I will start by saying i have an 89 Formula TPI with an auto.(stock except for no cats and a catback exaust)plugs,plug wires,cap,roter and oxygen sensor all changed about 3 months ago.

driving to work this morning my car tried to die on me it lost all power and seemed to be running on only half of the cylinders.
it was sputtering and bucking and i had to feather the gas to keep it running also couldnt get it to rev past 2200. I was crusing good at about 55 mph when this happened and pulled over to check it out.
The car didnt throw any codes and no check engine light either .

After starting and killing the car a few times and forcing the car to run by giving it gas for a few min it went back to normal, idles good and runs good now with good acceleration.i put another 20 miles on it after this happened .With no more problems.

ANY IDEAS ON WHAT IS GOING ON????????????????????????
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

CEDOE,

I'd definitely work the "temporary insanity" defense.

I'm not sure how cool it has been getting in the bayou over the past few days, but it may be a factor.

A possibility is the ignition system. In cooler climates, moisture can accumulate in the distributor. When the engine is cold, it isn't a problem (since it is ice or water droplets). Once the engine warms, the ice melts or droplets vaporize, turns to spark-shorting water vapor, causes misfire for a time, and then can evaporate if the engine is allowed to continue running long enough. It's worth pulling the distributor cap to take a look. If it's been humid and cool there, it is a possibility.

Another possibility is that your fuel pressure may be wandering up and down. That wouldn't necessarily set a DTC. Icing in the tank/lines could be a culprit, or a clogging filter, or a failing fuel pump. Can you test the fuel presure?

 

Thanks for the reply,Vader

well it isnt cold today by any means its is however very humid there is a front comming through this evening (overcast and misty about 65 deg).

i dont have a fuelpressure gauge but i know someone who does and will try to borrow it tonight. The dist looked dry and normal when i pulled the cap.

I am thinking maybe a blockage in the fuel filter(only about 6 months old) hope its not the pump.

could this have anything to do with it. over the weekend(Sunday)
i installed two 10 inch subs and 2 amps in my car now i have a booming sound system could i have possibly vibrated some rust or trash loose in my fuel tank. i was at about 1/4 tank this morning when all this happened. mybe im reaching here??

and thanks again for your reply you do now your sh*t from other post i have seen.

 

MAF, if you get a poor or broken connection on one of the pins (don't remember which one) it will run like absolute crap, spit black smoke and die when you take your foot off the gas.

Experianced this first hand

 

Good point, but that should set a DTC in 600mS at most, since that's as long as the ECM timer will run without a MAF input that is in range. Then again, if the little curly wire in the light on the dash has taken a dump on him....

 

Thats the fun part, when mine did it there was never a code set. The only way I was able to find it was that the dealer had just replaced the MAF (car was 2 weeks old) and when they hooked it up to the scanner they said the MAF was bad and had to order another (4 weeks to get one the first time). Out of curiosuty I pulled the MAF connector and looked at it, there it was, a female pin that had gotten bent out of shape when they put it on. I used an awl to bend the pin back and 17 years later no other MAF problems.

 

Well guys my fuel pressure is steady at 44psi that should be just about normal right?

my SES light does light up when starting the car and when i just turn the key on but not starting. so i dont think its broken .

i put another 43 miles on the car this evening with no problems so
im at a loss as to what the problem is. i will change the fuel filter this weekend and see what happens, it cant hurt.


thanks for the replys
Cyril

 

I have had mass air flow problems just like that and also when my last fuel pump took a dump it did the same thing. the fuel pump was the worst because I had to drive with the fuel guage on it for 20+ miles nailing it a stuff till it acted up again

 

My old Cutlass did this to me once. It turned out the wire to the pickup coil (not the main coil) on the distributor was bad. Is it hard to start when this happens? If so, try smacking the top of the distributor a couple of times. This worked for me, as the little wire in the distributor gets kinked from all of the rotating and over time wears. When you hit it, (for me anyway) the wire makes contact again and will work for a while. It's like bending a paper clip back and forth. This may not be the problem, but it would be a lot cheaper than a MAF sensor.

Eric

 

Man, are YOU lucky. There must have been just enough resistance to lower the MAF output to make the mix lean, but still be enough signal to fall within the range of "acceptable" for the ECM "lookup" table multipliers. You get all the fun ones...