time out!
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,020
Likes: 1
From: why? u comin over? new york
time out!
i have an 87 coupe. yesterday, while i was waiting at a light, the engine just 'stopped'. it started right up again and seemed fine, till i was cruising at about 55 when the engine suddenly turned off again by itself. the dashboard and everything else continued working. i pulled off to the side, and again it started right up like nothing was wrong. after that, i drove home (about 4 miles) without any problem, but now i'm nervous about driving it at all. does anyone know what could cause this?
sheri
sheri
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,830
Likes: 3
From: Granada Hills CA
i have an 87 coupe. yesterday, while i was waiting at a light, the engine just 'stopped'. it started right up again and seemed fine, till i was cruising at about 55 when the engine suddenly turned off again by itself. the dashboard and everything else continued working. i pulled off to the side, and again it started right up like nothing was wrong. after that, i drove home (about 4 miles) without any problem, but now i'm nervous about driving it at all. does anyone know what could cause this?
sheri
sheri
There are a variety of sensors that could be responsible, that it restarted and ran probably indicates a failing component that is only operating intermittently.
The best and safest thing to do is restrict your driving of the vette, since it is running now, until you can drive it to a reputable mechanic to run diagnostics.
There is no sense worrying about a hundred possible catastrophic failures as the reason until you find out.
It is probably a simple cheap fix.
Good Luck
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 156
Likes: 0
From: Carlisle Iowa
I had the same problem this summer with my 89. Stopped at a light or steady cruising on the highway it would suddenly stop running. No warning at all. Took it to the local Corvette shop and had the fuel system, injectors, fuel pressure, checked out. Sent the ignition module out to be tested. Finally found that the distributor cap and rotor were the original pieces and had simply worn out. Easy fix so check it out first and save yourself the last days of fall driving.
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,939
Likes: 1
From: Vero Beach Florida
Sounds like the ignition module is going out after it heats up. You can have it checked out but its hard to diagnose out of the car on a bench because there is no heat to cause the failure. However they are not much money, how many miles on the car?
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 122
Likes: 1
From: Turnersville New Jersey
I had the same problem this summer with my 89. Stopped at a light or steady cruising on the highway it would suddenly stop running. No warning at all. Took it to the local Corvette shop and had the fuel system, injectors, fuel pressure, checked out. Sent the ignition module out to be tested. Finally found that the distributor cap and rotor were the original pieces and had simply worn out. Easy fix so check it out first and save yourself the last days of fall driving.
Same thing happen to my 89. Distributor Cap and Rotor worn out. Changed both and never had a problem.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,020
Likes: 1
From: why? u comin over? new york
hi.. i just wanted to thank everyone who responded. after that happened, i left for cali for a few weeks and when i got back to new york, the car was fine and that never happened again.. n since my long term memory only lasts about 20 minutes, i totally forgot to check back here (wups). but i did copy all ur advice for my mechanic to read so he can check everything out over the winter 
~sheri
~sheri
