas what is wrong and no idea where to start?????

car ran great and pulled strong. no issues at all.

oh what a wonderful feeling. any advice aside from selling would be appreciated.

DIGITAL DISPLAY FLASHED "SAVE POWER" AS IT SAT THERE IDLING ROUGH. LIGHTS SEEM TO WORK FINE. DOOR BUZZER SOUNDED A LITTLE WEAK, BUT THAT MAY BE BECAUSE OF THE ROUGH IDLE.. RPM'S WERE SHOWING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 750 AND 900..[/B]

thanks in advance for your wisdom

* checked for flashing LED on passenger side.
* oil level is normal.
* fuel tank is half full. (half empty for the negative people)
* no leaks under car.
* computer flashed "save power"
* lights, radio, AC all work. when i turn on AC it slugs worse then idles back up but rough.

* fat *** forehead is sweating, i launched my son's baseball over 3 houses via his new aluminum bat and my old lady is following me around asking "what's wrong NOW"????

UPDATE 2-06-08
so you don't have to read the entire post. we eliminated the MAF from the list of possibles. in the process i noticed fireflies all around the plug wires, they were arcing to each other and back to the block and sorrounding areas.. also found a broken plug wire connector end. i ordered a new complete set of plug wires and plugs and will replace those as soon as they come in. i will update with the outcome of that event.

TONIGHT:
hey guys guess what? got home today and went to work on hatch. for grins i started her up just to see and she runs much better with minimal miss and just enough slug when mashing the go pedal to notice.
we have had a really dry day today and i kept her in the shop covered last night. i still see fireflies and i still have the broken plug end connector. but it is running better. i am thinking the combination of bad wires and a bunch of moisture/humidity & 2 full washes magnified the problem.

battery tested 11.6 at the battery so as i said earlier, new wires, new plugs, new battery and we will see if i'm off haulin some 928 *** again..

again i want to stress how much i appreciate you guys helping me with my problem. it makes me feel so much better knowing other people care enough about this car to help brothers and sisters out.

Daniel Dudley

You need new spark plug wires, more than likely, and maybe caps and rotors. The wires are expensive, and often owners refuse to buy new ones.

More than likely you are running on four cylinders. Do not run the car, and do not rev it hard. Start it in the dark, and see if you have a light show under the hood. Dampness makes the problem worse, BTW.

Daymon66

all plug wires have been replaced within the last 2 years. this car is up to date and very well maintained.

thanks and i'll look to see if i notice anything there.

Jim M.

Daymon66,

Sorry to hear about the problems. I disagree with wires and caps. They don't suddenly fail like you discribe. Sounds like the car is running on 4 cylinders like you describe. Starting in 89 the 928 has a sensor in the heads to monitor exhaust temps. If the sensor goes bad it shuts down the ignition to that bank to avoid cat fires. Look at the relays (under the passenger footwell) to see if an LED is lit. Either red or green, one is for the LH side the other is for the RH bank of cylinders (don't remember which is which). If lit, then that's the problem. Could be the sensor or wiring or something else causing the loss of ignition on that bank. Good luck and let us know what you find.

RyanPerrella

you'll have it sorted soon, this list is great for this kind of stuff. I have nothing to contribute but do yourself a favor, sit down, relax and wait for the posts to come in and you will have a great idea of what to do to fix it. You may also need to provide more info to help troubleshoot but this list will help you figure out whats wrong.

Daymon66

thanks guys i'll look.
thanks ryan, you know what i'm doing right now..

RyanPerrella

having a cup of tea?

Daymon66

dude this is southeast texas. after slamming my freshly opened Samuel Adams i spent a few minutes staring at the car wondering where i should kick the first dent. if this were anything american i'd already be driving it. i have NO EXPERIENCE with the cars and i am afraid and intimidated by it..

pscottjr

On 1/30 you posted about a fuel smell. I am an OB man so I can't address the problem on spot. However, did you isolate it to over filling when you filled up? Sound like a fuel problem somewhere, pump, filter, lines.

Daymon66

i assumed the fuel smell was an over fill issue as the odor went away after a day or so.
man i am lost on this. no idea what to do and is a perfect example of what i expected. the power of negative thought. was hoping i'd get a couple of weeks of trouble free while i researched and got to know the car, but it's only been six days and she's broke down in the driveway with little hope of fixing by me..

morganabowen

It sounds to me that you are in "Limp Mode". I had this same issue last year, and the problem turned out to be the MAF "Mass Air Flow Sensor". You may need the assistance of someone with 928 experience to assist you. Don't give up on the car due to this issue. hopefully, you have been reading rennlist prior to purchasing your 928, so that you are not undully discouraged. Good Luck

Daymon66

i'll research the MAF. I've been lurking for a long while and joined back in Dec.
thanks guys. very frustrating, just got it and can't enjoy it. but hell that's why we buy them right. so we can work on them..

heinrich

i don't know if the little LED's in the fuse panel area by the ECU's come on, on an '89 .... but you might check

Daymon66

i checked LED's. none flashing. but i don't know if they are supposed to or not either.
starts right up, just no power and exhaust kinda sounds like it's under water?????

i read a few post a while back about "limp mode" but haven't seen one the states what to check or how to fix it.

for a very mechanically inclined mechanical engineer i feel completely useless.

RyanPerrella

seriously, dont sweat it. It probably something minor that just needs to be replaced, this **** happens. It can be fixed.

It looks like a pretty nice car BTW.

If you want to rid your hands of it i will take it. I can pick it up tomorrow if its still causing you grief.