Misfire Problem

[1996Eclipse420a]

I'm sorry I keep bothering you guys, but I have another issue. I have a problem to where the car loses power for a split second and it jerks when it does. I don't know if this is a misfire or simply losing power. When I hook a scanner up to the car, it doesn't read a code at all. I let a few instructors at my college hook a data streaming device up to it and take it out for a drive.... well they said it was like it's losing power completely. Apparently when it cuts out, it cuts off the Data Stream Scanner, or whatever device they hooked up to it. I've replaced spark plugs, wires, coil, and nothing has solved the problem. I'm not sure where to even start since it isn't throwing a code. Has anyone else ever experienced this problem?

 

[drownthecity]

Camshaft position sensor? Does everything lose power (including electronics) or is it just the engine?

 

[1996Eclipse420a]

The radio and stuff like that still work... . It's just like a sudden jerk in the motor and it isn't a constant jerk. It happens out of beat if you get what I mean... randomly. It happens while the car is going downhill, uphill, or going 15 mph down my driveway.

also, it seems to happen when motor has warmed up... about 15 to 20 mins of driving.

 

[Redslayer]

I had a similar problem with my old engine, I haven't driven in this one enough to know if it will still happen.

What mine was doing was at speed (say cruising at 55 MPH) it would suddenly jerk and then continue on like nothing happened. It was completely random and I never did figure out what caused it.

So I'm curious on this one as well.

 

[1996Eclipse420a]

yes, i know the feeling. I have a check engine light for a speed sensor... the light stays solid but it will flash to the misfire. Say it misfires once, then the light will blink once with the misfire. It's like it's losing power somewhere.

Well, I'm not sure what I've exactly done, but the miss disappeared after I left college today. I'm in a Electronics class, so I was testing for any shorts anywhere under the hood. Well everything seemed fine after an hour and a half of carefully checking everything. The last thing I did was pick the coil wires up off the valve cover. Ever since then it hasn't had that "electrical short." The wires are blue and didn't have anything protecting them. Certain parts of them look bad and discolored to a grey hard rough area. Is it possible that with nothing covering the wires, that the heat from the valve cover was creating a short whenever it leaned against it? The ECU ( The computer grounds out to the coil wires btw.)

 

[rrayray6911]

i had the same problem and fixed it. its deeper than your coil, if its the same thing..it started with what your describing i was just coasting and would loose all power completely then it would return.. i check wires vac leaks everything i could thing of then i got lucky i was light testing wile car was running and it happened, i traced it to my coil packs, even though i just replaced them. well i unplugged the triangular plug in back the tested again nothing.. i traced wires and found i had a wear in the wire protector sleeve and one wire was showing it would ground out randomly and send all my current to the frame or where ever it could,, i rewired it up covered it up and never had the problem again..
hope this helps,, good luck =)

 

[dalesocks]

Did you check that the fuel components are all in working order?

 

[1996Eclipse420a]

Hey guys, thanks for replying. Yes, Dale I checked my Injectors by testing resistance. I didn't test the pump or change filters because it didn't seem like it was fuel related in any way. Ray, I think that was my problem too . When I went back to college, I traced all the wires I possibly could and didn't find anything wrong while at idle, although my coil plug wires (like yours) looked kind of crusty and burned. So, I ended up wrapping the wires up with electric tape, and the problem disappeared that afternoon when I went home. I'm glad it did, because I started to think the computer was going bad.