The weirdest most unexpected thing happened today, and on top of that today is the one year anniversary that ive owned this car.... :mad :cuss :mad

Ok, since I've owned this car I've replaced the following...
-Spark Plugs -Brake Booster
-Wheel Bearings -Rotor and Coil
-All Gaskets -O2 Sensor
-Fuel Filter -Air Filter
-Alternator

Today I was driving and my car was running normal, everything was going good, and then while im sitting at a light the car dies. I put it in Park and start it back up, and start driving to check my volts, and yes they were fine.
So about a half mile down the road at a stop sign it dies again. So I put on my hazards and try to start again but it doesnt start, eventually after 5-6 tries it does. Again I drive about half a mile and it dies while im driving and i just start coasting, dash lights, and power brakes still working. I come to a stop and try to boost it up one more time and it starts smelling like gas, so i got out and walked to my uncles which was near by. (fortunatly) We get in his truck and go to start looking at things and at first he thinks it's my fuel pump but, when i try to start it it pumps gas but doesnt start, just hesistates like its going to. Then he says he thinks it might be my coil (which i replaced anyway tonight) because i wasnt getting as much spark as i should since its the original one. So we replace that and try it again and nothing happens. We mess with it for a few more minutes then start turning the ignition and giving it gas and it starts up and had a REALLY weird ROUGH idle and it sounded like it was a motorcyle, the exhaust sounded totally different. It does'nt run by itself, only by when the person inside gives it gas. We try and drive it back to my house after we get it started with the nasty ugly idle and again, half a mile it dies. So we push it back to his house. Now i know its flooded, but I dont understand why its idling so rough, and why the exhaust sounds like a motorcycle and also why it wont stay running by itself. :cuss Can somebody please help me out, this really pissed me off today.:mad IM me if you have more questions to ask me... Thanks a bunch!

 

clogged cat maybe?

My buddy's '92 had a clogged cat and it rain fine until it got to 72 MPH, the car didn't die, but it wouldn't run right until he stopped and restarted the car, then it would be fine until he hit 72 mph. Once we realized that, we kept it below 70 the rest of the way home. His cat had disintegrated and pieces were lodged in the exhaust.

 

pull the vacuum line off the fuel pressure regulator and see if the diaphragm is busted also.

 

ttt


[Modified by -=Persephone=-, 10:25 PM 1/12/2004]

 

did it have a miss in it or any back fireing thru the intake or exhaust ? any unusual engine noises ??

 

If you have a cloged cat you would be overheating as well
I know had one completely cloged, when you hit the gas it would just die.
The exhaust was getting out at the egr pipe strangest damn thing I had seen to that point, the pre cats had cloged my main cat completely.
changed the exhaust ran like a champ!


anyway the only way to check that is to remove it and inspect.

You said your volts were reading fine check the battery with a volt meter and see what it is putting out.

Did the check engine light come on?

 

i doubt it's the battery because they tend to fail on cold mornings when you got o start up the car, not during a drive
it is possible to have a bad voltage regular in the alternator too, but this would cause the dash to flicker like crazy

my best guess is you're leaking gas somewhere so there is not enough pressre, or you have a vacum leak

clogged cat is entirely possible, but the engine would also be overheating pretty bad

 

Take off your dist cap and look at your rotor. Are the screws in securely? Is the pointer pointing straight? Bring your harmonic balancer around to top dead center, is your rotor pointing at the #1 plug tower?

Sounds like a timing issue to me but, I could be wrong.

Only other thing I can think of is the cam/timing chain has jumped time.

Let us know what you find.

Mike.

 

I can tell you for sure that it's not your battery. Once you start your car, you can take the battery out of it if you wanted to and it would run just fine (I've done it before). Once the car's running, it's just another load on the alternator.

 

I asked a friend and he said it could be my cap because its still my original one (since ive replaced plugs, rotor and coil) and over time it gets corroded and dirty causing it not to pass by as much spark as usual which would lead to only some of my cylinders running, right?

 

:iagree: I had the same problem. Check the fuel regulator and vacuum line to it.

 

Sounds like you have fuel but little spark. Remove the ignition module (below the coil) and take it to a dealer so that it can be checked.

 

Now that I think about it, this happened to my old Dodge and my old GMC as well, in both cases, I needed to replace the distributor.

This is the old distributor shaft from my truck


This is the new one, now you can understand why it didn't want to run.

 

Sure sounds like cam timing to me. When is the last time you had the chain/gear inspected? Outside chance the fuel filter is clogged?

IMHO, not likely the battery or alt. Nor the ign mod, while that may cause hard starting, it won't cause your symptoms.

That nasty-looking distributor would certainly do it....but on your vette? It was you're vette, wasn't it?

Good luck and keep us posted as to what you find out.


[Modified by TuffShift, 5:26 PM 1/13/2004]

 

I have a friend with a computer he hooks into the car and it tells ya everything. Thats what you need you can't guess a cure for late model cars.

 

keep us posted.... :thumbs:

 

One thing that gets me about the description of the symptoms is the fact that it sounds like a motorcycle now. I remember that when my ECM when bad, i drove it for a few weeks while it was running funny. A few days before the car was no longer driveable, my exhaust sounded 100% different than it ever sounded before. It wasn't clogged in any place, but it did sound exactly as you've been describing.

 

This is my guess too. You weren't by chance playing that stereo just a little too laod were you. I had the same thing happen to me at the Museum. Driving slow with the air on and the stereo up. Charge the battery and see what happens. Good Luck :seeya

 

First things first! Unplug your MAF to see if your engine starts and idles smoothly. If it does, your MAF has packed it in. Although "I said first things first", it would also be a very good idea to read any codes that have been set. Codes are the starting point, at least they point everyone in the right direction when you ask for help. Symptoms CAN be misleading and it is a BAD idea to start replacing everything you can pry off the engine in hopes of solving the problem.
I read in your profile that you have a gutted MAF. These suckers don't take to rough handling, so that could be your problem. No guarantees (we're attempting brain surgery by internet). However, RTFC and you'll have a good idea where to start looking for the problem.

 

I have'nt ran the car long enough to unplug the MAF, but yesterday I replaced the cap, and it still idled really rough, not as bad as a sound the other day, but the car still doesnt stay running by itself. Also checked my distributor timing.