I have a problem with the car I bought about 3 months ago and have not been able to figure it out yet.
The car did run great but would not rev over 4000 rpms, then all of a sudden it started cutting out on the way to work. Now it cuts out so bad you cant hardly drive it. No check engine codes at all, I even unpluged the egr to make sure the light works. I cleaned the egr passages under the fuel rail, and have a distributor on the way. When the car starts cutting up the rpm guage goes haywire jumping up and down. Has anyone ever had this problem before?

 

Did you do the maintenance items yet like inspecting the distributor cap and distributor rotor? Change the spark plugs?

It does sound like an ignition problem. The list of items it could be are the ignitor, coil, ignition switch, ecu, and the wiring.

When you start the car, can you get the car to stall out by shaking the key while the engine is running?

 

I have checked the cap, rotor button, plugs and plug wires and all are fine. The only time the ignition key changes anything is when you turn the switch back off. I even pulled the ecu out and pulled off the covers on both sides looking for burnt resistors or hot spots but everything looked fine.

 

Some O'Reilly auto parts stores can test ignitors. If you have one nearby, call to see if they do this service, and see what comes from their test.

I also have some ignition stuff from my old 95 EX in the classified section.

 

Well it isn't the distributor or any of the parts inside. I changed the distributor out this afternoon and got the exact same results. I was thinking maybe a faulty fuel pump or something but never had a fuel pump kind of go bad any time they ever went out they would do so without warning, and a fuel pump would not make the tach go from 800 rpm to 2000rpm without the engine reving up. What ever my problem is it has something to do with the rpm guage. if you drive the car and hold it around 2000 rpm the engine will bog or cut out but the tach will jump from 2000 to 3500 or 4000 rpm and the engine will bog or cut out at the same time even if you hold your foot to the floorboard.

 

When you changed out the distributor, did it come with a new ignitor and/or a new coil?

 

Yes everything was changed and I still have the same problem

 

When the rpm gauge goes haywire, does the engine rpm go haywire?

When the engine stalls out, does the check engine light do it bulb check like when you first turn the key to the II position?

 

On one occasion, my 94EX exhibited rpm fluctuations. A new set of spark plugs fixed the problem. Not sure exactly how the spark plugs and ignitor interact, but if spark does not jump the spark plug, the rpm voltage signal may not be generated.

good luck

 

When the tach goes nuts the car sputters and bogs but it doesn't kill the car completely. Some times the check engine light flashes and you can hear a solenoid clicking sound inside the car but when you jump the two wire connector there is no flash code saved.