Pushed the car pretty hard today and when cruising home on the highway I just lost power and the car shut off. Started right up then died when I hit the gas. Did this about 3 times. Finally got it to run but stayed out of boost for the rest of the ride home which was about 3 miles. After lunch I tried to investigate but saw nothing wrong. So I jumped back in took it to 100 twice in 3rd and then same thing accured and the same result followed.

The fuel pump is running

The tank is 3/4 full (maybe its bad gas just filled it)

Map sensor? Usually it runs rich don't have that problem

Fuel pressure regulator?

Bad injectors?

Plugs are good just changed them 2k ago

Again not smoking or running rich

Bad primary coil or harness?

etc........anybody else exp this and have a clue cause this is a first for me

Thanks,
Fritz

 

I think your on the right path with the fuel diagnosis. I had a jeep( i know totally different car) do a very similar thing. It would get enough fuel in line to the carb after cranking it for a while.. Then it would start and run for a few minutes. Then it would sputter and die. Similar restarting symptoms as well. ( ended up being a ton of mud and rust from the tank in the pump) When was the last time you changed your fuel filter? Do you have a Fuel pressure gauge inside the car too see the pressure? If it drops off? If you can get a sample of the gas in the tank you just filled, maybe it has some water or some other crap in it. Thats what i can think of rite now anyways. Dave

 

Its just not getting enough fuel. Fuel pump is new, filter was changed about 4k miles ago. I would think if it was bad gas it would sputter and run poorly I've never exp bad gas syptoms before though. Thanks for the input.

Does this bring back any bad memories for anyone else

 

Just a guess..

Im not sure about the car dying but it sounds like you may be hitting the fuel cut. You said it happend when you tried to get to 100mph, thats when it usually happens, 3rd or 4th gear most of the time. Anyways, do you have a boost gauge? If your exceeding 10psi you need to print up a vac hose diagram and check all the hoses leading to the wastegate. Its very common to blow your wastegate hose and send your boost through the roof. If so, quit driving the car under boost and fix that hose.

 

After reading your post again im almost sure excessive boost is to blame. Check those hoses and quit driving the car hard until you get it worked out. I had identical symptoms, found the problem in the form of a loose wastegate hose.

 

I had a similar problem with an FB. I installed a dual Weber setup, and the fuel pump could not keep up with the increased demand. I found this out the hard way, at a time trial race. I wound up having to replace the pump with a higher flowing unit.

You have not listed your mods, so I don't know if this is a possibility for you.

 

I'm familiar with fuel cut and only boosting 8lbs and only taking the tach to about 7800 This is different but I appreciate the thought. I was winding it out just to test it because it won't accur if I baby it which leads me to believe its fuel pressure related.
Thanks,
fritz

I'll check the pump etc... tomorrow and post back

 

Fritz,

I'd check the fuel filter. If the gas that you recently put in had a bunch of gunk in it, it wouldn't necessarily start sputtering; the gunk would eventually cut off sufficient fuel supply to the injectors at idle. The fuel pressure at full throttle would be high enough to overcome the blockage, I'd think. Sputtering would just be attributed to water contamination, but you'd be surprised at some of the stuff that resides in gas station fuel tanks.

 

If the car is just shutting off, I would look at ignition before fuel. If you loose fuel the car will sputter and jerk. Losing ignition results in no sputter, and the motor just stops running. If the either of the mag sensors or the map sensor loose signal the car will do what you are describing. Make sure those sensors are plugged in all the way and have no corrosion.

 

i never take my RPMs past 6k

 

I had exactly the same situation and it was bad gas. Just filled the tank with petrol from another station and it was fine.

 

...then your NEVER going to truly enjoy the rotary engine...

 

why drive an fd then. you don't see real power till wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy past 6k.

 

Played golf today and didn't have time to mess with it but this tip sounds pretty damn good to me. I'll check the map sensor connections and just replace it with a spare if its well connected. I'm still leaning toward fuel pressure or bad gas though just because if I drive around at half throttle it won't accur.

