[Rick Williams]

During the 500 mile return trip a gremlin showed up. I was driving along fine until the first stop. After the stop, as I was accelerating out of the gas station the car momentarily hesitated but it grabbed and we took off. After the second stop the same thing happened only worse but it self corrected and I was on my way again. After the third stop I could barely get going. Got on the interstate and it was so bad that all I could do was idle. Whenever I tried to accelerate, the car would just bog. I drove down the shoulder for about three miles just idling along and trying to get it to catch and run right. Finally, it caught and I was on my way. But during cruising at about 65 MPH it stumbled twice more for about 2 seconds, caught again, and got me the rest of the way home. Once running I was fine but I knew that if I shut down and started back up the routine would start over again. What the heck is this? It isn't electrical as I never lost my lights. My guess is it's something in the EEC or fuel delivery.

The best way to describe it is if you've ever forgotten to put the spout back in after setting timing. Car runs fine until the RPMs climb then it just won't go. Another description is vapor lock. It just feels like it's starved for fuel. I can get it to rev fine in neutral but it won't accelerate under load.

I went out this morning and checked all connectors and grounds. Everything is where it's supposed to be and the car will start and idle although a bit roughly and it smells rich. Fuel pressure is where it should be. Where do I start the diagnostics or should I just throw the voodoo away and go to carb?

By the way, many thanks to Rick Burnstin (Creamsicle) and Paul Brannan for sticking with me in with their tow rigs and making sure Nancy and I made it home. They weren't about to leave me stranded on the interstate.

 

[CobraEarl]

If you had a carb with no recirculation line, I swear you were vapor locking.

Can you get vapor lock on an EFI car??

earl

 

[Ed Reynolds]

How about bad gas? Check your fuel filter, maybe you got a load of dirt and water. Was the station getting refilled by a tanker truck while you were there? That can stir up a load of sediment from the bottom of the tank. Hope this helps...

Ed Reynolds

 

[raceral]

sounds like the way mine did at charlotte.. bad mass air sensor... i replaced that little black plastic do-hicky that is on top of the mass air sensor. and everyting was fine...

 

[Cobra7]

I would stick with the fuel scenario first. Change the fuel filter, drain the tank, blow out the fuel lines if need be. If all checks out with that, then I would work my way through the ignition process. Check under the cap--is the rotor chewed up or some wear on the wire contacts. You could check your module out at Autozone. Could be a magnetic pick-up starting to go. Ford Distributors can play all kinds of tricks on you. Glad you made it home!!

By the way, I put new roller lifters and Crane pedestal mount roller rockers in that engine and it runs great. Tim

 

[mac72]

Same thing happened to me this weekend, albeit not in a roadster and not on the way to/from DVSF. I was towing a trailer with my Jeep Cherokee and the thing pulled like a champ until I stopped to top off the tank. It ran fine for about 30 minutes, then every hill felt like I was going to have to push.

Long story short: fuel pump. Got where we needed to be, jacked up the truck, replaced the pump, screen, and filter. Treated the gas, filled up, and couldn't keep the rig under 65 the whole way home.

I figured it was the combo of the 14-year-old pump, some extra load from towing, and maybe a little bad gas.

 

[John F]

If you saved the "check engine light" I would do the self tests and stored trouble codes. That's one of the benefits of the computer. Does sound like a fuel problem, though. There's a fuel pump test in the diagnostics also.

 

[67Cobra]

Sounds almost like what mine did on the way back from DVSF II. It ran good until I got down near Bowling Green and ran into the rain. I got wet for a couple of miles before I could get to a gas station to wait it out. After that, it was hard to start and stumbled ocaisionally. This morning, I went out to start it up and it wouldn't start. I took the fuel pump relay out and it was kind of rusty / corroded looking inside the relay socket. I replaced the relay and it started right up. I'm going to move the relay into the passenger footbox to keep it dry REAL SOON. And get wipers. And get a top.

 

[Engineer Ed]

I'd check to see what fault codes are generated by the EEC.
Someone has got to have one local to you.

If that shows nothing, check the connections on the fuel pump, relay and associated wiring.
Sounds like you could be losing fuel pressure.
It's hard to diagnose this way.
Start with trouble codes, wiggle wires while checking fuel pressure, see what may turn up.
It's called "Spark chasing"......

The EEC codes will tell you if a sensor has gone out.

Ed
FFR1997K

 

[Rick Williams]

RACERAL AND ENGINEER ED ARE MY HEROES ! After reading the above posts I thought I'd try jiggling the mass air connector while the car was running. BAM...smoothed right out. It looks like the lock tabs on the wire side of the plastic connector aren't snapping in the way they should and I'm getting a sporadic signal. I've had that connector off and on a bunch of times for various reasons so I believe I've worn out the plastic tabs. That combined with a 1,000 mile round trip plus a bunch of "spirited" driving at the fling made them finally give out and allow the connector to vibrate out slightly. I can't get it to snap in tight so I used zip ties to cinch the connector in real snug and took it for a ride with no problem. I think I made it home on a confused computer. Does it have a limp home mode? When the computer gets no signal from the Mass Air does it eventually give up and ignore it? The final 150 miles of driving sure felt like that was the case. I could drive at highway speed but it didn't have the guts it normally has.

 

[Wade]

My '89 Mustang started doing that. Over time, it did it more and more often until it eventually left me stranded one day. It turned out to be a bad fuel pump.

Once I got the new fuel pump, I noticed how quiet it was compared to the old one. Now I realize that the old pump was just way loud; which might have been a sign that it was going bad.

 

[RButton]

Rick,
One of the dumb things I did while reinstalling my engine was to forget to hookup the mass air plug!! It fired up and ran but in closed loop mode - Till I finally figured out (a day or two later!!) that a BIG Wire was hanging down off the side of the car!
It runs rich - you should have smelled the sharp gas smell, as well as poorly till it was at highway speeds. Then the closed loop would be about the right mix for the car.

Now that it's running I'd disconnect the battery for a few minutes hook it back up and let the computer relearn the system.

 

[sean67]

Rick,

Saw your post after you fixed it, and glad you got home okay. To seal the connector better take it off and look in the meter where the harness plugs into it. There should be a small orange gasket. Take it out and see if that doesn't give you a snap tight connection. I believe you are running a ProM. I had a similiar problem. Took the gasket out, and it is tight now.

Sean

 

[DAVE VAN]

Rick, Glad you guys made it home ok even if it was under powered a little. We pulled in about 12:30 last night, no problems, just tired as hell. I am going back to work just to rest up!
Had a great time at the "Fling" especially hanging with you and the SC gang. See you all at Biltmore!