Why is my eclipse doing this?

[KROMEkid]

I just bought a 95 eclipse with 150xxx miles on it.
It gets good mileage and idles fine.
New plugs, good spark, good wires.
But WHY is it shutting off while I'm driving?
It doesn't bog down, it just shuts off and the check engine light appears for a second.
Sometimes it will start up right away. Usually it takes several seconds of turning over to start.
Please help. My guess is a fuel pressure solenoid but I am new to these cars.
-Andy

 

['97boostinGST]

Have you ran the CEL to see what the light is for?

 

[Anubis_4_99]

you need to give more info then "my car shuts off, wtf".

What are you doing when it shuts off? what does it do other then flash a cel when it shuts off? You say it idles fine, how does it drive? Is it gutless? Does it miss? etc

You didnt mention if it's auto or manual, so are you pushing in the clutch and coming to a stop?

More info is needed before we can really tell you anything.

 

[KROMEkid]

you need to give more info then "my car shuts off, wtf".

What are you doing when it shuts off? what does it do other then flash a cel when it shuts off? You say it idles fine, how does it drive? Is it gutless? Does it miss? etc

You didnt mention if it's auto or manual, so are you pushing in the clutch and coming to a stop?

More info is needed before we can really tell you anything.

Sorry. It runs flawless before it shuts off. It has all the power I would expect from an eclipse and it doesn't miss.
It is manual.
Sometimes it shuts off when I press in the clutch coming to a stop but this morning it shut off while I was coasting in 5th gear.
I haven't checked the CEL. I have two jobs, go to school 5 hours a day, and have zero knowledge with dsms. So I figured I would check here first. :S

 

[LiquidX]

So it's shutting off only when you are at idle RPMs?

 

[ed1380]

It might be the ISC. I had similar symptoms. Quick fix was to shim the throttle body a hair.

 

[KROMEkid]

It tried to do it again on the way back from class just now.
Coasting at 45 mph with my foot on the gas and it 'hiccuped'. It seemed to slow down and then pick back up in a split second. Almost like it bogged down or something.
What is an ISC? :S

 

[Alan11]

The Isc is the Idle speed control sensor...
Now you are saying the car bogged.???

If it bogs down its more likely a misfire. Check fuel,spark, IAC And TPS(Throttle position sensor).


Also you don't have an ISC, you have an IAC(Idle air control) valve.

 

[LiquidX]

Coasting with your foot on the gas is a contradiction. Which is it?

 

[KROMEkid]

The Isc is the Idle speed control sensor...
Now you are saying the car bogged.???

If it bogs down its more likely a misfire. Check fuel,spark, ISC And TPS(Throttle position sensor).

I can't be sure. I had music on and windows down next to a cummins but the car felt like it slowed very quickly.

And I was going 45 today with my foot on the gas. It has done this with my foot off the gas as well though.

I'm sorry I'm not much help, I am baffled and have never had to deal with this before. :S

 

[Anubis_4_99]

check your ground wire on the intake that runs to the firewall and see if it is corroded or not. mine caused a very strange series of problems until it finally broke and wreaked havoc when i was over 150 miles away from home.

 

[crankwalker95]

I've had the same problem before. Sounded close to your problem. Turned out to be the crank position sensor going bad. But hard to help with very few info on your part. After fixing CPS suffered crankwalk

 

[mb3000]

Easy way to test your ISC. There have been cases of the parts testing within spec yet still failing in the car, so keep that in mind.

Stealth 316 - ISC Servo Motro

 

[Alan11]

Easy way to test your ISC. There have been cases of the parts testing within spec yet still failing in the car, so keep that in mind.

Stealth 316 - ISC Servo Motro

420a's have iac valves not isc sensors.

The best thing for the op is to figure out what is the cel for. Then come back and let us know.

 

[tony070804]

I havent had this problem with a dsm car yet, but I did have it with my 300zx I had. I would be driving along at all differents ranges of speed and it would just die. same thing it would start right up at times and sometimes it would take a lil longer. till one day it wouldnt start all together and it turned out to be Camshaft Position Sensor.

 

[KROMEkid]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'm going to check it out after class today. (tried yesterday but was scolded by the landlord saying that car maintenance can't be done in the parking lot or anywhere on the grounds)

How hard is it to replace a camshaft position sensor? :S

 

[i3oi3c78]

My old talon ESI did that. Try a smaller gap in the spark plugs.

 

[tony070804]

not real sure on the dsm cars. the 300 it wasnt bad just had to take alot of stuff off to get to it

 

[T is for TURBO]

Sounds like cam or crank sensor to me. (not sure if the 420A has both or just one?)

 

[spshocker61]

The best use of your time would be to swing in an autozone or advanced and have them scan for the CEL. Trying to diagnose the issue without starting with the CEL is a fairly inefficient way to go about it IMO. GL though!

 

[KROMEkid]

So I went to Autozone and their reader couldn't read the code. Drove back down to WI and the check engine light came on most of the way there. I went through everything again and noticed that one of the spark plug wires was very picky. Resistance was all over the charts when you moved it. Replaced all the wires and it seems to run better. No more CEL. No more dying car. Huh.