0 rpm, Running Rough, no power

[KMOSES]

Hey Guys,

Car crapped out on me on my way to work this morning, rpms dropped to almost nonthing and barley any power, wouldnt rev far past 1k, and would crawl at slow speeds.

Car will start and stay running, but shows 0 rpms. VERY rough idle, it shakes the whole car pretty rough. doesn't want to rev up, and in gear its like it has no power.

also, exhaust pipe smells like straight gasoline

heres a video i took:

the ratting noise you hear is the driver side window in the door from the car shaking, but in the video you will see no rpms and a weird noise when i rev, or try to rev, also a weird noise when i rev?

Low rpm idle slow rev - YouTube

Just pulled CEL codes:
P0110
P0300
P0505

 

[Dsmkauai]

Sounds like a rod knock or dropped valve. Advice is stop revving it and start breaking the motor down to see what went. It's also possible your timing belt jumped a few teeth or tensioner gave out. Before you do further damage stop trying to drive it and fix it.

 

[ericemery]

I agree... Easiest thing to do is check the timing. if you skipped a tooth, it will be pretty obvious.

 

[ed1380]

Power transistor. Had the same thing happen to a local. Everyone kept on telling him timing, sensors, etc. He changed everything even the ecu. I finally went over to help him. 2 minutes later it was running like a dream. Its the power transistor. You're running on 2 cylinders, hence the unburnt fuel smell

 

[KMOSES]

was hoping it wasn't internal engine, im not mechanically knowledgeable enough for that kind of work yet, and can't really afford a shop at the moment, recovering from being laid off.

I just figure a video will help explain more than I could describe in words..

How do you tell if your timing belt jumped teeth or if the tensioner gave out? what would I be looking for?

Power transistor. Had the same thing happen to a local. Everyone kept on telling him timing, sensors, etc. He changed everything even the ecu. I finally went over to help him. 2 minutes later it was running like a dream. Its the power transistor. You're running on 2 cylinders, hence the unburnt fuel smell

that makes total sense when I was listening to the engine it definitely sounds like its only firing twice. I'll look into it.

that may be easier than tearing apart the engine.

 

[dalesocks]

Make sure u getting spark and fuel to all 4 cyl and then go from there.

could be something very simple!

 

[KMOSES]

Make sure u getting spark and fuel to all 4 cyl and then go from there.

could be something very simple!

Thats what im hoping for, from what the guy above said im going to try and test the power transistor first with this method i found Here before i spend $100 on a new one from the parts store

 

[ed1380]

I could never successfully test mine, and it was a 100% working one(later discovered my problem) They're 25-30 on ebay. Cheaper at the junkyard. They're came on lots of dsm's.

 

[KMOSES]

Yeah, I fiddled with that testing method last night for awhile, and couldn't get the lightbulb to come on, but im no electrician... So i could have very well been doing it wrong..

Do you know what year/model's had the same power transistor? I'll check the local junkyards today to see if i can pull one.

 

[ed1380]

Here you go. Found few on ebay under $30 shipped. Just search for J722t

1990 DODGE COLT 1.5L Distributor-Less
1992-1993 EAGLE 2000 GTX 2.0L Distributor-Less
1990 EAGLE SUMMIT 2.0L Distributor-Less
1991-1998 EAGLE TALON 2.0L Distributor-Less
1991-1999 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE 2.0L Distributor-Less
1990-1992 MITSUBISHI GALANT 2.0L Distributor-Less
1991-1993 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE 1.6L Distributor-Less
1991-1994 PLYMOUTH LASER 2.0L Distributor-Less

 

[KMOSES]

Awesome, thats a pretty extensive list, there's bound to be one in a junkyard.

Thank you good sir!

 

[Lavery]

I had this happen to me as well last week. It ended up being my 1-4 coil pack. Just check for spark on all your plugs.

From what I can tell in the video the knocking noise could just be something rattling since the car is at such low RPM.

 

[Hesh724]

Is the rattling noise in the video audible directly from the engine or is that just the sound of the car shakking since its running on 2 cyl cause that deffineatle sounds like it could be engine shake? But ya there is diffentaly a solid miss there. Cars run on Air, Fuel and Spark. check intercooler piping, injectors, pump, mpi and like said above wires, coilpack ,transister.... and please excuse my spelling

 

[KMOSES]

Cool, Ill check my spark/coil's while im at it tonight.

Yes the rattling is the driver side window, it's loose and rattles when its all the way down inside the door.

 

[ed1380]

I had this happen to me as well last week. It ended up being my 1-4 coil pack. Just check for spark on all your plugs.

From what I can tell in the video the knocking noise could just be something rattling since the car is at such low RPM.

Did it show 0 rpm? Reason this is a dead giveaway because the transistor is the one that tells the tach the rpm.

 

[KMOSES]

Did it show 0 rpm? Reason this is a dead giveaway because the transistor is the one that tells the tach the rpm.

logging with Clanzer's Mut-monitor, the tach was showing 0 but the live reading on my laptop was showing around 550-600rpm. I suppose this adds more reason to believe in a faulty power transistor?

 

[Lavery]

Did it show 0 rpm? Reason this is a dead giveaway because the transistor is the one that tells the tach the rpm.

Mine didn't show 0 but it did idle at 100. In the OPs video the RPMs did climb when he gave it throttle though. You could be right, I wasn't arguing with you I was just giving another possibility.

 

[ed1380]

Mine didn't show 0 but it did idle at 100. In the OPs video the RPMs did climb when he gave it throttle though. You could be right, I wasn't arguing with you I was just giving another possibility.

I was just curious. Because the local who I helped had a weird case. His would idle perfect for 10 seconds and then start running like crap while the tach was surging 100-500.

 

[KMOSES]

Replaced the Power transistor and it would start and then die, So i pulled the plugs and this is what i found:

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plugs were black and gunked up, Im assuming from the misfires and power transistor going out and running on 2 cylinders.

dropped some new ngk's in and it struggled for a minute and then eventually smoothed out. Problem solved.

Thanks tuners for saving the day!