Thanks for the help and I will post results sometime this weekend.

 

Still have not changed the map sensor or the pump but I'm leaning more toward this direction and hears why.

I went to play pool with a buddy today after work. We got there fine but drove very conservatively the whole way. Once we got there we decided to go to another billiard hall and the car started misbehaving. It would start and then die. Tried to start it 6 or so more times but it would idle for a second or two then die. Well we decided to just go play some pool and pray the car would start later. After playing pool it starts fine and I make it home with no problems. Once I get home I decide to wait 5 minutes and see if it will start and run. You can quess what happens. It would start idle a second or two then die.

 

CAS could also be the culprit.

 

Fritz...Hi there buddy Look, this same exact thing happened to me before my car went down for the single turbo conversion. Anyway, what you described above happened to me exactly the way you described it. It turned out to be my map sensor. If this starts happening to you again, open up the hood and just wiggle it around a bit with the ignition key in the on position. If there is a bad connection there you will here a lot of clicking sounds while moving the map sensor. Upon inspection of the sensor itself, I found that the inside of mine was corroded......like electrical corrosion. So, I replaced it was a spare from one of my members cars and it never gave me that problem again. Good luck with it.

 

Well still not much to report. Tried to start the car and it won't start which is a 1st. Previous to this on the first try after a break of an hour or so it would start and run for atleast 10 minutes before problems would accur. Well I changed the map/boost sensor, syphoned of some gas and it smells and looks fine and swapped fuel pumps just for the hell of it.

Whats the CAS? I guess some sort of solenoid.
Thanks,
Fritz
PS Ted I got the injectors and the payment. No hard feelings what so ever just thought I should razz you up a bit to get this cleaned up asap. Obviously I jumped the gun a bit as you had things well in hand. However in this case the hands of time were moving very slowly

 

CAS=crank angle sensor I'll check them out but that seems like a stretch to me
Fritz

 

...the fuel filter, Fritz...the fuel filter...

Just because the gas smells OK doesn't mean that there wasn't some type of gunk in it.

 

I now think the gas and filter are ok you can really hear the gas circulating under the manifold so I don't think the filter is clugged.

Ok still not running today. Car just starts goes to about 3k (AWS) then dies. Runs for about 2 seconds if that before stalling. It just dies no wimpering or sputtering. Maybe the AWS system is messed up or something (hose is on). Also with the key on (pump running) the gas circulating under the manifold sounds pretty damn loud (moving fast) I wonder if the FPR is working. I did a complete engine swap on this car and it had a sx pressure regulator that was leaking so I took it off but the car has been to 3 track weekends with no problems other than the typical 3k hesitation. Normally the stock fpr is removed when the sx is installed but I wouldn't think the car would run with out an fpr and also this scenario doesn't make much sense because its ran fine for 3 months under extreme conditions. I guess I'll just get another sx fpr and install it and see what that does.

Any other ideas I'm starting to shake and feel really queasy I need to drive my fd

So far I have:
Change the fuel pump, map sensor, igniter, smelled and looked at the gas.

 

If the motor doesn't know where it is its not going to run. The CAS tells it where it is.

 

This began while driving hard around in the country. Car just had a long hesitation, then completely died about 10 miles later. Started died etc.. got it going again. The next day drove it to work no problems. Drove it home no problems. Went to play pool and problems again. The next day would start idle die but not run at all. Is it your opinion that the crank angle sensors could go out in this fashion.

Also what do you think about fpr idea?
Thanks,
Fritz
PS they are pia to get to because this car has a smic

 

Power FC?
Seq or non-seq?

 

If it just dies while driving then I'm about 95% sure its electrical and not fuel related. What you experienced is exactly what I have seen happen when a CAS goes bad. Its a good start either way. I'd also check the wiring to the CAS.