I have noticed recently that when I go to start the car, sometimes all I get it a click. Releasing the key and trying again (sometimes several times) results in it eventually starting. Reading (m.net) tells me this is a somewhat common problem on these cars after 20+ years. I plan on pulling the switch off the column and cleaning it this weekend. That's not the issue.

The real issue is that the car sometimes "stumbles" when I'm cruising at speed. It feels like a misfire. Now, this is NY, so obviously, the roads suck. My suspension is stiff, and it means the car takes these bumps hard. I haven't been able to positively correlate bump/misfire, but I suspect it's the switch cutting out or arcing.

Is this a reasonable assumption, or do I need to go looking for other causes? This kind of thing caused me to nearly get plowed by a semi in my Jeep (which stalled completely in rush hour traffic at 65mph), and it makes me really nervous.

Any suggestions?

 

My old setup had an issue with coil pack wires getting jolted after driving with SM suspension on **** roads for a year. Or maybe it was CAS wires... One of those shitty connections.

 

I had a similar start issue on my wife's 97 for a while where you had to bump the key a few times to get the starter to kick in. Didn't do it all the time though. I tried cleaning it, but ended up swapping in a used ignition switch and it worked fine after that. I didn't have random stalling issues with that one though.

I did have random stumbling and stalling issues with my 91 after I swapped in the 1.8. Turned out to be the crappy wiring I used to extend the CAS wiring to move it from intake to exhaust cam when doing the 1.8 swap. Check those wires and connectors.