What is wrong with it? Stalling/stuttering

[DaPurpleRT]

OK, first off, I've had a stalling issue having to do with the ECU (clicked right from it and stalled). I had the capacitors replaced and it seem like it was still having troubles (though much less, yesterday I had to hold the rpms up in idle until it warmed up to keep it from stalling, after that it ran perfect, as it will do once after the initial start if you get it going and don't leave it off more than 30min or so). So I am planning on getting a new ECU (anyone have one for a deal for a seriously poor college student? PM me!). But tonight, after it set for about 36 hours, went out, started right up, zero clicking, ran fine (aside from being slow which I'm attributing to boost loss because the exh. manifold is leaking) until about 15 miles into my trip, it started missing/stuttering very faintly at 1/10th throttle, nowhere else, give it 3/4 or 1/2, nothin' unusual. It eventually stopped this. I stop and look at an SRT4 (dealership finally got one) and I get back in my car.

I get to the little road heading back to the highway, stop, then start to go and she starts stammering like an excited Forrest Gump! So much so I let off and she died - nose in the 4lane! Luckily it wasn't busy and the place was on an incline, so I put it in reverse and coasted her down. Started it back up, tried to stall with the stuttering again. Got it about3krpm and held it, and it did fine. I took off, few 100 yards down the road, starts again! I have to pull off, rev again, fine, so I head towards home.

I made it home but it did this to me 6 or 7 more times at varying speeds. Acted like it was hitting a rev limiter at various rpms no matter what amount of throttle I gave it, and if I let out it wants to stall. WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT?!?!

Some info that may or may not be useful, the oil pressure was at a little over 1/4 during the idle but was well over half when running at speed. Not sure if this matter but the other gauges were fine. Also seems to be consuming gas fairly quick (may have to do with the aforementioned exh. mani leak though.)

Hope you fellas can help me - Startin' to think maybe I got ripped off on this beauty. Which sucks because I've looked for one for so long and I crossed two state (400) miles TWICE (1600 miles travelled!) due to a problem with my ins to get it thinking I had found a non-molested car (looks great, 109k miles, acted good during the test drive).

Ugh.

-Ryan
When I finally get my DSM. Shew!

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by DaPurpleRT
OK, first off, I've had a stalling issue having to do with the ECU (clicked right from it and stalled). I had the capacitors replaced and it seem like it was still having troubles
...
I took off, few 100 yards down the road, starts again! I have to pull off, rev again, fine, so I head towards home.

I made it home but it did this to me 6 or 7 more times at varying speeds. Acted like it was hitting a rev limiter at various rpms no matter what amount of throttle I gave it, and if I let out it wants to stall. WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT?!?!

When I finally get my DSM. Shew!

Oh dear, oh dear.

Whose idea was the cap job??

Sounds like dirt and or water in the filter.

When was the last time the fuel filter was replaced?? In a pinch you can pull a filter off and blow backwards through it to remove some of the crud enough to get home. If you decide to try this use a clean white paper towel to catch what ever is ejected by covering the inlet. If you get a lot of resistance after the fuel is expelled that may be your answer. These things are on pretty tight so make sure you have the right tools for the job.

Keep us posted.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[DaPurpleRT]

Gonna replace the fuel filter monday.

Today it didn't do any of the stuff from last night (was a good bit warmer?) but it clicked on me some right as I was leaving. It started and idle fine, was about backed upand it clicked n stalled, started it up, revved, and it gave me no more trouble all day.

When you were talking about water/dirt in the filter did you mean the fuel or were you talking about the air. I'll take the K&N cone out and clean it if you think it might help.

Thanks man, Ryan

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by DaPurpleRT
...

Today it didn't do any of the stuff from last night (was a good bit warmer?) but it clicked on me some right as I was leaving. It started and idle fine, was about backed upand it clicked n stalled, started it up, revved, and it gave me no more trouble all day.

When you were talking about water/dirt in the filter did you mean the fuel or were you talking about the air. I'll take the K&N cone out and clean it if you think it might help.
Thanks man, Ryan

When the fuel filter is plugged I've never seen any relationship to weather. When gas is in short supply the stations suck their tanks to the bottom and that's when you get the dregs.

You need to explain "clickked", are you hearing a click noise at the same time the car starts to misbehave?? An ECU will make noise "relays" when it starts to go south but your original description best met the criteria of a plugged filter. When the car sits for some period of time the fuel pressure retained in the lines dropps off. When this happens the crud which was in suspension is washed up to the filter and is held there by pressure, but once removed some of the crud will fall down and reveal a few passages through the filter only to have it wash back up after a few corners or bumps. In a nutshell that's the anatomy of why and how it happened. If you had a fuel pressure gauge downstream of the filter you could watch this happen. You can sometimes help it along by smacking the filter a few times which will knock some of it off but you would be a lot better if you can back flush with air until you can replace.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[DaPurpleRT]

Yes, it clicked bad from the are awhere the stereo is before I replaced the caps, now it does it, but very rarely and I can get by with some revving.

The car did sit for over a year in a garage. I bought a new fuel filter today and am putting it in Monday. The car gave me no trouble (except slowness, hehe) except right as I was leaving today. Started up and idled fine, and after I had backed it about around where I neededto turn, it started clicking and I let it die out (just to see if it would, if I would've revved, it wouldn't have). I started it back, revved it to 4k for about 30 seconds, put it in D and went with no more trouble throughout the day.

Thoughts?

Thanks, Ryan

 

[DaPurpleRT]

An update on this. Tonight did some testing. The car is noticeably faster at 1/3 throttle than at full! WTF??

Any ideas? No clicking problems or stuttering stuff today. Hmph.

Help.