Earlier this morning i was driving to school, and as i got off the freeway, i saw my tach jumping up and down, the all of a sudden the rmp just went to 0 and the car died... the i tried starting it and nothing... it cranked over but it wouldnt start.. i checked if the timing belt broke, but it was still fine... so i went back in the car and just stepped on the gas and cranked it, then it suddenly started again... so i just drove it to the school parking lot, it didnt seem to have any more problems for that half mile i drove... well.. now im thinking it might be my distributor.. but im not sure.. and i dont know if i should try to drive it home or just leave it at school over night... can anyone help????

 

I'm not really sure what it could be, but maybe you should drive it around the parking lot a little bit to see how it acts then if all is well drive it home. I'd hate to leave my car at school.

 

I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE ELSE HAS SAID.
1. REPLACE THE FUEL FILTER RIGHT NOW.

2. REPLACE THE MAIN RELAY ASSEMBLY RIGHT NOW.

3. BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU BUY YOUR WATER (GASOLINE).
(I said water, because it seems that almost every damn station these days has the **** in their storage tanks.)

What you will need:

10 mm socket, ratchet, extension, and open/closed wrench.
12 mm socket may be needed
17 mm open/closed wrench
BIG DAMN FOREARMS to remove the banjo bolts from the fuel filter.

The main relay assembly is located in the drivers side right there beside the door. It is a black plastic box, mounted upside down on a metal bracket, and has a clear/white plug in it. You will have to unbolt the bottom of the dash (10mm) to gain access to the bolt that holds the Main relay in place (also 10mm). once removed, unplug, and plug in new one. SEND ME YOUR OLD ONE.

To change the fuel filter, go to the locar parts house, get a new one, and look under the hood for an old one like it. It is on the firewall passenger's side. I recommend leaving it on the car until you have loosened the Banjo bolts. DO NOT LOSE THE SMALL COPPER LOOKING WASHERS!!! These are compression seals!!! Not using these will develop a fuel leak!!! There are two per bolt! One goes above the Fuel fitting, and one below.

Retighten using the Extra large forearms that you borrowed, and return it to its original mounting location. Easy, right? I know that this sounds a little too extreme, and overboard but on the freeway, you must have fuel to go with your spark, or else you will have lean condition, perhaps some detonation, and literally MELT your piston in the cylinder. Want proof?

Scott

 

The fact that his tach was jumping around then died, is telling me that the igniter is on its way out.

Replacing the Main Relay and fuel filter is more of shotgun approach to fixing this.

But if your going to replace the fuel filter, don't worry about those washers as new ones come with a new filter (at least OEM does anyway).


[Modified by EE_Chris, 12:46 PM 4/3/2003]