My car quit... but only temporarily.

[trickyrix]

On my way out this morning, my car just up and died about a block from my house. There was no sputtering, no hesitation, it just went dead (the tach went dead too, not sure if that's an important clue). I tried in vain to start it, and it spun over just fine, but it wouldn't catch. Luckily, a nice old dude showed up with a rope and towed me back to the house. For shits and grins, I tried to start the car again... and it fired right up!



I haven't done any troubleshooting yet, but are there any preliminary theories out there? Do I have a CAS going bad? I can't very well fix it if ain't broke...

[EricJ]

Once on our '94 I had to retrieve my son, turned out to be a loose battery cable.

[trickyrix]

Cables are nice and snug and free of corrosion. Plus, the radio never quit, and I was able to run the starter with impunity.

[POS Racing]

Have you put new seats in that car lately it may just may not be feeling the love.....

[trickyrix]

Have you put new seats in that car lately it may just may not be feeling the love.....

"Get off my lawn!"

[sxk122]

Sounds like what my car did when the CAS was shot.....

[SirHustlerEsq]

I have a CAS, coils, and WB gauge for you...keep whatever you need (swap gauges). You have to come to Lewisville though, lol.

Next time you go out in the Miata, take your computer. When the error occurs, record a composite log for me, save it, and email it. We'll know if it's the CAS or not. If the tach is dead, it's either the coils, CAS, or cut wires.

[MoonieGT]

Sounds like how my car was acting after I didnt get the CAS harness snapped on all the way after a valve cover gasket swap. I was driving down LBJ and it worked its way loose. Car died. I could still crank and use accessories, but now power. Popped the hood and :facetopalm:

Make sure the harness is snug, else it sounds like CAS symptoms... Er.. Wait, yours is a 96 motor?

[Jiggerachi]

Sounds awfully close to what my car did when the...well whatever the hell happened, never figured it out. Still makes me nervous to drive it anywhere.

If the tach is dead, it's either the coils, CAS, or cut wires.

One good point Gary brought up is the coils are split 2 cyls on each bank. He says he has only seen one fail, never both at the same time. If <my problem> had been bad coils the engine would sputter and try to run on 2 cylinders. Instead it was DEAD immediately, and crank with no fire. That being said I bought a spare coilpack you're welcome to try, my car stopped dying so I never bothered testing with them.

[trickyrix]

Thanks guys!

Trey, I'll try to get out your way this week, but I'm not sure I want to fight traffic after work. I'm guessing it may be the weekend of the 27th-28th since I'll be out of town this weekend.

Moonie, yep, I checked the CAS plug. Unplugged it, blew on it, cursed at it, wiggled it, etc.

I'm going to try a CAS first, then I think this will be a good time to upgrade to COPS. Trackspeed has a $300 kit that includes coils. The cheapest OEM-style coil pack I found at O'Reilly's was nearly $300, and the "name brand" Beck-Arnley was over $600!

[POS Racing]

Did ya check to see if you have any stored codes in the OBDI computer or has the megasquirt replaced that?

The miata engine computer will return error codes if it detects a problem with the CAS signals.

1.8 miata (94-95) Color of Wire on connector
Code 03 (no SGT signal) white
Code 04 (no SGC signal) yellow/blue

http://www.miata.net/garage/faultcodes.html

More on our old friend the CAS -> http://www.rivercityroad.com/garage/cas.htm

I still think it is somehow seat/interior related.

[SirHustlerEsq]

Did ya check to see if you have any stored codes in the OBDI computer or has the megasquirt replaced that?



http://www.miata.net/garage/faultcodes.html

More on our old friend the CAS -> http://www.rivercityroad.com/garage/cas.htm

I still think it is somehow seat/interior related.

Replaced and the key-logger and "all sensors screen" will tell us exactly what is wrong when the problem happens again.

[SirHustlerEsq]

Thanks guys!

Trey, I'll try to get out your way this week, but I'm not sure I want to fight traffic after work. I'm guessing it may be the weekend of the 27th-28th since I'll be out of town this weekend.

Moonie, yep, I checked the CAS plug. Unplugged it, blew on it, cursed at it, wiggled it, etc.

I'm going to try a CAS first, then I think this will be a good time to upgrade to COPS. Trackspeed has a $300 kit that includes coils. The cheapest OEM-style coil pack I found at O'Reilly's was nearly $300, and the "name brand" Beck-Arnley was over $600!

Split a set of these with me:

With pig-tails, of course. If the price is right, I can buy the Siemens clippies and make my own pig-tails. .050" of plug gap, lol.

[POS Racing]

Replaced and the key-logger and "all sensors screen" will tell us exactly what is wrong when the problem happens again.

That is even more better!