[s-cars] Intermittant stalling: resolved

[Sandy Sligh]

Hey all,

I know I'm a huge lurker on this list but I thought I'd relay my latest 
issue in case someone is having the same symptoms:

Some folks may know my car as belonging to Bruce Mendel. Its a Canadian 
93 fully RS2'd. With the exception of some sweet ass SSR Comps from Hap, 
the only mod I've done is to change over to the 1.8t coilpacks. Well, 
maybe about 6 months ago, after I'd had the coilpacks in for a while I 
began to experience random stalls at stoplights or a complete loss of 
power at speed followed by a stall on the side of the road.  Everytime 
I'd get out, pop the hood and press down on or reseat the coils thinking 
that they weren't mating to the plugs cleanly and was cause the ecu to 
freak and kill the fuel, spark etc.  I'd get back in and the car would 
fire up and run with no problem!  I also changed the coils from the 
115Ls to the 115Rs.

One night before I was to catch a flight the next morning the car 
decided to stall every mile or so through old town alexandria until it 
just wouldn't start anymore at all.  Since it was late and I was out of 
time, I had the S4 AAA'd to the dealer.  $700 bucks later, the engine 
speed sensor aka crankshaft position sensor was ID'd as the source of 
the stalling. A $40 dollar part that I bet I could have replaced in a 
couple hours.  I'm glad I didn't go big with the high output kit and 
find the issue remained...

In any case, I hope this may help someone in the future.  Maybe I need 
to sharpen my diagnosis techniques...would there have been a code thrown 
for the ESS?

Sandy Sligh
Was Northern VA, now Southern FL