Sold the car, and it died on the way to the new owner's house

[xtr3me]

Well, i sold my 95' Talon TSi FWD today for $2100. The person that bought it lives an hour and a half away and was driving it home, about 20 mins away from his house he said the Rpm's went crazy and the car died. He didn't hear any clanking or knocking noises as the car died. After about 10 mins of cool down he started it back up and it ran for about 3 mins then he gave it gas and it sputtered and died. Before he left my house he put 25$ in the tank so it didn't run out of gas.. Any suggestions on what happened?

 

[cruisintalonawd]

do a leak done test my 90 did something similar to that and I had a blown head gasket

 

[97spyderman]

I would check the fuel filter and pump. Make sure the fuel pump is coming on and staying on. Then I would move on to the ignition system. Also check your oil for water.

 

[knochgoon24]

Did he put premium in it?

 

[98GSXtreme07]

Ahh..that would def. be a good question to ask the buyer.

 

[Defiant]

Poor gas won't keep a DSM from running. A new owner winding the living shit out of it, and jumping timing will.

 

[absolute_DSM]

Sold "as is". Make him figure it out.

Whats "Rpms went crazy" mean?

 

[50trimmed1g]

Coil pack?

 

[Jordanbutter]

Cam Position Sensor and/or Crank Angle Sensor. Mine did the same exact thing when my cam sensor went bad.

 

[Icarus]

Sold "as is". Make him figure it out.

No offense but I get tired of this crap. Like eBay sellers that get rid of their broken Sh** and say "Oh it says "as is", it's your problem now". Most of the time it's not worth messing around with, but let it be known that there is in place law that protects the buyer from goods that do not perform as intended, e.g. car that cannot drive. The Uniform Commercial Code or UCC, unless things have changed, has been passed in to law in all 50 states. "As Is" means nothing to the seller without specific language stating explicitly what is not being covered. In Washington State this requires that the seller verbally read to the buyer what is not covered by the implied warranty or "explicit negotiations". It is most likely similar in all states.

Uniform Commercial Code - Article 2

To the OP do what you think is right. In my opinion it sounds like you are on the right track by coming here and trying to figure out what's wrong.

 

[xtr3me]

Well, i did sell it as is. But it doesn't matter im going to help this kid. Yes he did put premium. I wrote all your advice to tell the guy tonight. Thanks alot.
Im not 100% sure about the RPM's going crazy my guess is it bounced all around.

 

[colonel_odem]

my car did this after I drove it through ~2' of water (don't ask). my guess is that there is a leak (whether it is intake or exhaust, I am unsure) and the RPM needle went straight red and then to the dieing number of RPM. so you need to find out if it is happening in a certain frame of rpm e.g. 'between 5-6k, 1-2k' and what position the throttle is in. what Load. Depending on how long ago...did the buyer try to do the Uber wash? did they get crazy degreesing the motor at the car wash -on the way home?

 

[44pirate]

Check the Power Transiter connecter it might have come loose.

 

[92awddsm]

Check the Power Transiter connecter it might have come loose.

+1 for the pt.

Generally, if the tach starts going crazy before the car dies, the power transistor or connector is to blame.

 

[jshuman]

Did he say if he was moving or stopped when the rpms went crazy? If he was stopped, maybe he was experiencing idle surge like when the biss backs out far enough that it is out of the range the isc can control. The rpms go pretty crazy when that happens.
Also, could a coupler have blown off?

 

[tbonitz301]

Ugh...alternator

 

[sd_ff22]

Poor gas won't keep a DSM from running. A new owner winding the living shit out of it, and jumping timing will.

Thats the first thing that came to my mind when you told your story.
"let's see what this baby can do!"

BOOM