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engine died twice yesterday

D

duboy

New CEG'er
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
6
Location
Atlanta, GA
I searched, but for some reason couldn't find what seems to be close to my issue.

I have a 98 SVT 125K miles, pretty much bone stock minus, susp and a tune. The tune has been on the car for...at least a year now.

I was driving on the highway when suddenly the tach drops to Zero, then up to 1K RPM, then to zero and 1K and zero and 1K, meanwhile the car is not responding to throttle input, then it dies, so i pull over. pop the hood to see what's up, nothing "out of the ordinary" no fluids leaking anywhere, no smoke. Try to crank it, it turns over but won't start. pull out the MAF sensor, plug back in, turn over, won't start. Get back into the car, sit and think about it for a minute, run back out and check all the wiring going to the engine etc. about 2 minutes later, try to start, and it fires right up, idles nice and smooth. i decide to pull it off the interstate.

I get on local roads, everything seems fine, no CEL or anything on, so i decide to drive it home, only 1 mile away. I pull up to a stoplight and it dies again. I do the same routine as before, and it starts right up again. drive it home no problems no check engine light.

I've read about the alternator bad - wouldn't be the alternator though in my case would it? The battery has enough juice to fire it up without a struggle.

Obviously it's nothing related to the timing chain/tensioner, i'm assuming it wouldn't run at all if anything was out of whack there

I'm ruling out the tune right now because well...it's been on there for at least a year with no issues.

Fuel pump? could it be? Anyway, i'm stumped? anything i should look at next? Oh it idles fine once it's started, not lumpy, no weird noises. just...fine.
 
The battery seems fine (tested with my battery charger), the terminal connections are ok as well. I noticed when i was rooting around the wiring, there's a connection going to a thin metal line to the left of the engine (when looking AT the car), looks like 2 wires, one of them is green. It's frayed and i can see the copper wire. What is this plug/lead and could it be shorting on something?
 
Terminal connections may LOOK ok, but what you really need to do is remove them, clean them, and reapply. I thought they were fine as well, but apparently mine were dirty and my car was stumbling and having issues starting. Definitely disconnect them and clean them. Also, if the exposed wires are still in decent condition tape them up, or cut out the bad section and solder and shrink tub the two ends together. I recommend the latter, but many times taping is sufficient.
 
zorrex said:
Check your battery terminal connections. Also check condition of the wires elsewhere.
Click to expand...

gotta agree with Ian here.

my SVT had an issue with the battery terminals. Car fired up all nice and healthy, turn the car off, and it acts like it has a dead battery, I would wiggle the terminals and it would come back to life again.

chances are one of your terminals is loose, you hit a bump and it jiggles the terminal, car doesnt have a properly complete circuit and cant run anymore.
 
ok, did some rootin' around today. Battery terminals are fine, i discovered and taped up 2 leads that had cracked insulation and bare wire exposed. I electrical tapes said leads and drove the car for about 6 miles, total running time 20 minutes. No problems. I am hoping the problem is "fixed" and if it doesn't happen again, i'll shrinkwrap the leads properly. I'll update if i returns!
 
i've found that a FRESH (it's "wetter") tube of GOOP can do a good job of permanent repair for cracked insulation etc, where the electrical connections are still solid. you just make sure everything electrical is ok, then slather on the GOOP.

mike
 
mrutkaus, thanks for the info! i'll probably pick some goop up soon.

I've been driving it (not daily) for the past 2 weeks, put probably 200 miles on it with no problems since i did my checking. the car runs fine, passed emissions etc :) anyway...i'm still wary about it, but it's looking good. thanks for all the help!
 
duboy said:
mrutkaus, thanks for the info! i'll probably pick some goop up soon.

I've been driving it (not daily) for the past 2 weeks, put probably 200 miles on it with no problems since i did my checking. the car runs fine, passed emissions etc :) anyway...i'm still wary about it, but it's looking good. thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...

Glad the problem has stayed away.
 
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