[Shotimes] Loss of power...

[Donald Mallinson]

Shane,

First, welcome to the SHO internet community!  Second, have 
you checked out the diagnostics section on shotimes.com?

http://www.shotimes.com

I have heard of this several times, but can't come up 
immediately with the solution other than to check the 
obvious things, all connectors/wires.

The big wire bundle that runs behind the motor, next to the 
firewall, has a habit of rubbing against the ground bolt on 
the back passenger end of the intake manifold.  When this 
happens, all sorts of things can happen.  That bundle goes 
to the computer.

Also, check to see if you have an aftermarket computer chip 
in your computer.  This is under the dash, behind the glove 
box.  Drop the glove box down, and look back and up.  The 
computer is silver and about 1/2 the size of a cigar box. 
In the side facing you is a port that should be covered with 
tape.  If the port is open and something is sticking out, 
that is an aftermarket computer chip.  Sometimes these can 
cause the car to misbehave.  Disconnect the battery, pull 
the chip out (sometimes it is held in with a bracket that 
has one bolt that goes straight up to the airbox under the 
dash) and seal up that hole with tape.  Then reconnect the 
battery and start the car with EVERYTHING possible turned 
off.  let the car idle till it settles down to the normal 
idle (about 700 rpm) this should take about a minute or two.

if you don't find a chip, then try reseting the computer 
anyway by disconnecting the battery and going through the 
same start-up procedure.

Also, check a wire bundle that goes in the coil pack on the 
front left corner (drivers side, near the radiator) of the 
engine.  This wire connector is known to be damaged with 
clutch work or other work, and if it works loose can cause 
some misbehaving, but it usually feels like someone turning 
the key off, instead of just cutting the engine in half.

If the problem dOES sometimes feel like someone is cutting 
the key all the way off, two common problems are the Crank 
or Camshaft position sensors.  But if they go, the engine 
cuts all the way off, not just 1/2 power, but it can be 
rapid cuts that may feel like 1/2 power sometimes.  When the 
car cools, things are fine.

Hope some of this helps.  Others here I am sure will come up 
with some more ideas.

Don Mallinson
President
SHO Club
http://www.shoclub.com

Shane Graham wrote:

> Hello All,
>  
> I am a new member of the site.  I have owned a 91' SHO MTX for about 2 years.  I have done quite a bit of work to it since I have it, but enjoy working on it.  It has 130,000 miles on it.  I have a problem that I cannot figure out and need some help.  The car intermittently will lose power when driving.  It doesn't always happen either.  One day it could be fine, but the next day it may act up all the way to work.  It's like it loses 50% of it's power.  I can still drive it, but it is awkward.  And it will sometimes lose the power in pulses.  Like it will have full power for a split second and then lose it again.  It almost acts like it is being starved of air, getting to much fuel, or losing a few cylinders.  The tach does not drop to zero indicating a CPS problem ( I changed it and the Cam sensor about a year ago).  When I am idling in this state, the motor drops to 800 RPM and runs rough.  I have changed the fuel filter, swapped MAF sensors, put new Motorcraft plugs in,
 n!
> ew plug
>  wires, and put new valve cover gaskets and plug seals in (had lots of oil in the spark plug wells).  I am puzzled on what it could be.  There is also NO engine light coming on.  On one day I can race a Camaro and on the next I could get beat by a Yugo!  If anyone has any idea what it could be, I would greatly appreciate their time and advice!
>  
> Thank you,
>  
> Shane
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