driving my freshly built motor, then a felt a very slight pop (similar to backfire) then my car dies. I pull over and start the car back up, it dies immediately. So its dark and raining out side--i freak out and start wondering what the hell it could be (thinking something serious is wrong) then i get back in the car and start it one more time, it stays on. But the check engine light is on, and oil light is sorta on but looks like its dying out. So i think it might be an oil problem, so i put a half quart of oil in. The car drives fine, but it always feels like its going to die when im coming to a complete stop or turn my steering wheel when the car is at a complete stop. Could this be a blown spark plug or something serious? Oh, and i got an oil change about 50miles before this happened by my tuner and he say theres no metal shavings or fragments in the oil. If anyone knows what is wrong please help, because my builder wants me to get the car back to his shop, and i dont want to drive 50miles to get there and risk blowing up the whole engine if its something more then a spark plug.

 

I don't know about the backfire. But your dieing problem sounds like it isn't adjusting for any load. Like if you turn on your lights or ac, your rpm's should jump up a little. If it goes too low, your rpm's could drop to like 300, and thus the oil light would likely come on. Do you have all your splash shields in place? You said it was raining, if your getting water in the engine bay all over everything, could be an electrical problem. Pull your cap off, and make sure its nice and dry in there. Do you have any guages on it, like oil pressure?

 

damn i love h-t for answers like that. No i dont have my splash gards on, i had a bad body kit on a couple years ago and had to take them off. But the builder told me that it would help cool down my engine so i should keep them off. And i have a 5k watt stereo system, right when i turned it up it did made the sound and started the whole dying thing. Also, the oil light only comes on when the car is about to die, or when a load was on it (break lamps/ powersteering/ windsheild wipers). Do you think it is safe enough to drive to the shop. There was no smoke/metal gridning sounds, so i think the actual block is fine. Also, i dont have any tools at my appartment to do any maintance on my car (its against the contract that i signed for my appartment to work on vehicles on the premisis)

 

I don't know if the water is doing anything, i had my front splash sheild off, and it was soaking my engine bay, but i deal with snow and **** here. It was getting into my cap and causing missfires galore.

In my opinion if it sounds normal at idle, no knocking or anything like that, i'd say its okay to drive it there. However, your alternator may be on its way out. Hopefully its something simple like that. I don't want to tell you its fine, and have you hurt it, your going to have to trust yourself, and decide if the engine sounds fine. As long as your oil light isn't on when driving, but keep in mind that only comes on at like 5 psi.... if you have a guage that would be better.

If you know anyone with tools, all you need is a 12 mm box end, and a 14 mm if i'm not mistaken to pop the alternator out, and then have a parts store test it for ya. (nevermind saw the last part of your post) still unsure about the pop/backfire.

 

Maybe the system just drains too much. Do you have a capacitor?

 

Look in my project thread, lol.