Jump to content

Engine stalls and runs rough. Timing chain?


fun car guy

Recommended Posts

Ronnie, I think you may be on to something there.  As I said earlier, the car just sat outside for months until the battery was almost totally dead fall and into winter and the humidity could very well have caused corrosion.  Oh joy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, fun car guy said:

Okay, following your instructions, it asked if I wanted the ECM and it simply said there were no codes.  Then, as I said yes to each, it gave the following  ED codes:  ED01 TPS, ED4, coolant TP, ED07OX. sensor, ED08 Deg spark, ED10 Batt volts, ED11 RPM, ED12 gave the word "nothing", ED16 spark angle, ED17 old PA3, ED18 cross CTS, ED19 Int fuel, ED20 BLM fuel, ED21 Air flow, ED22 one AC, ED23 MAT, E98 IGN cycles and ED99 Prom ID.

Trouble codes are automatically displayed as soon as you enter diagnostics. The EDxx you posted are ECM Data readings, not trouble codes. The ECM Data is very handy but it doesn't help much with diagnosing ignition problems. For now just ignore them until you have ruled out the problem as being poor spark or crossed wires. Take it one step at a time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I work on it and become more familiar with the car (including discovering that mice had chewed up the fiber mat under the spare, GRRRR!), I'm getting more comfortable with it.  Drove it out into the sun today and gave it a bath which makes you familiar with every minor scratch and tiny flaw but also amazed at the beautiful paint work done at the factory, 31 yrs. old and the original finish still shines like new, even before waxing! The previous owners really kept it clean, so clean they wore off a good portion of the pinstriping!  

I'm comforted by Dave's comment that the problem of rough running is likely something very simple and I know he's right, it's just human nature to think of the worst first.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, I think you've put me on the right path.  When the weather is warm and all this ice and snow is gone, I'll review all your helpful insights and suggestions and dig into the engine, then I'll post my findings.  I feel pretty confident that new plugs and wires, correctly arranged will be the answer.

Thanks to you all for your help and encouragement.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If mice got into your trunk I would take a look at the wiring harnesses for mice chewing and then look at the vacuum hoses for deteriation. I don't think the spark plug wires are routed wrong [however they could be bad] as they are corroded in place.

 I think your problem is a bad Ignition Control Module and Coil Pack. Most of the time that is where the problem lies which is why I have 3 back ups that are prior tested and ready to go.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of good tips here. Yesterday I spent a lot of time fixing cracking in the radio. The owners manual suggested wires. Anyway after not wanting to burn a bunch of gas I worked on it without the motor running & ran the battery down. It cranked fine & would start, but wound not keep running.  Checked voltage on the Guage screen. It was 11.4V. No faults!

     I have a very nice battery charger. Put it on. It tests the battery when you put it on. It said battery full. It showed 12.4V. Now for something I don't like about this charger.  It thinks the battery is charged so it doesn't put out a charge! It does have a start engine mode. I hit that the car started right up & ran smoothly. Voltage showed 13.5V. 

   So from this. Voltage is too low to run the ecu properly or feed the coils so not enough spark..  Or the fuel pump is not getting enough V to supply the Injectors enough fuel pressure. I suspect this mostly. 

   With the low Voltage the motor starting because the fuel pump runs after the motor stalls & has time to fill the system up to the proper psi..  Now the motor can start but not spinning fast enough for the alternator to put out enough Voltage/Amps the motor sputters then stalls. My charger has a alternator test mode too. It tested fine once the motor was running after being started with the box in start motor mode. This mode give 13 volts for 90 seconds. Enough time for the motors alternator to come up to seed to do it's job. 

   Now this might not be your problem but call up your Guage screen as soon as you can and look at voltage.  I had no faults coming up. I just know Fuel Injection Systems don't work when voltage falls below a certain amount. A .1 of a volt too low is too low. 

   I bought our Reatta last fall. 147,000 miles. But it had not been driven much in the last three years before we bought it.  The battery is two years old. But with the car sitting there is always a low drain on the battery. Such as radio memory.  This kind of drain will ruin a battery. It will take a charge but the true cranking Amps will drop-down. I

 have a battery tender. It never shows the battery fully charged when I first put it on the battery and takes more than ten hours to show fully charged.  I will be replacing this battery very soon. You said your car has sat a long time also.  Sorry this got a little long.. Good luck..

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...