ok the car in question is

1995 Formula , 105k miles , mint condition (seriously). We never even replaced spark plugs, everything on it is original except oil , lol.

Ok problem:

car starts and dies 1s after , it starts fine but it's like fuel gets cut off or spark just goes out.

here's what we tried today.

Tried changing the fuel filter but couldn't get it lose , so we checked the fuel pressure and got 44psi (I believe it's supposed to between 41-47 so we're good there). Pump goes on and you can hear it so I'm assuming it's fine.

we threw in a new coil and while that improved it somewhat , after that we were able to stay on the gas to keep the rpms up and while it was like a wild bronco (running on 5 or less cylinders, LOL after about a minute it actually evened itself out and ran fine so we shut it off and tried again and once again it would run ****ty but less ****ty and once again it "fixed itself" after about a minute.

I have TTS datamaster and that pulled no code , I also have a recording of what I just described above so if anyone is willing to take a look at it I'll be happy to email it to you. (no codes , no spark retard and I didn't see anything unsual).

before all this we were getting code 32 EGR (I think it was 32 but don't quote me on that), it would come on like once a day and we would just shut the car off and then it wouldn't come on again 'til next day , lol. As a matter of fact we were going to fix that this weekend but this crap kinda kept us from doing so.

car still has original wires + spark plugs , I plan to get new ones tomorrow and go to town on the car in hope that maybe few wires got burned through but I highly doubt it as it did run ok for a while today :-(

plus dad made it to work this morning and then had trouble leaving work , after about 20 attempts car started and he fortunately made it home ok where he shut it off and had trouble again.

He said he didn't go through any puddles today but it was raining a bit in the morning. (we're really careful about going through puddles as that is the original opti spark , lol).

any ideas ?

thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

It sounds to me like either an ignition or a computer problem. I'd try replacing the Ignition Module and if that doesn't work, the Optispark. Pace sells optisparks for like $278.

Good Luck

 

Definitly give it a full tune uo,plugs ,wires air and fuel filter.Also EGR valve.It will do wonders I am sure.

 

so you guys don't think it's the opti ?

see I don't mind throwing parts at the car , but $300 guess isn't exactly my cup of tea ya know , LOL. I'll definitely attempt to do plugs/wires tomorrow , that can't hurt. , fuel filter I dunno , I'm afraid of screwing up the metal line so I may put that aside for now since we're getting good PSI's

 

oh I forgot to mention few things.

I changed the air filter today

and while searching through these boards for help I found out that the intake elbow should be checked for cracks and also the silencer tube. so I have and I found out the elbow cracked all the way along the bottom so it was sucking in air through there , for now as a temp fix I ducttaped over it to see if it will help any but it hasn't helped

 

I fried a computer once while programming it. The battery went dead. It'd turnover and start fine, then die a second after it fired. I sugguest you swap computers with someone to see if its the problem.

Then it might be the opti-spark that died.

 

well I thought of the computer as well , but since my TTS datamaster can still connect , record and do everything it ever did I'm assuming the ECM is fine.

but thanks for the suggestions guys , if you have any more please lets hear it as I still have no clue what it could be and I would hate to throw in a opti and then have the same problem but if that's what it will take then I'll do it.

btw , will bad opti throw codes ???

because I'm not getting any codes which is just weird to me.

 

ok f it , can someone please tell me if I need vented or unvented opti ? I'll just order it and throw it in and do plugs/wires while I'm at it... lol

it's a 95 formula btw

 

I just dug up shoebox's site through the search , WHOA ! there's tons of great info on there.

I totally forgot about the ICM , so I'll swap that tomorrow.

see when I was replacing the coil today we had the whole thing off along with ICM (didn't know it was ICM until I found his site). We had to drill out the old coil etc... and in the process had to shake it around a bit , cleaned it up with air etc... and after that when the coil was back in the car would at least run ****ty like mentioned above so it improved slightly.

so now that I found out about the ECM I'm thinking if maybe shaking it around etc... didn't revive it a bit.

I'll definitely throw a new one in tomorrow. It's easy to do and worst case I'll return it and exhange it for something else at azone.

 

another thing I just did was that I checked all the fuses underneath the hood (I found out in another thread that may have been the problem) they were all good btw.

(just trying to eliminate things to make your guessing a little bit easier , lol).

 

lol I Know I'm just rambling on , but I'm hoping someone has had this happen to them as well and can pinpoint the problem.

ok here's something else I forgot to mention before.

while driving home , dad said his gauges were bouncing up and down like crazy (only for a few moments), I believe the voltage gauge and speedo gauge (not the tach and not sure on the others).

recently we installed a poly tranny mount so I figured the connection at the back of the cluster must just be a bit loose or something and didn't give it much thought (it happened twice so far after installing that poly mount, so twice in like a month).

but now that I found shoebox's site , I see he has a nice write up on how to change the ignition switch and mentions in it that the tell-tale sign is gauges going nuts/dead and that it also is related to fuel pump and PCM...

should I replace my ignition switch as well then ?

eh might as well , LOL

 

its not the PCM but when my opti was going out... it did the same thing and actually threw a ton of codes all at once too. but with my car it would only die a couple times or even once and then fire up fine after the 2nd try. replacing my opti did the trick but i also knew i was having opti codes and not once did the car ever mis.

 

Sounds like an ECM problem. IF you can get the thing to stay running, vigorously tap the ECM with a screwdriver handle or something. If it's the ECM, the idle will jump.

If it isn't the ECM, I recommend checking your PCV system, which can sometimes cause starting trouble and the likes. It could be clogged or malfunctioning.

I've had 2 optis replaced, and neither have done this. I had trouble with the car starting and the misses or the motor "breaking up" at speed, but nothing like what you're experiencing. It doesn't sound like an opti to me.

 

lol ok , I'll smack the ECM around some tomorrow, at least I can take out some anger while doing it , lol

ok here's what I'll do

try tapping the ECM
I bought pcv valve yesterday so I'll put that in
ignition module
ignition switch
lots and lots of praying and swearing.

and if still not fixed I'll start doing plug/wires.

last resort is opti.

thanks guys , I'll definitely post some more info tomorrow when I find out what's going on.

 

ok here's an update, still looking for a possible solution !!!

put the igniton control module in , 4 spark plugs & 4 wires (all on dr. side) , PCV valve

still no codes

still the same problem. it does run little better and if we are on the gas while trying to start it it does usually start and stays running , about after 15 seconds of revving it above 2000 it suddenly jumps (the rpms do) about +500rpm and then it's fine.

Like it equals itself out all of a sudden.

any ideas ?

could this be the Throttle position sensor ?

I don't think it's the opti, once that goes bad it stays bad right ? this thing fixes itself after about 15s now , it also runs MUCH better on the street but that's due the major tune-up , lol