When the car is cold, it starts and idles fine, it also seems to drive ok(no problems with boost). Once you drive it around for a little bit and the engine warms up, if I give it some gas, it will get 'jerky' (like fuel cut, and can be at any revs), and sometimes I get no boost at all. Other times I HEAR the turbo boosting (very quickly I might add), but there is no accelaration, and the boost guage hardly goes above zero. I thought it might be a clogged CAT, but if that was the case, then it should also have problems when cold, but doesn't. ECU maybe?? It's an 87 TII, with no mods.

I am very close to torching this beast.

Any ideas?

 

YES it can definitley be ECU related. I had a similar problem with my car. its 87 T2 and it would do the same thing, it would run fine when it was cold, then when it warmed up it would cut out at 4k rpms and up. it would not boost for ****. endend up replacing the ECU and was fine. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE EXACT SAME ECU THAT YOU PULLED OUT. it should be n332 do not get any other then that number will not work properly, (I TRIED IT) make sure you checked everything else before you buy another ECU. it could be in you engine harness as well. I had positive and negative wires touching on my fuel injector clips causing it to **** up as well. damn cars.

 

I've always suspected the ECU with the various problems I have. I think I'll get a used one just to see if it helps.

 

This make me think of leaks in the plumbing post-turbo.

As far as the jerkyness, how long has it been since you've adjusted the TPS?

 

It's funny you mention the 'leaks', because I've just found out the main cat has a crack along it's side. I can now also hear some clunking (when idling) that seems to be coming from under the car, but can't really tell because the engine dies if I let it idle for more than a few seconds.

TPS?? What's that?
I'm afraid that's beyond me to do, but that is probably something that needs to be done... but first, a new main cat I think.

 

Nah, you can do it. It's very easy. You've got a copy of the Factory Service Manual on your HDD right?

This site also has a good write-up. http://home.rmci.net/panther/tps.htm

 

ECU failures are pretty rare. It's much more likely to be one of the ECU's sensors. Since it runs better when it's cold it might be the coolant thermosensor. Have a read of the FSM on how to check sensors.

 

I feel a headache coming on... thanks for the advice.