Nearly Stranded

sonrider657

Registered User
I was nearly stranded twice today in my '94 SC 5-speed. It died while pulling away from a stop and would not start. I cranked on it for a couple of minutes then pushed it out of the road. After about 5 minutes it fired up and ran fine.

Then about 30 minutes later while going down the highway it died. I pushed in the clutch and tried to start it. When the car was almost stopped (from coasting) it started and then ran fine.

Anyone have any ideas about what this could be? It seems like it must be electrical because it either runs fine or dies without warning (no missing, sputtering, etc.) and it will not immediately restart but after an indeterminant (but relatively short) time it fires right up.

Please help!
 
Fuel pump is likely bad, or your filter is so clogged it only allows fuel for a bit before it strangles again. My car did the same thing when the pump was dying. It ran fine for a while then would just die whenever I put a load on it, then it would take forever to fire up again. My mom's old Mustang did similar whenever the filter clogged, only it would stumble for a few seconds first before dying. That ended up killing the pump, but that's another story about a 16 yr old vs his cheap and his mechanically incompetent parents. ;)
 
If the fuel pump was going bad wouldn't it be consistent? When the car is running, it runs great (even at full load - its as fast as ever) but then for no apparent reason it just dies.
 
Sounds like ignition problem. Fuel issue would sputter out as the fuel system is depleted of the required pressure to run. Ignition will act like you cut the key off. I would look in that direction. EDIS module, Crank Sensor, Cam sensor are the most likely culprits...
 
Sounds like ignition problem. Fuel issue would sputter out as the fuel system is depleted of the required pressure to run. Ignition will act like you cut the key off. I would look in that direction. EDIS module, Crank Sensor, Cam sensor are the most likely culprits...

That sounds expensive/labor intensive/professional job.

I am not a mechanic. I have basic mechanical skills and can change out parts but that's about it.

Advice?
 
That sounds expensive/labor intensive/professional job.

I am not a mechanic. I have basic mechanical skills and can change out parts but that's about it.

Advice?

My Grandmother could change all three pretty quickly. EDIS is on the fender I believe. The Cam Sensor is right below the thermostat housing (Two screws) and the Crank Sensor is down by the Crank pulley. Two screws as well. Just looked on Rock Auto.com....the Crank sensor is about 26.00, the Cam Senor is 37.00. And the EDIS or Ignition Module is 212.00
 
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My Grandmother could change all three pretty quickly. EDIS is on the fender I believe. The Cam Sensor is right below the thermostat housing (Two screws) and the Crank Sensor is down by the Crank pulley. Two screws as well. Just looked on Rock Auto.com....the Crank sensor is about 26.00, the Cam Senor is 37.00. And the EDIS or Ignition Module is 212.00

Thanks! Should I just change the Crank & Cam Sensors and see if it solves the problem? I hope I can avoid a $212 part. Money is really tight right now :(
 
does it crank slowly and with inconsistency? i'd venture to say fuel pump also. dont throw any parts at it until you check your fuel pressure.
 
Sounds like a crank sensor to me. Does the upshift arrow light in the guages stay on while cranking the engine? If it does cam sensor is bad. Sounds like classic crank sensor problem though. Also inspect the harmonic balancer for wobble. These cars now with the age of them, are extremely prone to harmonic balancer failure. Start setting what you can aside for a BHJ balancer, expensive but should be seen as standard issue on any SC. Also inspect the wires that go to the crank sensor for an open fray. The good news is your issue sounds to me like a crank sensor has gone bad.
 
I agree with the crank sensor SWAG. I assume when the car dies the tach immediately goes to zero like someone shut off the lights and went home??

This symptom is much more common on an early model DIS System but I see no technical reason why it would not also apply to a late model EDIS System
 
have the IRCM tested(bad relays inside can cause havoc), also I believe on my 95 I had a bad relay in the fuse box under the hood going out on me, causing that stalling....I not 100% on what the relay was for but i believe it had to do with the ignition.
Goodluck.
 
Thanks for all the input!

The engine cranks strongly and consistently. I will have to check on the upshift arrow light (I didn't even know it had one).

Would a bad fuel pump be sporatic? 98% of the time it runs perfectly, 2% of the time it suddenly dies.

When it dies, the tach still displays the correct rpm (does not go to zero while the car is in motion unless I push in the clutch and let the engine stop).

Will someone please step me through the process of changing the crank sensor? (I only have basic hand tools.)

Thanks all!
 
Twas the reason I asked about the tach dropping. If it does not it is NOT likely the crank sensor.

So....where does that leave us????

Could be fuel related for sure I would say. When was the last time the fuel filter got changed? Got a way to check fuel pressure? When I had my intermittent lean issue and the engine would bog from the bad MAF connector it never actually died. But it never hurts make sure that connector is clean. Could intermittently be losing a ground connection. Could be a lot of things so take each plausible item you hear and try to eliminate it.
 
Do what Duffy said he knows his stuff. I would still suspect crank sensor. My dad's friend had a 90 anniversary(like 3 years old at the time) and his did the same exact thing and no one could figure it out. Finally, someone replaced the crank sensor on a guess and it cured it. His wife made him sell the car because of the problem; she felt it was unreliable. The car would die and not start. After 20 minutes or so it would fire and drive fine for days, if not weeks until it did it again.

The crank sensor is behind the crank pulley(Harmonic balancer technically) a few small metric bolts hold it in place. I believe 8 mm, someone correct me if i am wrong. Unhook negative battery, so no juice is running through the system.Unplug the old sensor at the connector, then replace new one. Use a match book cover to set a good clearance on the sensor gear/ring. Put the match cover between the sensor and the gear/ring while you tighten. Do not overtighten, remember you are torquing into aluminum with small bolts. A little over snug. Try it, the part is not expensive, and it can't hurt to replace it.
 
my fuel pump acted up for about a year mostly on long trips after 2 or 3 hours i would come to an exit and it would want to shut off , i got tired of it and tried everything from crank sensor to dis and a new fuel pump fixed it
 
My dad's friend had a 90 anniversary(like 3 years old at the time) and his did the same exact thing and no one could figure it out. Finally, someone replaced the crank sensor on a guess and it cured it. His wife made him sell the car because of the problem; she felt it was unreliable. The car would die and not start. After 20 minutes or so it would fire and drive fine for days, if not weeks until it did it again.

Too bad he didn't know about this new-fangled thing called a multimeter. :rolleyes: These sensors are testable. I would hate to see someone dump a car because he (or his mechanic) wasn't diligent enough to find a simple problem.

sonrider657 said:
The fuel pump requires dropping the gas tank, right?

It sure does. Exhaust and fuel tank have to come down.
 
First thing I would check for this problem woulld be the ignition switch---we all know how often these cause weird intermittant problems.............Dan
 
First thing I would check for this problem woulld be the ignition switch---we all know how often these cause weird intermittant problems.............Dan

I don't think it is the ignition switch as when it dies, the radio, gages, etc. all work fine.

BTW: Do you know a good SC mechanic in central Kentucky?
 
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