Car died, would not crank... Then it was fine
06-16-2020, 07:48 PM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 111
Total Cats: 6
Car died, would not crank... Then it was fine
I have a weird one for you guys. I have a 2004 MSM with MSPNP Pro.
This morning I was driving to work and I got a few miles down the road. The engine died, ABS and voltage light came on (And strangely the dash lights got brighter when it died) I down shifted and let out the clutch to get the engine spinning again, it ran for a second and died again. When I pulled off the road it would not crank. But after a few minutes it started up just fine and ran normally as I drove the car home to swap out for my daily driver.
This one has me scratching my head. I have had it die like this before when I was tuning my IAC initial values table. But I haven't ever had it not crank. To the best of my knowledge the starting circuit is independent from the mega squirt. Could a dieing crank sensor cause this (but the engine would still turn over right?) I did replace my weak original starter a few months ago with a new unit, but it has been fine so far.
I just got home from work and I cant reproduce the problem, the car works as it is supposed to.
Does anyone have an idea of what is failing on my car or what could cause this strange fault? I will be sure to start datalogging the next time I drive the car. I apologize for the limited information.
This morning I was driving to work and I got a few miles down the road. The engine died, ABS and voltage light came on (And strangely the dash lights got brighter when it died) I down shifted and let out the clutch to get the engine spinning again, it ran for a second and died again. When I pulled off the road it would not crank. But after a few minutes it started up just fine and ran normally as I drove the car home to swap out for my daily driver.
This one has me scratching my head. I have had it die like this before when I was tuning my IAC initial values table. But I haven't ever had it not crank. To the best of my knowledge the starting circuit is independent from the mega squirt. Could a dieing crank sensor cause this (but the engine would still turn over right?) I did replace my weak original starter a few months ago with a new unit, but it has been fine so far.
I just got home from work and I cant reproduce the problem, the car works as it is supposed to.
Does anyone have an idea of what is failing on my car or what could cause this strange fault? I will be sure to start datalogging the next time I drive the car. I apologize for the limited information.
Last edited by ElyasWolff; 06-16-2020 at 08:04 PM.
Reply
0
0
06-16-2020, 08:40 PM
#3
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 111
Total Cats: 6
I do have 154,000 miles on the car and the cam and crank sensors are original. I wish there was a way to bench check them. Pretty much everything else got changed when I rebuilt my engine.
Reply
0
0
06-16-2020, 09:38 PM
#4
After the cam sensor failure, I always keep a spare cam sensor, crank sensor, and main relay in my car. Having these with me is cheap insurance.
My car has been boosted over 100K of its 174K lifespan.
A main relay failure, and that cam sensor failure were my only-stop-the car events. Both happened after stressing the car with heat.
Both are relatively easy to replace. Crank, not quite so easy, but if you are at an event, plenty of folks to lend a hand.
There are lots of smart folks here. Mine might not be the answer to your problem, but gives you something to look into.
Good luck.
My car has been boosted over 100K of its 174K lifespan.
A main relay failure, and that cam sensor failure were my only-stop-the car events. Both happened after stressing the car with heat.
Both are relatively easy to replace. Crank, not quite so easy, but if you are at an event, plenty of folks to lend a hand.
There are lots of smart folks here. Mine might not be the answer to your problem, but gives you something to look into.
Good luck.
Reply
1
1
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
