I was out for a Saturday afternoon drive in the nice weather and it was running terrific. Suddenly, on comes the check engine light and it's running like crap and then stalls. I tried starting it several times and it would run a little, roughly, and then die again. Of course, I was on a big ol' highway so I let it sit a little and then fired it up again and limped it, running horribly rough, to a side street and parked it. I hoofed it about a mile and a half to a phone (forgot the cell...DUH!) and had it flat-bedded back to my house.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

Ok, don't panic. So my first thought is dizzy belt. I'm going out to pull the distro to check the belt. If it's not that, then what next? It can' tbe the computer, can it? It has new caps, rotors, wires, coils, plugs, fuel filter, air filter, etc. already. Please post your thoughts. If I can't find it relatively soon, I'll be having it flat-bedded to a dealer for repairs. I'd prefer not to, though.

 

Maybe you already tried it but the first and cheapest thing would probably be the DME relay.

 

Actually, no. I'll do a search.

 

Oh, and I just pulled the distributor caps and rotors and checked the distributor belt and it appears to be in tact and fine. Looks like I'm trying to find something else. I'm going to pull whatever codes I can from the computer to see if that will tell me anything.

 

i had the same problem. try your coils. mine was the primary that caused it. i ran the car only on the secondary untill i replaced the coil.

 

Well, the coils are brand new, but I suppose it could be. I kept my old ones so I suppose I could swap them back. I used the accelerator pedal method to check my codes and I get "1234" back, which I think is "Hall Signal". What the heck is that?

 

See the thread here: https://rennlist.com/forums/964-forum/217027-continued-engine-missing-problem.html in which Loren talks about the Hall sensor and the mistaken error code readouts.

Marc
ps. I don't what a Hall sensor is either.

 

for cheap, if that would make you feel better, I mean!

 

Well, I know what the "Hall Effect" is. That's the arcing in a jacob's ladder, so I'm guessing a hall sensor must be detecting arcing in the distributor. Anyway, I can't get the sucker to even start any more so I'm wondering if, in my haste, I put the plug wires back on wrong. I'm giving up for the night and I'm going to try a few things in the morning again. I found a few threads on the hall signal and sensor, so I'll follow a few of those tomorrow and see what to check. My problem is that I don't know how to diagnose many of these things.

 

What year car? Did you try getting the check engine blink light codes out?

 

It's a '93, and yes, I did get a code. It's "1234", which is the hall signal code. I'll tell you what, I'm a little pissed right now. I just checked my BRAND NEW plug wires, and found a small crack in #5 on the primary distro. I wrapped it in electrical tape and it didn't make any difference, but now I'm going to have to replace the damned plug wires again. WTF? Where did that come from?

Anyway, how do I diagnose the DME relay problem? Do I just need to get a new relay, or is there any way to test it? Where is the DME relay located?

 

Take a look at the following page about jumping the relay (it's a 944 site, but the original DME relay in the 964 is a 944 part.......)

http://frwilk.com/944dme/dmerelay.htm

Also, did you clean the hall sensor connector on the distributor? (Can't hurt anything)

 

Yeah, I know that. I was just desperate. I'm going to try to make a warranty claim with Vertex on the plug wires. I know I didn't cause that crack in #5 on installation. I think it's faulty, and I'm guessing its the source of my angst. F.

 

Also, try disconnecting each of the ignition control modules individually. This will narrow it down to 1/2 of the wires, if that's part of the problem........

 

Nope, I ditched the old wires because they were crappy. I wouldn't put them back in no matter what considering how difficult that job is. I did try disconnecting the coil wires from the distributor caps and one ran badly and the other ran not at all.