[s-cars] CPS Question

[Tom Green]

You have been somewhat casual about your description of events, so  
things are not totally clear to me.  When you turn the key on, does  
the MIL (what you note as the CEL) NOT illuminate and the engine does  
not start?  And, later when you turn the key on, does the MIL  
illuminate and the engine starts?

If the above sequence of events is the scenario that is occurring with  
your car, that is an indication that the ECU is not communicating for  
the no-start episodes.  The MIL should illuminate when the key is  
turned on for 10 seconds or the engine starts.

Scott J has given a good listing of places to check if the above is  
not correct.

Tom

On Monday November 15, 2010, at 6:34 PM Eric  
R.<racingiron at comcast.net>  wrote:

> When we last left our intrepid owner (me), I had posted the below  
> query suspecting the CPS for an engine quit/no restart issue. I  
> replaced said CPS on the weekend and drove to work today with hope  
> in my heart. No issues in the morning, but it died twice on the way  
> home. Both times it immediately restarted.
>
> Same behavior as before: Engine just suddenly dies, tach drops  
> quickly to zero (even though engine's still turning with the  
> driveline), and stock boost gauge shows 0.2 Bar. One other time it  
> stumbled for a second or two (but didn't die) and I noticed the CEL  
> flickering rapidly, as well as the tach drop. I made it home and  
> pulled the codes... as before, just 4444.
>
> After pulling the (empty) codes, I just left the car idling. After a  
> few minutes, it quit. I still had the wires connected so I tried to  
> pull codes again... Nothing, the CEL didn't illuminate at all!  
> Turned off ignition and tried to restart... 0.2 Bar on the gauge and  
> no life from the engine. Tried the codes again, and no CEL at all.  
> In fact, no CEL when first turning the ignition on, either.
>
> Do these symptoms sound familiar to anyone? The boost gauge thing  
> seems to be a strong indicator, but most of you don't have that so  
> it doesn't help much. Does the lack of CEL mean the ECU has lost  
> power? I think I'll pull the carpet and have a look in there while  
> waiting for other suggestions. My '93 is basically a parts car at  
> this point, so I can swap over suspect bits, but the last time I  
> drove it I experienced some engine dying issues there, too. It's got  
> at least two bum POS channels now, so I figured that was the cause.
>
> TIA,
>
> '86 urq
> '92 urS
> '93 urS
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: racingiron at comcast.net
> To: s-car-list at audifans.com
> Cc: "Tom Saltino" <saltinot at gmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, October 29, 2010 6:19:18 AM
> Subject: [s-cars] CPS Question
>
> I've had a few incidents of my '92 just shutting down on me while  
> driving recently. The engine just cuts out completely, and the tach  
> falls to zero even while the car is still coasting in gear. All  
> electronic accessories remain powered, and the starter engages, but  
> no immediate restart. After sitting for a period of time, it just  
> fires up and runs fine. I verified fuel pump operation and no fault  
> codes. I'm thinking CPS at this point. One weird thing I noticed  
> during last night's episode. The stock boost gauge, which normally  
> shows 1.0 BAR with key on before starting the engine, was showing  
> 0.2 BAR when the car was refusing to restart. I eventually had the  
> car towed home, and while rolling the car off the truck, I noticed  
> that the boost gauge was back to 1.0 when I turned the key.  
> Actually, it started at 1.0, gradually dropped to 0.2, then went  
> back up to 1.0. I hit the starter, it fired up, and I drove off the  
> truck. [sigh] Anybody know if this boost gauge behavior points to  
> the CPS of is an indicator of something else?
>
> TIA,
> Eric R.
> '86 urq
> '92 urS
> '93 urS
>
> Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:03:08 -0500
> From: qshipq at aol.com
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] CPS Question
> To: racingiron at comcast.net, s-car-list at audifans.com
> Cc: saltinot at gmail.com
> Message-ID: <8CD5338C938E2BC-1B2C-2908 at webmail-m046.sysops.aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>
> Failing fuel pump would be my first guess.  Second would be bad  
> ECU.  Third would be bad MAF.  CPS replaced, those should be the  
> only items that will create a stall condition with no codes.  The  
> only other one I had years ago, was a combination of bad 02 with a  
> failed bypass valve.
>
> HTH
>
> Scott J