Ok, I know problems like this have been posted before but none of them seem to match my problem that i have seen. If this is a repeat please let me know where the answer is. So the problem is, the car will start up fine and idle fine, i get out on the road and step on the throttle like normal and the car gets up to about 2500 rpm and shuts off. It will start back up if I leave it in gear (manual trans). This will repeat and progressively get worse. Last time i had it out i couldnt even press the throttle at all or it would stall. I had to idle it home. BTW, it will idle rough but not stall. Also, If i bring it up to about 4000 RPM while sitting in neutral it will stall as well. Here is what i have changed: Cap and rotor, ignition coil, ignition module, ECM, TPS, MAP I checked fuel pressure and it seems fine. I hooked it up to a scanner that reads live data and the only thing i found was that the car is running 99% EGR duty cycle when the car dies. I dont know why its doing this. I pulled the plug on the EGR solenoid but the problem still exists so I dont understand. I hope someone can help because I am at a loss. BTW the egr solenoid is no longer available anywhere which is pissing me off because its case is cracked leaving the coil exposed. I was thinking that was the problem but when i unplugged it and ran it, the car was the same.

Anyone have an idea?

Does your egr diaphragm move easily?
When you were scanning it....what blm cell were you in?

I havent pulled off the EGR valve because I believe i need to take off the top of the intake which means new gaskets for there.

I dont know what blm cell is. I was just using a snap on ethos scanner if that helps.

Just put a hose on the EGR solenoid and start sucking.
Using a mirror, look underneath the valve and you should see the diaphragm move. No gaskets required.

The BLM is Block Learn Mode. It is used for long term fueling. It does get displayed on the Ethos scanner. I'm mostly just looking to see if you're stuck in block 4.

I will try to mess with the egr valve tonight. Thanks for the tip!

for the blm, I didnt see it on the scanner. Its not mine, i just borrowed from a friend so i dont really know how to use it. I was just monitoring the signals. If it was stuck in block 4, would that have been eliminated when i put the new ECU in? or is that something the prom designates?

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/di...-blm-cell.html (Swapped to 730, BLM Cell stuck on 4)

its ur pickup coil, its under the ignition control module. and try to get your ignition control module tested at autozone. but also try to pick up some "thermogrease special for the ignition control module" smear a little under the module and make the module bottoms out on the dizzy, because the module needs the ground. your Pickup coil is what tells your computer where exactly where your rotor is pointed. you have to remove the whole dizzy to change out the pickupcoil. knock out the roll pin in the dizzy gear located at the bottom of the dizzy shaft, pull the shaft out, remove the clip off the pickup coil and the ground screw and pull out the pickcoil off and replace, reverse the installations to replace. make sure you time it. and ya. about the EGR solenoid, when i replaced my EGR solenoid mine was entirly fired upon inspection. and if you really think its the egr valve (i dont think so) then you can go to www.rockauto.com trust me that site has everything. report back if you got any engine check engine codes. lates...

Very interesting. I am going to look into that. I will post again when I check this stuff out. Thank you very much for the input!

Well I changed the ignition pickup which looked like hell. But no change. Still stalling out. I pulled the o2 sensor connector apart but no change either. Any other suggestions?

I had some similar issues and it turned out to be a combination of weak fuel-pump and failing injectors (the car had sat a lot before I bought it). If you have good fuel-pressure, it could still be an injector issue. Good luck!

Ok, I have a new development in my car saga. It has now come to the point where the car will start up and idle for about 30 seconds and then shut off. It doesnt sputter or choke out or anything. Its just like the key turns off. 800rpm to 0 instantly. The lights and gauges all stay up. Is there a ignition relay or something that would cause a short in the system and shut the engine off? Any help is greatly appreciated as always.
Thank you,

Sounds like a Catalytic Coverter being plugged. My BMW (V8) did this...couldn't figure it out...it would start fine when it was cold...drive for a little bit then just die in it's tracks above 30-40 mph...then once hot it wouldn't even re-start until it had cooled down. Ended up being a completely clogged Cataltic Converter. I replaced both Cats and it never happended again.

I had the cats clog on me before so I ripped them off. Thanks for the suggestion

Could be a weak magnet in the distributor shaft. The late 80s-early 90s TBI pickup trucks were bad about this and the factory issued a service bulletin with a revised shaft to fix the problem. The bulletin blamed oil wicking up the shaft as the culprit and the revised shaft had a spiral cut into the shaft that forced the oil back down when the distributor is spinning. The oil gets into the magnet & weakens it. The old integrated coil HEIs had a solid permanent magnet whereas the later non-integrated coil models used what I call a "refrigerator magnet" that is more susceptable to the oil breakdown. Vehicles that I repaired related to this issue had the same symptoms you describe - idle ok and then just die. They would immediately start back up and then die again in 30-60 seconds.

One way to check this is to remove the distributor and slowly turn the shaft by hand. You can actually feel the "detents" when the armature points line up inside the magnetic pickup. If you don't feel these distinct "detents" while turning the shaft, the magnet has become weak and can cause the issue you are experiencing. When you replaced the pickup coil, did you notice any oil residue in the distributor?

There was a very light burned on oil film in some places along the shaft but I cleaned it up before putting it back in. I did notice the grooves in the shaft at the top for the oil. So if the magnets are the problem, do I need a whole new distributor to fix it?

At one time you could buy the distributor shaft (which contained the magnets) as a single piece without buying the whole distributor. If your shaft had the groove, then it was one of the updated shafts (which would be expected on a 92). This doesn't mean that the magnet has not gone bad, but reduces the likelyhood of that issue. The only way I know to test it at this point is to remove the distributor again (I know - not much fun) and do the "detent" test.

There are a number of other things that could cause the problem, but this is one that I had during my dealership days that kicked my *** the first time I ran into it. You never forget those types of problems.

One thing you could do to see if it is fuel or ignition is to remove the inlet ducting from the throttle body and be ready with a can of choke cleaner. When the engine starts to die, spray (cautiously) the choke cleaner into the throttle body to see if it will keep running. You may have to try a couple of times to catch it just right, but if the choke cleaner makes the engine recover you know the problem is fuel related.

checked the distributor, magnets seem fine. Thank you for the suggestion. Anything else?

Hi I just joined today for some help my gta tpi 350 sounds exactly the same as your problem. It has sat for a while and after a week driving again started to play up.I have done new dizzy, new cap, new rotor, new plugs,new fuel filter all pump pressure seems good etc.
I have found tonight that with a timing light on the remote coil wire(hei but not in the cap) the strobe light is a steady light at idle when I first start it and runs good, then 10 to 15 seconds later it starts to miss and the light is corresponding then usually it dies but will restart perfect run for a bit then the same thing. Mine is now really looking like a SPARK ISSUE. I am changing leads tomorrow to see if that helps. I am in Australia and there are fk all bits here so I dont want to keep just buying **** that isnt fixing it, next is a coil and a ecm.

It has done the 2500 die in the arse to me. then comes good for a 1/2 hour then **** again. then wont idle then engine light comes on it runs good for a minute then dies again. The next minute it idles great runs great only to 2500rpm though.

Does this sound like yours a bit and I will pass on any thing I can find. I also would love anyones ideas that are test or checks etc. I cant work out why the dizzy misses same as the old one with a constant power supply.

I hope you dont think I am stealing your thread just seems a really similar prob to yours.Thanks Link