Problem with car dying

[BuickMike231]

Hey guys, figured I'd throw this out here to see if anyones had a similar experience. I was driving my car and got stuck in traffic due to an accident on a major highway. It was over 100 degrees out yesterday (I'm in Texas) and sitting there at idle on the highway for probably 10-15 minutes. Just as I hit the clear to get going past the accident the car starts spitting and sputtering like it's going to die, and then it does. Couldn't get the car started again and had to let it sit for a few minutes and then it fired right up, but ran horrible, spitting and sputtering again. I made it off the highway to a parking lot and it died again. I let it sit for about 10-15 minutes then tried it, it fired right up, idled terribly then died, and this happened a few more times. I finally decided to just get the car trucked back to the house and mess with it there, at which point the car fired up and I drove it back into my garage. It seemed to be fine. Did the car just get too hot and have to cool down for a while? I have a 160 T-stat in the car, and the coolant got up to about 191 when it started acting up. Is that too high for the T-stat and the TurboTweak chip? Did something else get affected by the heat, or is this a separate problem all together? Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks guys!!

 

[JST A 6]

That shouldn't be too hot at all. Keep in mind what these cars had for a thermostat from the factory. We just switch to colder ones so we can turn the boost up more with less danger of detonating. I'd be looking at fuel pressure when it sputters/dies, and if that's fine I'd suspect the coil pack/ignition module.

 

[BuickMike231]

That's what I was thinking too, the stock T-stat was a 190 so it shouldn't have been too much. If it was the fuel or coil, would it be a consistent problem or would it hit at random times? This does not seem to be consistent.

 

[ttaowner]

maf sensor? try rapping on it or unplugging it.

 

[BuickMike231]

I put a new maf on the car when I got it about 2-2.5 years ago. Can they crap out that quick? I will give it a shot, do you just unplug and hook it back up or try to start it with it unplugged?

 

[ttaowner]

I put a new maf on the car when I got it about 2-2.5 years ago. Can they crap out that quick? I will give it a shot, do you just unplug and hook it back up or try to start it with it unplugged?

you never know?unplug it and see if it runs better?
i have several of these cars and i drive them year round so over the last few years i have had quite a few die on me and a couple were the reman ones too! IF it is bad put a lt1/ls1 maf / translator on it and don't look back. i have 2 of these setups and i love them.

or try borrowing a maf from a friend to see if it helps

 

[JST A 6]

MAF sensor is another potential cause I hadn't thought of. I'd do what ttaowner said and see if you can borrow one to see how your car runs with it. If possible borrow a known good stock MAF sensor--with a rebuilt one or the incorrect one you never know if it's going to work right, and if it doesn't that might lead you to believe the problem lies elsewhere. Also, if you've been running with a bad MAF you might also have fouled spark plugs. I have a receipt that came with my car where the previous owner couldn't get the car started once so he had it towed to Buschur Racing and they diagnosed/replaced a bad MAF and also had to change the plugs. And yes, if you have a loose ground or something of that nature the other possible causes I mentioned can be intermittent.

 

[SS/GNX]

I had a similar problem that was a PITA to track down... ended up being a ground... check them ALL.

 

[BuickMike231]

That is a good point with the grounds, I will definetly check them all. I was also thinking about the fouled plug thing, I've replaced the maf once, or at least I had my buddies shop do it. I'm pretty sure he probably used of the junk replacement ones come to think of it, so that could be worth investigating as well. Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm out of town for the week, but hopefully can mess with it a bit over the weekend and report back!! Thanks!

 

[sonseeker]

watching this thread having similar problem,but have eliminated MAF!Thinking more of fuel problem.

 

[BuickMike231]

I'm finally back in town to mess with this again. I haven't had time to check the maf yet, or the grounds for that matter. I will try to get to as much as possible this weekend and post back if I can find anything. It's pretty annoying because last Sunday I drove the car around and it was fine, it's a very inconsistent issue, it's only happened to me twice and the first time the car sat for two months. I chalked that one up to just sitting too long, but I have been driving the car since I got it going and it happened again last weekend when I posted this up! Crazy stuff...

 

[joe_schindler]

It’s easier when something just dies; and you can fix it. You may have two or three things going bad; and fixing one may not cure the problem completely.

It may be heat related. I’ve seen coils and modules (probably happens to other electronics also) fail as they heat up; then cure themselves as they cool.

82 Camaro Z28’s (just one factory bulletin that I recall – 305 cid with carb) had a problem where about a minute after you ran the car hard it would stumble and stall. Turned out it was specific to the Z28 because the exhaust ran close to a fuel line; and when you got on the car it would run fine; but the exhaust would heat the fuel in the line and cause a “vapor lock” problem when you were not moving enough air to keep the fuel line cool. When you took it to the shop; everything was cool and the car ran fine. Only took GM engineers about six months to figure that one out. Most of the older mechanics had it figured out when the car started with everything cold.

Good luck-

 

[BuickMike231]

I could definitely see it being something like that, because like I said, I trucked the car home and it sat for about 2-3 hours in the meantime. After that I drove it into the garage and it seemed fine. I'm going to have some time today to finally start screwing around with it and check the maf, grounds, and just drive it a bit to see what's going on. If I can find anything I will post back for sure!! Thanks for all the input guys!