Starts, stutters and stops - sometimes....

I bought this 95 SC with 59K on it thinking I got a great buy. I still do but the car has issues. After reading this thread I am scared to death what may come next. It sounds like the 95 inherently is doomed. From some descriptions it sounds like it may be haunted! One of the problems I was having was rough running especially at idle and low speed acceleration. I took some advice I read on here and changed my plugs to Autolite 605's and factory wires. In doing so I found the middle plug in the rear hardly had an electrode left on it. It almost looked like part of it was broken off but more like burned off. Huge gap. So after replacing plugs and wires the rough running seems to have cleared up. The other plugs, by the way, looked perfect. I don't know how long they were in there. What could have caused this?
I also have a 63 Riv and it always runs perfect!

The wonderful world of the quick and mysterios 95. welcome to the club.
I've just about given up on trying to find every quirk the series 1 exhibits. Now I just live with her eccenticities. all I know is when I hit the gas she just goes!

I took my car home yesterday from work (6 miles). I stopped off at AutoZone (yeah I know...) to price out a fuel pump and left my car running outside. When I went back out, the exhaust wasn't smooth it was rough. When I jumped in it and through it in reverse to back out of the parking spot I was in, the car wouldn't move, nor would it rev up to move, it just stuttered more and after three tries of putting it in PARK and back in REVERSE, it stalled. After that it wouldn't start for a half hour and upon starting it, it struggled backwards. Something is DEFINITELY getting hot and shutting off, but what?
The store manager came out and said the pump was pumping as it should be. I asked about the MAF sensor, but he said he didn't have one in stock.
However this morning, I recalled when I worked for Cadillac back in the 90's, they sent me out to duplicate a customer concern about an intermittent stall when the car got hot. You would have to let it "cool down" and then it would start again. As it turns out, it was the PCM. It literally would heat up and stall out the car, until it cooled.
Does this sound feasible? Could this be the problem?

sounds possible.call morad and find out if they can send you a good used one..

Shawn,
I think you need to do a little more diagnosing. Dont just throw parts at this. First off, get check engine light scanned. Auto Zone is fine for this. They should be able to do obd 1.5.
Also, when car stops running, check for fuel pressure and spark. This will narrow down your problem. If no spark is present, you may want to test your crank position sensor. They will act up when hot, but work normal when cool.
Good luck! I hope this may be helpful.

..yeah..if that dont work throw a BFH at it...

A smashed electrode often means worse news. I recommend a compression check.

Sooooooo....

It takes a while get things done sometimes. I was waiting for the pressure regulator to be shipped, finally said screw it, cancelled it and picked one up at NAPA. Of course it was $30.00 more but, what the hey.

FPR swap was straightforward and done in about half an hour.

Fuel pump was a bit more involved as the retaining ring was stuck on there pretty good. PB took care of that while I did the FPR. The Delphi pump has a different connector on it, so you have to splice in the one that comes with it.. Not too hard, and that took care of that.

Double checked everything, hooked up the FP gauge, stuck the key in, gave it a turn, 25 psi. Off, waited 10 secs, turned on again, Bingo! 41psi, right where it should be.

Started it up, fired right off, seems to be running pretty good, no leaks. Wait, whats that smoke? Aw man! What's with the pinhole on the fuel line at the rail?

God, I love 17 year old fuel injected cars. Looks like I'll be getting a couple of Dorman line kits tomorrow and replacing those as well. Might as well do them both. Then look into the stainless line replacement mod.

It's a good thing I like this car....

I dont see anyone replacing just the FP motor? is this not possible? or do you have to swap out the entire unit?

You can replace just the motor, I went ahead and did the complete unit.

Especially considering that the bloody car ran out of gas on me the other day without a "low fuel" light.

I was running it down for the fuel pump change, it still said I had 1/8th of a tank and buh-buh-buuuuuh.... dead.

Had to call for gas, man I was pissed at myself for trusting a gauge/light. Shoulda known better.

damn! Would it be cheaper still,if you just changed the motor and the level sender? and where do you buy just a motor?

Alright, sorry to be so long updating....

Ordered one each 800-057 and 800-058 fuel lines (one is 5/16" and the other is 3/8"), have to say my first attempt at replacing them didn't go too well. I just couldn't get the stock metal fitting into the line without kinking it. I tried everything, finally gave up and ordered the 800-300 kit, on the premise that these wouldn't be the only fuel lines that needed fixing eventually.

It's worth the "ouch!" of the initial cost, made life a lot easier. Got the 5/16" line replaced first (the return line I assume and the one that was leaking.) then went ahead and replaced the 3/8" line just for good measure.

Got it all put back together, fired it up, no leaks! Yay!

Now I can take it out for a post fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator replacement spin.

DAYAM! De car, she get up and go now! It had that feeling when I'd get on the highway like I was giving her the spurs but pulling back on the reins. Not anymore! Giddyup!

So that ends my saga of reluctant go-go, for now....

I even got a box of new plugs for the carpet in the trunk, a couple were missing and the rest had obviously been reused a couple times.

Thanks again for all your help and advice folks!

Quote :

Especially considering that the bloody car ran out of gas on me the other day without a "low fuel" light.

I was running it down for the fuel pump change, it still said I had 1/8th of a tank and buh-buh-buuuuuh.... dead.

Had to call for gas, man I was pissed at myself for trusting a gauge/light. Shoulda known better.

If you read back to post #2 in this thread, I had the same thing happen. I thought I ran out of gas, too - but actually the pump was just stuck, because it needed replaced, like yours. Filling with gas seemed to do the trick, but really what happened was the added fuel actually unset the pump. If you had given it no fuel and just given the trunk floor a hard tap, it would have started right up.

Now that you've replaced the pump, you should be able to trust the fuel light again. Take a can of gas in the trunk the first time, just in case. Glad to hear she's back and running again!

Thanks, but actually, I had run it down pretty far, further than I ever had before. I knew I was pushing it.

I remembered your post.

I did thump the pump, gave the back end a shake, didn't hear any slosh. I really did run it out.

Thanks again for all the help and advice.