Engine shutdown while driving.. (ignition coil)

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Lil-j
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Engine shutdown while driving.. (ignition coil)

Post by Lil-j »

Help, I was going to work this am. Going 75 down the interstate, foot on the gas. Engine just shut off. I felt a little shudder as you would when you turn the key off. I pushed the gas and got nothing. Tach and oil pressure gauges went to zero. Battery gauge was how it would let on engine off. I hit the four way switch and got the shoulder quick! Put it in park, turned key off and tried to restart. Crank no start. Had it flat bedded home, I can hear the fuel pump priming, checked fuses, all ok.

Any ideas off the top of your heads?
Lil-j
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Re: Engine shutdown while driving..

Post by Lil-j »

I should ad that I had a maf code once, each of the last two weeks. Have the maf out and cleaning it now. Funny thing is usually when the maf is bad mpg goes to hell. I've been getting 18-19 mpg lately.
Or is it possibly ignition coil?
I don't know, odd how the engine just shut off like that. All fluids are good. Don't think it's alternator, usually the radio and lights will fade out before the engine dies.
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HenryJ
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Re: Engine shutdown while driving..

Post by HenryJ »

Press the schrader valve in the threaded connection for the fuel pressure gauge. This is on the fuel rail. Does it spray? Is there fuel pressure?

Pull the cap. Is the rotor OK?

It is possible to have a coil fail. That happened to me. Dead in a quick second. The aftermarket coil was cheaper than another stock one.

"Speed doesn't kill, suddenly becoming stationary does." - Richard Hammond
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Lil-j
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Re: Engine shutdown while driving..

Post by Lil-j »

Checked the Schrader valve, got a squirt every time. Not sure how much pressure there is, don't have a gauge at home. Went to pull the cap, decided to pull the wires off. First one pulled, the one nearest the firewall on the driver side, the wire separated from the connector into the cap. So looks like I'm going to the part store for new cap/rotor, plugs, wires and ignition coil. Don't know if I can get this all done tonight. Supposed to rain. Luckily I have my xj for a backup vehicle.
I'll let ya know how it goes.
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Re: Engine shutdown while driving..

Post by Lil-j »

Trucks fixed. Ended up being the ignition coil. I overlooked it because after replacing the crank sensor, I had spark from the coil, but none at the plugs. However a spark gap tester showed the coil was indeed bad. Ended up replacing the cap, rotor, wires, coil and crank sensor. Now I need to do the relearn for the crank.
Also, fuel pressure testing showed 55psi. I was told to replace the fuel pump by a few on the s10 forum. Well, once the new coil was in, truck fired right up and is running on that.
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Re: Engine shutdown while driving..

Post by Lil-j »

Also, when I replaced the cap and rotor and got her running. The rotor was hitting the cap, making a very audible noise. I got bwd parts. Ended up replacing these with AC delco parts, no more noise.
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Re: Engine shutdown while driving.. (ignition coil)

Post by HenryJ »

Super. Thanks for the update. That will help someone :)
I had a coil fail too. After that I installed the second bracket to have one on stand-by. Easy to swap the wires and have me going again if needed. Never did need to though :)

"Speed doesn't kill, suddenly becoming stationary does." - Richard Hammond
"Speed is just a matter of Money - How fast do YOU want to go?"-Mechanic from Mad Max-
If at first you don't succeed - Don't take up Skydiving!
- ThunderII KE7CSK
Lil-j
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Re: Engine shutdown while driving.. (ignition coil)

Post by Lil-j »

Ok, update time. Last night I borrowed a scan tool from work to do the crank re learn. Things didn't go so well. I'm guessing the my cat is clogged. The first part of the re learn is to rev to WOT till you hit fuel cut off. Problem is I could only get up to about 3200 rpm's. Exhaust smelled shitty, popped a the random multiple mis code, and codes for both o2 sensors. Truck was running lean, so I replaced the fuel filter hoping that would help. It didn't.
So, I'm gonna try tommorrow to pull the o2 sensor out in front of the cat and see if that helps it breath better, if it does, maybe I can get the relearn done. Then have the cat replaced. If it doesn't help, have to start looking at the fuel pump for low pressure. Which would piss me off to no end. Not fun at all dropping the tank!
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Re: Engine shutdown while driving.. (ignition coil)

Post by HenryJ »

Wow, the quest continues... :(

"Speed doesn't kill, suddenly becoming stationary does." - Richard Hammond
"Speed is just a matter of Money - How fast do YOU want to go?"-Mechanic from Mad Max-
If at first you don't succeed - Don't take up Skydiving!
- ThunderII KE7CSK
Lil-j
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Re: Engine shutdown while driving.. (ignition coil)

Post by Lil-j »

Good news and bad news time.
Good news is I don't need a new fuel pump. And I figured out why the engine is running lean and causing a bunch of other problems.

Bad news is I still need to drop the tank....
To replace fuel lines. All the metal lines need replaced. They started leaking enough to give me a loss in fuel pressure in higher rpm's. But not so much at idle.
Hoping I can get this inside and look at it and find I don't need to take the tank down to do this.