Rich W

Hello,

Took the car out for a spin Sunday morning:

-Half tank of gas
-Oil level midrange
-Oil temp at 8 o'clock position
-Air temp 85 F
-76k miles
-distributor belt replaced at 50k miles

Car was running great as I drove it on a twisty road. Came to a stop light, slowed and downshifted, and turned right. Car immediately lost power, then stalled. After safely pulling to the side of the road, I attempted to restart the car - no luck. I then swapped out the DME relay and tried again. No luck. I also checked the fuel pump fuse and DME fuse - they were both fine, and I cleaned off the fuse blades before reinserting them.

Tried starting the car again, and it fired up, but briefly idled around 400 rpm before dying. Started again and gave it some gas (thinking it might be a MAF sensor issue) but it hesitated and died, producing a Check Engine Light. Tried starting again, and this time it caught, idling around 800 rpm. Managed to keep it running, revved the engine a few times - no problem. My wife then got back in the car (it never fails that something goes wrong with the car when she's around) and we proceeded to drive off. As soon as I let out the clutch the engine started sputtering. I continued to depress the accelerator, and managed to keep it going, although with much less power than normal. This continued for several miles, at one point surging while in 3rd gear at 2000 rpm.

Within 200 yards of the house the problem cleared up and the car was running fine. Upon pulling up into the driveway the idle was rock steady, and revving the engine produced no hesitations.

The first culprits I'm going after are the fuel filter and O2 sensor. I'm also going to check the caps and rotors - one was replaced not too long ago after the rotor head disintegrated. I haven't read the code for the Check Engine Light since I'm more than just a little hesitant to drive it through traffic to the local Autozone.

Your thoughts/ideas are greatly appreciated.

Rennen

This sounds exactly like the way my car behaved when one of my coils was fried. Read the code and if it is a "Hall Sender", then you've got an ignition problem of some sort. Either a coil or perhaps bas ignition wires.

greenjt

No help here but i do have a question... Can AutoZOne read codes on the 964??

Heirsh

pure speculation here, but autozone probably has the ability to read generic obd2 stuff. i would be bowled over if they had a hammer and could read our cars.

Smokin

Something tells me that AutoZone won't be able to read the code.

It sounds like it could be the fuel filter or the coils like RedRs said.

Rich W

Yes, Autozone can only read generic stuff.

The problem around here is that the only shop which has a hammer is the dealer...

I'll check the coils - thanks for the tip.

Rich W

PROBLEM SOLVED!

The connector below the primary coil was loose. Pushed it back up until it clicked. Pulled it back off, cleaned it with electric contact cleaner, and reconnected. Started the car and it immediately came to life, then settled to a good idle.

The car now runs like a scalded cat. The burbling/popping on deceleration is gone, and - the best part - the hesitation I used to get at 3200 RPM is gone!

The connector has been like that for a long time. I'm really happy tonight!

robbed666

Great result !

I wonder how many dealers or owners have replaced "defective" parts when all that wrong, as in your case just a loose connection. In my industry (industrial electronics) the amount of "horror stories" with horrific bills to customers is unbelievable. When all thats needed is basic servicing and maintenance.

Rob

Bates

Rich W,

Ahhh...where would I find the "connector below the primamry coil"?

Thanks.

burgass

I had similar problems. Car was stalling and quiting when going over road bumps. After checking filters, pumps and just about everything it turned out that there was a bad conection inside the clock!!!! I did not believe but after we replaced it the problem disapeared. Something to do with the battery and generator they said

JasonAndreas

The two connectors circled in blue are the low-voltage connectors below the primary and secondary coil.