964 C4 Engine quit during drive, PDAS & Antilock warning lights.
09-20-2019, 02:18 AM
#1
964 C4 Engine quit during drive, PDAS & Antilock warning lights.
To whom it may concern. I was driving on the freeway, engine lost motive power, very little to NO response to gas peddle, didn't die completely, sputtered and back fired so I could limp off freeway to exit, barely. At the same time both PDAS & Antilock warning light along with audible Central Alarm ! and a blinking PDAS LED on the traction control switch (C4 car). This was NOT the 'Christmas Tree' light up ( I know what that looks like too 
.
Short answer; I traced the condition to poor lower spark plug wire end connectors on my #3 and #5 cylds. Replaced those and now engine running again as it should and all warning lights and alarms are gone as well too. If you like more details, continue to read.
I'm posting this as I've received much help from this site and felt time to contribute too. When looking for help in this problem I found associated circumstances but none specific to the problem I just described here. Many threads were pointing to coil problems. Also I have a Durametric / pseudo Hammer and it gave me serious fault codes towards the ABS/PDAS module. Thank goodness I didn't go down 'replace the control module' highway, but it did get me to bleed my system again, not the fix, but hey got more fresh brake fluid in their again! I also spent a lot of time testing ohms,relays and such of the various sensors, and there are many ! So MANY things that 'could' be at fault and tempting to just go and replace $$$$$$$...........
'If ' I would have done the most SIMPLE troubleshoot first... ie.. Disconnect one of the Ignition Module Leads (7 pin connector under coil) and try run eng. on one coil then the other. I would have SAVED myself a lot of time and trouble, as this 'test' was what lead me to my problem then fix. There are threads that explain this test better than I would so I won't go into that here. When I learned it was my ' primary distributor / coil / ignition module / lower ignition wire set group ' I started with the ignition plug wires, as I felt they were suspect in age and condition. I was lucky to be able to find the fault first there before I spent money on parts such as new coil(s), (although it might be time to replace them as preventive measure), it was not the problem at hand.
Hope this helps someone searching same issue and a big Thank You to all other posters who have provided their information and experiences that I learned from here on Rennlist. Enjoy the drive.
Randy, 1989 C4
.Short answer; I traced the condition to poor lower spark plug wire end connectors on my #3 and #5 cylds. Replaced those and now engine running again as it should and all warning lights and alarms are gone as well too. If you like more details, continue to read.
I'm posting this as I've received much help from this site and felt time to contribute too. When looking for help in this problem I found associated circumstances but none specific to the problem I just described here. Many threads were pointing to coil problems. Also I have a Durametric / pseudo Hammer and it gave me serious fault codes towards the ABS/PDAS module. Thank goodness I didn't go down 'replace the control module' highway, but it did get me to bleed my system again, not the fix, but hey got more fresh brake fluid in their again
! I also spent a lot of time testing ohms,relays and such of the various sensors, and there are many ! So MANY things that 'could' be at fault and tempting to just go and replace $$$$$$$...........'If ' I would have done the most SIMPLE troubleshoot first... ie.. Disconnect one of the Ignition Module Leads (7 pin connector under coil) and try run eng. on one coil then the other. I would have SAVED myself a lot of time and trouble, as this 'test' was what lead me to my problem then fix. There are threads that explain this test better than I would so I won't go into that here. When I learned it was my ' primary distributor / coil / ignition module / lower ignition wire set group ' I started with the ignition plug wires, as I felt they were suspect in age and condition. I was lucky to be able to find the fault first there before I spent money on parts such as new coil(s), (although it might be time to replace them as preventive measure), it was not the problem at hand.
Hope this helps someone searching same issue and a big Thank You to all other posters who have provided their information and experiences that I learned from here on Rennlist. Enjoy the drive.
Randy, 1989 C4
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Jacke2c (09-20-2019)
