long question

VostocK

Registered User
Just over a year ago , I bought a 92 cougar with a 3.8 from a friend. The car runs great when it is cold but when it warms up (after 5-10 min) it begins to run very badly. It bucks and sputters and dies after about 20 min or so but the colder it is outside the longer it takes before it starts acting up. Eventually it will die and will not start until the car has cooled all the way down.Once it is cool , it starts back up and drives like a new car until it heats up again.It doesn't always happen on short trips in the middle of winter but in the warmer months it is guaranteed to happen. This car has been doing this for at least 3 years now and I would like to find the problem. The person who owned it before me gave up trying to fix it after it had been to almost every dealership in town and being told there is nothing wrong with the car because it doesn't throw any codes and didn't act up on the short test drives. The only place that told him anything was wrong told him he needed new heads and 2 weeks and $1100 later it still acted the same was on the way home from the shop. He got fed up and parked the car and didn't even start it for over 2 years until I bought it from him. Almost everyone I asked said it sounded like the ICM.
2 weeks ago I replaced the ignition control module, I kept the old one in the car and when it left me stranded I plugged in the old ICM but the car still would not start until it had cooled off. A few people told me since it was not the ICM that it was the stater. I got a new stater-pick up coil and replaced it along with plugs cap and rotor but the car still does the exact same thing. It is getting good fuel pressure and the engine is not overheating. When it acts up the check engine light does not come on and all the gauges are normal. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. I am at my wits end and I really do like the car and don't want to send it to the junkyard. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. ( Sorry the question was so long )
 
you know what it sounds like to me... like detonation... muahahaha... i think detonation... if it will crap up when it gets warmed up then most likely it is detonation... it is a Natural Air 3.8 or a Supercharged 3.8?
 
It is a N/A . All stock with the air silencer removed. What exactly is detonation (like spark knock?) and is there anything that can be done about it with out major repairs?

(Pic of the POS)


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detonation is when the fuel ignites before the spark even gets a chance too... this is caused by using low octane fuels. Have u tried pumping HIGH OCTANE fuel? try it. see if it helps. if it is that then i think ur block has a high compression ratio which it shouldnt. high compression ratios require high octane fuels. anything below 91 and the engine starts to crap up because of the heat.

SC's have a high ratio that requires nothing but premium, in the even that u put cheap crap into an SC there is this plug that u disconnect to retard the timing.
 
87 tbird

3.8 had sorta same problem ...would not start hot ...after much disassembly
found it was battery cable ..corrorded all to phuck on the inside ...basicly ate itself apart and the heat added more resistance to the allready bad connection... also try a different battery ...they tend to short on the inside ... under certain conditions ...making other electical componets seem like they are not working ....dave
 
No offense but for a POS thats a pretty nice looking car especially considering it's 12 years old. Have you taken it in when it's hot and acting up. Have you checked the DIS when it's hot. Like Merc said heat will add resistance to electrical parts "any electrical part". As far as detonation the reason this occurs in lower octane fuels sooner has to do with your compression. The more compression you have the sooner fuel will "Detonate". The higher the "Octane" the more compression a fuel can take before it 'Detonates". If you don't have a supercharged car lower octane fuels should work fine. And the way you describe your problem it sounds more like an electrical component i.e. DIS, Cam Sensor, Crank Sensor, even plug wires, is getting hot and failing. Thats my .02......

Rick in FL :cool:-~
 

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Thanks sweet90sc, it is not really a bad car it just has this weird problem. And I guess it is worth the trouble to fix it because only payed $200 for the car. It is very frustrating, I have been on the verge of abandoning this thing on the side of the road at least 4 times when it has left me stranded :mad: ( the last time I took off the license plate and walked.I went back a couple of hours later and it started right up so I put the plate on and drove home). If I don't get it figured out soon , I am pretty sure that will be where this car ends up. I am starting to think crank or cam sensor also, are they expensive or hard to replace?
 
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