Strange Problem
 

Hi,

Since yesterday I am having a strange intermittent problem, the engine will die for a very brief period and restart immediately, we are talking for one second or less here.

The engine check light did not come on, not even once.

Speedo and Tacho and all gauges are working perfectly.

Small Km digital display will not work, seems backlit but no numbers appear on it.

The problem happens erratically, very often it happens between the 5k and 5.5k rev zone. But it happened in lots of other situations too, like 3.5k and 7.5k. It seems there is no pattern when the problem, which seems like an ignition cut out happens.

There is no erratic idling and idling speed is unchanged.

Another thing which happens is that the Blitz turbo timer I have installed starts to beep like it is sensing some irregularity. So I concluded that the fault must be realted to something which the turbo timer is observing, like voltage and vehicle speed (?).

Voltage is per manual with a 14.7v at idling and battery at 12.6 when engine is off.

Any suggestion where to start?

THanks
Joe

Wild guess here... if your headlights do not dim when this happens, you might have an EGI Main Relay whose contacts are becoming intermittent. If the headlights do dim, then the problem is more basic, like an intermittent battery connection or ground return connection in the battery circuit.

Check your connections on the Turbo timer....it interlaces with the ignition circuit. THINK - what have I changed lately that could do this...?



Later

Does the engine torque at all in that rev range? Enough to break a possibly loose connection somewhere? If it is occuring maybe there is the right vibration to break something really loose?

The turbo timer has been on the car since I got hold of it 3 years ago.

I have changed the alternator recently after it failed. But nothing else was modified or changed.

Hi,

I decided to post a follow up on my problem to maybe help someone who might come across the same problem.

The intermittent ignition cut out and the odometer problem where in fact related.

I followed the removal procedure I found in one of the threads on the subject and everything was plain sailing. However after checking the printed circuit my technician affirmed that all capacitors, diodes and circuit where in perfect order. He concluded that the display was in fact mulfunctioning.

As a temporary fix until I source a new cluster I left the ribbon which connects on the back of the printed board disconnected. This will however render the tacho dead. But at least the ignition cut out problem is now solved.

I've been also told that an ecu reset to clear fault codes is adviseable after the odometer/ignition problem, since although the engine check light never comes on, a fault code is stored in the ecu and may cause an engine shutdown for no apparent reason.


Joe

Bump, because im having a similar problem.

Went out cruising tonight.

I was on the highway, did a short 3rd gear pull to about 6k, shifted to 4th and did a short pull as well.

During the 4th gear pull, i heard a small "pop". Like if you're on the road and you run over a bag, that kind of pop.

At first i thought i blew the engine lol. Got to a light and everything idled perfect so i was relieved. Vacuum reading was perfect.

But i noticed, since i run my fans manually. That the light to my a/c button was flickering. This NEVER happened before.

I get home, and found out that my odometer has reset itself. It showed 1.8 miles.

Which is about the same distance from where i heard the "pop" sound on the highway.

So im assuming the pop sound resetted my odometer or perhaps the ECU itself?

The car idles fine, vacuum is perfect. I checked my fuse to the battery and it wasnt blown. Cables to the battery itself are tight.

What happened?? Please help. Thanks

Is the hose to the pressure chamber (front side) still connected?

Well its pitch dark out, i will have to check it in the daytime tomorrow.

But what about the odometer/possible ecu reset??

How is that related to a hose popping off?? Assuming and hoping that its only a hose that popped off.

Thanks for the quick reply btw.

No relation to ECU or odometer... just thinking of the "pop"... happened to me once.

O, well I'll check it out when I get out of work.

Ps, I forgot to add a bit of info.

This may sound farfetched but before the cruise my trip showed 994 miles. Before I made my first stop of my cruise it was 998, approx 4 miles from my house. When I got home it showed 1.8 miles.

Does this mean the electrical gremlin in our cars would do such a thing when I crossed the 1000 trip mark?

I remember a story on the acura forum that when his tsx crossed 100k , everything went whacky. All the cluster lights went on, car idled like crap etc.

