washington951

hi all,

driving home tonight - about 40 miles on city streets - the 951 started completely cutting out at a fairly regular interval. just like someone flips a switch. usually about 3000 rpm, but not always. a couple of times it did it at a light while idling. driving along, then WHAM - its dead. would always restart on the fly, while coasting though.

pulled into a parking lot and swapped the DME relay with a brand new one that i keep for just such an occasion. no dice. no change - was still dying quite frequently. really harsh cutoff - not a sputtering, but rather a HARD cutoff.

can't see any other common item that might be causing it - hitting a bump, or only under hard acceleration. its pretty random.

since the obvious one of the DME relay is out, what else should i be checking? rotor/cap? previous to this, it was a regular day....

(just got home and its dark, so i'm going to leave it til tomorrow - haven't popped the hood except to change the relay....)

any help appreciated!
thanks!

SidViscous

DME itself, or coil.

washington951

sid - is this where i whack the DME with a screwdriver to see if anything changes? any physical way to check the coil? thanks for the quick reply - how's the hot water in your place?

ERAU-944

my roommate had a cutting off problem. it would sputter and die, then not restart for a bit.

turned out to be speed and reference sensors.

-Michael-

washington951

yeah - this is a bit good/bad that i can restart it on the fly - every time. good - i wasn't stranded. bad - makes it harder to diagnose......

Cyrus951

Wiggle the speed/ref sensors and see if it'll fire.

How many miles are on the car?

Dal Heger

Thump the DME....
If it stalls then it is the DME. Open it and resolder the cracked solder joints in the DME.

Dal.

SidViscous

Yup, the whack the DME problem. You could take the coil to a shop to check it, or just replace it. They aren't expensive and it certainly doesn't hurt, particularly if it's original.

Erau is right too, could be the sensors.

It's fine, thanks for asking.

washington951

cyrus - 113k.
dal - i'll take my trusty DME whacker out to the garage and see what happens!
sid - thanks. this list is great! stay tuned.

Graufuchs

Had the same problem and it was my ignition switch, but check the DME, coil for spark and reference sensor wires.-good luck!! -chris

washington951

how did you boil it down to the fact that it was the ignition switch? still haven't gotten out there - hopefully today.

washington951

ok - update: i found exactly nothing.
turned the key on - boost gauge goes to 1 bar like it should.
started right up.
beat the tar outta the DME. no change.
wiggled the ref sensors - nothing.
coil connections are good.
wiggled the key in the ignition - no effect.
went for a nice little drive - no symptoms.

looks like its time for a pro! i need to get an alignment done, so i guess its off to the shop later this week and see what happens.

did i mention that i hate intermittent problems?!
thanks for all the help - i'll keep posting if/when things change. i know this will rear its ugly head at the most inconvenient moment....

otherwise - it runs STRONG.
thanks again.

nedkelly

Guys,
I had a similar problem on an old ford years ago. car would race down the road no dramas then suddenly just die. couple of seconds later it would start no problem. took me and the guys foever to find the problem. turned out to be a blockage in the fuel tank breather. years of dirt accumulated up in the breather pipe. honestly don't know what the effect was but we thought fuel starvation caused by vacuum perhaps in the tank and when we stripped down the fuel tank noticed the tank breather all clogged up. cleaned it all out and hey presto. maybe worth a 2 minute check though. drive the car until the problem occurs then stop and remove your fuel cap and see if the problem goes away. Good luck with tracking this down.

early85944

Cloud be something electrical as well. check your battery connections make sure they are not loose or corroded. Could also be a ground problem somewhere.

washington951

ned - theres a good one to try - thanks. strange, indeed.

checked the batt connections today - looks good. gauge has always looked good, too - no moving around or bouncing. i AM leaning toward something electrical, tho....