DirtyDaveW

Usually, my weekly commutes to Rochester from Albany and back are uneventful. However, this past Sunday night on the way to Rochester was different. As I neared the halfway point (Utica) the car was cruising at 75mph just fine, then it stumbled and went dead for about a full second, then came back since its a manual transmission and I never pushed in the clutch. I thought, "Okay.. what the hell was that?"... I studied the gauges and everything looked normal. I kept going. Then about 15 minutes later it did it again but 2 times in succession before renewing the journey. Now I was getting concerned. Sure enough, the close I got to Albany, the more frequent and the longer it would take a break before restarting. I was trying to figure out if it was fuel related or spark but the next event made me pretty sure it was spark. Lol... So I'm suffering thru this behavior of dying then coming back but still going 75 mph most of the time. As I went past this car that was going like 74, after I passed them by a safe distance, I moved over to their lane. At this point, my engine did the 'live, die, repeat' progression but added a massive backfire. I looked in the rearview mirror to see that poor car I'd just passed emerging from the cloud of soot my engine just expelled in the backfire. I felt bad but at the same time laughed. They put on their brakes and stayed about 1/4 of a mile behind me after that.

After I got to the motel(barely, the incidence and longevity were increasing with each iteration), I vowed to check it over the next day. I had been scanning the PCM with my datamaster software the last hour of the trip to Rochester but no codes were ever detected/thrown. Oh great. An intermittent electrical issue. My favorite (/sarcasm)... I pulled the PCM out and checked the connectors (I'd swapped the OBDI for the OBDII and back for an inspection sticker). One was not completely on(the blue one) so I thought, "AHA! Found it!" and eagerly reinstalled it only to be greeted by the same live, die, repeat. Crap...When I 'could' get it to start, I shook/wiggled all the wiring harnesses to see if I could force it to stumble but nothing ever affected it while I did that.

Then, I remembered a long time ago, when my MAF connector would get a patina/layer of oxidation on it. My car and I would be driving merrily along when, poof... the engine would die. I would get out, cussing, unhook the connector and reconnect it about 4 times to scuff off the oxidation and then it would immediately start and I could drive it w/o issue for another 3 months or so. With that in mind, I hunted down the blade connector from the LTCC box to the 'hot' wire from the ignition signal wire. I unhooked it and reconnected it about 6 times, then started the car. Well I'll be... runs fine. I was nervous about getting out on a road/freeway that might not have shoulders wide enough if I had to pull over so at first, I just went around the motels parking lot several times. I'm sure some of the guests I saw outside thought I was either lost or casing the joint looking for an unfaithful wife or something. Lol... After that, I went a couple of miles down the road and back, all good. This morning I drove to work and not a single hiccup.

Just wanted to mention this incident in case someone else has an intermittent issue that doesn't throw a code. Check your electrical connectors for oxidation. It's rare, I realize, but I've seen posts from guys that had similar issues and the recommendations from the audience were to throw parts at it till it goes away. "Replace the fuel Pump", "Replace the Opti", "Replace the ICM", "Replace the TPS", on and on.... If I were to follow their advice, I'd be well into the hundreds of dollars(including labor) and the car still would not have been fixed.

Kevin Blown 95 TA

Actually, I think faulty electrical connectors cause a lot of problems - especially on custom wiring. The connectors are usually not the better weatherproof variety and a lot of time the tech doesn't have the right crimpers for the job. And the PVC connectors and crimpers that you can buy at the parts store or get in the kits you buy are usually not very good for automotive applications. A couple of tips in case you have a vulnerable connector is that you can use some dielectric grease in it or you can seal it with some self-vulcanizing tape which is kind of hard to remove, but you can cut it off to get at the connector if you need to disconnect the circuit later. I also use heat shrink tubing that has adhesive on the inside, which melts to the wire insulation to seal it up real nice so water cant get trapped in there. If I ever bought a car that someone has put all those little butt connectors in the engine bay for various hookups - that would be the first stuff I would redo. There's lots of little tricks to keep your connections alive.

DirtyDaveW

Kevin, Point taken. I should have replaced this cheapo Autozone 'blade' type connector with a weatherpack. I have several in my shop. Hope you're enjoying your car! I'm looking foreward to (finally) putting in the TH350 w/4000 stall TC this coming weekend. I'll use the Subaru for the weekly commutes. I'm dying to see what the Z28 will do with the auto at the track.