Has this happened to anyone before or better yet should I be worried?

So your car only has around 1000 miles on it? I think I must have misread what you are saying?

He is writing of his trip odometer, not the total mileage odometer. I don't know whether the trip odo rolls over at 1000 miles or not... I always reset mine when getting fuel.

LOL I wish my car only had 1000 miles, I think I would have had the lowest mileage fd ever. But nah I'm talking about my trip.

This is the first year since ownership where I crossed 1000 miles. Usually I do about 800 in the year then unplug my battery for winter etc so my trip has never made it that far. I been trying to drive it as much as possible. I was aiming for 1500 miles before winter too LOL

So yeah any suggestions?

Ok well i got up early this morning to check out my car before i go for the usual saturday drive. Everything seemed normal. I came to realize how stupid i am.

I didnt know on FD's, the trip max miles is 999.9. Then it resets to 0.0.

I just think its coincidence i heard a pop sound right as i was approaching the 1000.0 mark.

I checked my radio settings and it didnt reset so i know my ECU hasnt reset itself.

Plus there was a thread here a couple of years ago that i found about posting your mileage and someone put 77,777 with his trip at 777.7. Then said he resetted his trip at 77,000 so he could get that 777.7.

I just never passed 1000 trip ever without resetting it one way or another (unplugging my battery, resetting it when i get gas sometimes etc).

So crossing it, then it resetting itself to 0.0 is all new to me. I've had the car for 6 years and its amazing what you can still learn from it lol.

EDIT: About my a/c button light flickering. I would imagine its just a faulty or weak bulb?? I only noticed it cause iw as driving at night so all my interior lights are on.

My guess, and where I would start, would be Grounds. I can't think of the guys name, but he had a GREAT write-up about grounding locations on here. I've heard that without proper grounding, the Mileage readout won't even come on.

here is the post I think of when I say what I said:
https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...4&postcount=32

And here is the thread it came out of:
https://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-292/93-base-20b-gt42r-project-part-4-time-get-serious-807382/

Viper created his problem, but it was resolved with fixing that Ground wire. Good Luck.

Im pretty sure my grounds are fine.

I have about 5 added ground wires just for the sake of not having a grounding problem.

Yeah Check the bulb, I'll learn how to read better one day. If you have to change that bulb, might wanna just let it be, you have to remove the instrument cluster and gauge hood(which can break and is expensive) just to get to the A/C & stereo surround. Not hard, but can be costly. I found out the hard way.

OK, stupid speculation.........but what happens when a crank angle sensor begins to fail? My wife's car began doing what the original OP described, simply dying at no particular rpm and with no warning. It would then immediately start and run normally. It was eventually diagnosed back to the CAS. I realize it was a piston engine (Northstart V8), and I realize the OP tracked it back to another source, but could 1QWIK7's source be different? And the pop sound he heard simply be the lack of a combustion event...or one out of time?

Good Question. Qwik, have you been able to replicate this event?

That was the first time i heard that pop sound ever while driving. And i was on a pull too.

It could be detonation?? But then i was REALLY lucky because my car is fine still. I drove it yesterday for about an hour or 30 miles and nothing was wrong. No bucking, no erratic idle, it boosts fine etc.

I am really dumbfounded at what happened that night. I guess something i should look into but something i shouldnt worry about too much.

With our cars, it could be ANYTHING to cause that.

Should i also add i was on 1/4 tank of gas that night? I filled up yesterday before my drive though.

I havent experienced what the OP experienced. I actually bumped the wrong thread now that i look at it.

I was looking for threads where the odometer trip resets by itself but come to realize the trip only goes to 999.9.

The pop sound + a/c button light flickering wasnt totally a concern for me as the car drove normal afterwards.

Now if all my cluster lights were flickering on and off, then thats an electrical problem. I just assume the a/c button bulb is going out.

The pop sound could be anything, maybe i did run over a bag lol. I had no hesitation, no stutter when i heard the pop. It really makes you wonder what the hell is going on in our engines sometimes lol