[urq] intermittent ignition cutout, tach drops to zero

[DGraber460 at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/15/2005 8:54:14 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
thatcher.hubbard at gmail.com writes:

What  exactly is "everything" Dennis?  Mine is much less sporadic, in
fact,  at this point, I don't feel comfortable driving the car.  It
dies at  half the intersections I come to.

How much have people here paid to  replace the ignition switch?  I'll
check the alternator cables  too.


On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:54:35 -0000, James Howard  <spam.me1 at ntlworld.com> 
wrote:
> Definitely consider the ignition  switch, also check the main battery to
> alternator cable where it exits  the right hand chassis leg near the oil
> cooler. My cable had been  chaffing there and was cut half through! This
> would cut the ignition  and all power for an instant when the live unfused
> cable shorted  against the body - nearly caused a major fire...
> 
> Jim.
>  ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ed Kellock"  <ekellock at gmail.com>
> To: "Urq List"  <urq at audifans.com>
> Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 7:38  PM
> Subject: [urq] intermittent ignition cutout, tach drops to  zero
> 
> > In the last few days, my urq has started to cut out  intermittently.
> > The tach drops to zero and most of the time it  comes right back on its
> > own, but sometimes I have to cycle the  ignition switch.  Every time I
> > do have to cycle the ignition  switch it comes back immediately
> > afterwards.
> >
>  > Over the last couple days I have fixed some vacuum leaks, cleaned  the
> > contacts on the cap and rotor, replaced the spark plugs with  some
> > f5dpor (20-valve turbo) plugs, and replaced a blob of black  goo that
> > was originally a breather hose down on the side of the  block.
> >
> > The car has a little history of this type of  cutting out.  It did it
> > one time on the day I started home  with it from SC when I first bought
> > it.  Cycling the key  fixed it then and it was fine the rest of the
> > 1500 miles  home.  Since then (Oct '02), it's done it a grand total of
> >  maybe 3 times.   Did the whole Park City trip without this  ever
> > happening.
> >
> > The issues I fixed in  the last few days have existed since I got the
> > car.  I feel  I've either disturbed something or, I've gotten things
> > more  buttoned down than they've been for a long time and something's
> >  not quite used to working right again.
> >
> > That last  statement may sound stupid, but after I fixed the vacuum
> > leaks  (metering head bolt missing, other's loose, and a small diameter
> >  hose was torn at the nipple it connects to), the car started up with
>  > very little cranking and settled into a nice idle of about 800  rpm,
> > which is something it has never done.  While the car  was idling, I was
> > fiddling with the mixture a little and out of  the blue the frequency
> > valve kicked in (started buzzing  constantly) and the idle went up to
> > about 1100 like it used to  always be.  But then the buzzing stopped
> > and the idle  settled back down again and this hasn't reoccurred.  Ever
> >  since that round of wrenching though, I've had the intermittent
> >  ignition cutout.
> >
> > Also the main hoses to the carbon  canister are not connected, but the
> > very small diameter hose from  the control valve to the intake manifold
> > is still  connected.  One of the nipples on the intake dome is broken
> >  off and plugged and the other is capped.  I assume that's when  the
> > previous owner or one of his monkey-lad minions just  disconnected the
> > hoses to the carbon canister.
>  >
> > I guess my main question right now is: is there any way that  the
> > fuel/vacuum functions can trigger an ignition cutout for any  reason?
> > That is the main area I've affected and this ignition  cutout just
> > seems like a breaker flipping and resetting.   I've wiggled and jiggled
> > all the wires in the areas where I had  my hands stuffed and haven't
> > been able to intentially cause the  cutout.
> >
> > Ed
> > Colorado  Springs


By everything I mean;
   
cap, rotor, plugs, ECU, distributor (entire known good unit including hall  
sender), ignition module, ignition switch, main cables at alternator &  
starter, air temp sensor, and refreshed all the grounds and other connections  
everywhere!
My car does not seem to be temp dependant as it can happen in winter or  
summer, but always happens at highway speed with no extreme circumstance such as  
boost or throttle input. It will start by a slight hiccup becoming more severe 
 until finally it dies. The tachometer drops to zero each time, and backfires 
out  the exhaust from unburned fuel and no spark.
"Rebooting" the computer has always worked. So far. As I said before, it  
only happens about once every 7-10 months, and totally out of the  blue.

 
Dennis
Denver