please help...car killed itself

[rvought]

so i have no idea what happened last night, the car has been running fine for the past couple weeks, i've had it in storage since its winter, but since there is no snow i decided to take it out a couple times. i have a 99 eclipse gst auto. low miles on this around 52,000 if that helps. some mods just check the profile.
anyways this is what happened, i was driving to green bay which is like an hour away from me everything is fine, as soon as i get there, i step on the gas to get into the other lane, not full throttle or anything and the car kinda jumps up and down in the rpm's. it happens every now and then so i never figured it to be anything. then after that happens the car seems to have no pick up at all, the fastest im going was 45, didnt seem to want to go faster. i get to where i was going and park, there was some smoke coming from under the hood, i checked underneath the car and it seems like is was coming from the down-pipe. i need to change my valve cover gasket to i thought maybe some oil just dripped on it. started it back up and idle was ok, a little sluggish but nothing major.
i did check to make sure nothing was leaking, i had normal oil pressure so i dont know. after a while later i was heading back home and at first it felt fine, then when i went to go back on the highway the car had no pick up once again, i be putting my foot on the gas and barely got anywhere. i downshifted into second didnt really do much but i figure i was only in second anyway while driving at 45. i started slowing down some more so i put it on 1st gear, thinking maybe the tranny blew, the car did normal when putting it in first, kinda spiked the rpm's not redline or anything so i put it back into drive and decided to take my over drive off, well for some reason i have no over drive light anymore. i had the over drive off earlier that day, so i know there wasnt a burnt out light or something. i pull over on the side of the highway and the car is running like complete ass. the idle is real lumpy and going up and down there was smoke again coming from under the hood. finally the car just stalled out. i started it up again and stalls again, throw the flashers on. some guy stopped to give me a hand we looked but couldnt think of anything, i checked the intercooler piping make sure that was on and what not everything seem to be there. then after having the headlights on for like 15 mins with the flashers the car battery seems to be dying and pretty much died, i could barely get my window to go up. which really sucks its like 2 am, about 5 degrees and i was freezing.
if anyone could help me out i think i described it to the best of what happened, if i can think of anything more i will let everyone know.
i need to get my car home, but know its not on the side of the road still. i had it towed over to a buddy's house.
thanks again,-rob

 

[DSMcamaro]

do you have any type of logging device at all? Could be a number of things. I would maybe try a differnt MAS if you have one avaiable.

 

[UNDER_PRESSURE]

DSM is right it could be a number of things... spark plugs, spark plug wires, clogged cat, anything really. Did the car throw a cel?

 

[ddavisaf]

First thing first.
Take the battery to Auto Zone and have them charge it (it's free).
Secondly you need to run a boost leak test.
Pay special attention to the UICP where meets the intercooler. I have seen that pipe cause more problems than you could imagine. If it is not bolted to the car, it can pop up when the motor flexes. Make sure it is bolted down.
If your car died on the road then you might also want to take your alternator in and have that tested as well since it's free as well.

 

[ddavisaf]

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/ICtester.html - Boost Leak Test

 

[BISHILVR]

Check your alternator or alternator belt. Also check your crankshaft dampener for separation. The smoke could have been overheating from the waterpump not moving fast enough, if the dampener is on the way out, which would also leave you with low voltage from the alternator and cause the idle problem, and stalling problem. This is just a thought of something you can check pretty easily.

 

[rvought]

so my buddy got it over to his friends shop today that works on dsm's and whatever else. he was looking it over and found a vacume line that had busted off on the intake manifold, and the intake manifold was loose. he tightened that down again and replaced the line and what not with that and it apparantly works now. my friend said the guy drove it and it worked fine, then when he got done with work he went there and drove it to and he said it was fine, i had him check the over drive to see if that light turns on and off when you push it and he says it does. i havent been able to drive it yet or see what exactly he did, i should be going down there tomm. night after work to pick it up if its fine.
i dont understand though why the o/d light wouldnt come on over a leak in the manifold or a vacume leak. he did suggest get a new battery, its been the same one in the car since i bought it three years ago or more. i dont have any logging tools, a guy on here ripped me off on all of that. the boost leak tester is a good idea but everything seems to be pretty well in place with the couplers. but it will never hurt though.
there wasnt a CEL that came on at all which really surprised me and the same with the voltage light. the car did however after driving warm up in like five minutes of driving, didnt read any hotter than normal though.
do you guys think that this was it, a loose intake manifold and a vacume line. anybody suggest pulling the codes off the tranny to possibly know if there is something going on inside? also could the manifold just vibrate loose, enough for this to happen, i have never touched that yet so i figure everything should be torqued fine.
i guess we'll see tomm. i'll let everyone know what happens!
thanks again, -rob