[Shotimes] My SHO is having issues - wierd loss of power and then it stalled today

[Bruce Malachuk]

Ok so I did a little more work on trying to figure this problem out. And I
am starting to think that it is leaning towards a fuel issue. I'm still
gonna replace the Cam Position Sensor when I get to the front part of my 60k
which is on hold till thursday so that I ca borrow a 250 ft/lbs torque
wrench to make sure my car won't fall victim to futur crank cancer from the
ordeal.

I drove the car a bunch of times last night, in short little trips. And
finally after about the 20th restart of the engine, my fuel gauge decided to
tell me what's in the tank, or at least a believable amount. Both the fuel
pump and sender had previously been replaced in this car by the previous
owner, but I have noticed a few times that I'll be driving along and then it
will go from a 1/2 tank all the way up to way over full. At this point I
don't believe it is the sender, but perhaps a loose or corroded wire, or
perhaps it's grounding out somewhere and that ia causing the issue. I am
leaning towards fuel issues, cause of getting the O2 lean codes, and the
542. I put 3 gallons of gas in the car when I got off the highway and I
haven't had an issue since doing that. I'm thinking of pulling my fuel gauge
from my 95 SE and hooking it in and seeing if it reads the same as the SHO
one. if it does that points at the wiring or the sender. Seeing how it was a
dealership install of the fuel pump, then a few weeks later a fuel sender,
I'm leaning to a wiring issue. I'm calling the previous owner to see if he
can fill in any details about what was going on back when it happened. He's
been a big help it telling me about the issues he encountered with the 3
alt's the car has had, till I fixed the issue with my dremel.

I wanted to thank everyone who answered me both on and off list for your
help and suggestions. for the extra $30 I'm gonna do the cam position sensor
too, and you all gave me things to look at that helped me narrow down what
might be going on. I hope it is only fuel related, which is easy to keep
track of.

Bruce
94 Opal Frost MTX
94 Deep Emerald Green ATX - w/90k gonna be parted
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Weinrich" <stevwein@swbell.net>
To: "SHOtimes" <shotimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 8:13 AM
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] My SHO is having issues - wierd loss of power and
then it stalled today


> Since you're going into the front end anyway, plan on replacing the CPS
and
> the CID sensors.
>
> Your symptom might be due to either of them.  You can disconnect the CID
> sensor and run without it to see if that's the cause.  If you do, the
engine
> may take several attempts to fire and you will loose your tach.
>
> Pop a new fuel filter in there while you have it on jackstands.
>
> Steve
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bruce Malachuk" <bmalach1@nycap.rr.com>
> To: "SHOtimes" <shotimes@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 6:52 PM
> Subject: [Shotimes] My SHO is having issues - wierd loss of power and then
> it stalled today
>
>
> > Ok so my 94 MTX has 74k on it, I did the valve lash a few weeks ago, and
> have
> > all the parts for doing the side of the engine. I would have been doing
> this 2
> > weeks ago but my brother has been in the ICU at Albany Med. and that has
> been
> > taking up a large portion of my time, but things are starting to happen
> with
> > my car now that make me believe that I can't wait anylonger to finish my
> 60k
> >
> > Ok so yesterday I'm driving along on my way back from visiting my
brother
> and
> > my car felt really weak. Almost like it was dropping a cylinder while
> running
> > at a constant RPM. Ran the codes and came up with nothing, but then
again
> I
> > had just reset the computer about 3 days prior. So I think nothing of it
> and
> > hop in the car today, and head over to spend some time with my brother.
On
> my
> > way home, the car starts doing the underpowered thing again and makes
some
> > like pulsing feel to the power it's putting to the ground. Then the CE
> lite
> > came on, so I hit my hazards and pulled over to the shoulder, which is
> when
> > the engine stalled, course I took it outta gear. Now while it was
running
> the
> > and the CE light came on the tach was slowly going down till I took it
out
> of
> > gear. Ok so there I am at rush hour heading north in mega traffice doing
> 55-60
> > in a stalled car on the shoulder, and I still passed a riced out neon
with
> a
> > big fart can, well I turn the key all the way off and then start the car
> back
> > up, and it starts fine like nothing is wrong, at this point I'm nearing
my
> > exit so I put it into 3rd and head to a gasstation just 1/5th of a mile
> from
> > the intersection. I thought it "might" be fuel related, cause my tank
> sender
> > has serious issues with me once every 2-3 months where it will tell me I
> have
> > a full tank when I have nothing.... So I pop the hood, burn my hands
> feeling
> > round my waterpump looking for a leak, and find nothing. So I figured
that
> > perhaps it might be something other than the CPS. well I put 3 gallons
of
> gas
> > in the car, just incase it was a fuel issue, and then start it right
back
> up.
> > So no CE light, and I didn't sit there long enough to wait for one, so I
> > squealed it home (2 miles down the road). Car seemed to be fine.
> >
> > I ran the KOEO codes and pulled 172, 176, and 542 outta the computer, So
I
> > know the car experineced a lean situation on both the front and rear
> banks,
> > and that the fuel pump cut out when it stalled (542). I know that the O2
> > sensors looked ok when I added my y-pipe few weeks back and I reused
them
> > since they are really easy to get to anyway. Now the other day I did
> (casue of
> > the damn gauge or sender) run my car right outta gas, and I had to drive
> it
> > along spitting and sputtering for about 1/2 mile, but even that was
before
> I
> > had cleared the computer from my latest LPM test. I've never had any
> problems
> > with my fuel pump since I got the car, and I had put a new filter on the
> car
> > back in october, the pump and sender were both replaced seperately back
> while
> > under warranty buy the previous owner, as well as like 3 alternators. I
> > figured out the alt problem when I first got the car, but always
wondered
> > about the fuel pump and sender, but again I've never had any problems
with
> > fuel for the car all the way up thru redline.
> >
> > So that points me back to the remaining parts of the 60k that I need to
> get
> > done, CPS, timing belt, and waterpump.The one thing also that made me
> think
> > that it might be coolant leaking on the CPS, I just did a bottle of
> prestone's
> > super radiator cleaner, and had run it for about 6 hours with distilled
> water.
> > I'm now in the process of flushing that stuff out prior to doing the
rest
> of
> > the 60k. I was planning for this weekend of doing it, thereby giving
dear
> old
> > dad some time plan for me being there. Is it possible that I could be
> leaking
> > water from right around the WP area and not feel it from the weep holes?
> In
> > all this never once has my car kicked any code related to the CPS, yet
> back
> > about 2 months ago I did have a 212 memory code, but it never came back.
> That
> > 212 made me really think that it was time to get on thet side of the
> engine
> > and get it done.
> >
> > Is there anything that I should be checking before I piss my father off
> and
> > comandeer his garage for the day tomorrow to do those items? Or is it
> possible
> > I killed my fuel pump but it running kinda empty for that 1/2 mile. I
> would
> > hate to spend all the time fixing the 60k on the side, and then find out
> it is
> > a fuel issue.
> >
> > Sorry bout the long ass post, but I'm going nuts here with this ontop of
> > everything else going on.
> >
> > Bruce
> > 94 Opal Frost MTX
> > 94 Deep Emerald Green ATX - w/90k gonna be parted
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