Had to crank her way too long to turn over and then stumbling idle.....now dying while driving

[Francis K]

Totally jinxed myself making that other thread about preventative maintenance of course....

Started her up tonight leaving work and I had to crank her way for much longer than usual and I had a stumbling idle once she turned over, this was a cold start. Once I got her rolling a little she was fine. Drove a few miles to the gym and came out 45 minutes later and she wouldn't turn over at all, I had to stop cranking and try again then she turned over, stumbling idle again until I got rolling. I felt when I was driving yesterday that she was stumbling a bit when I first got her rolling, so I guess this is getting progressively worse quickly.

I'm assuming this is some type of fuel issue. What am I looking at her fellas?

She was baselined a year ago.

Thanks guys

 

[-Spike-]

Injectors can leak for various reasons, chiefly wear, debris, or a shorted ground.

 

[Francis K]

Just took her out again and she was stalling this time, would crank over and stall out. Had to give her some gas....but again once I got her rolling a bit down the road she was 100% good.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Just took her out again and she was stalling this time, would crank over and stall out. Had to give her some gas....but again once I got her rolling a bit down the road she was 100% good.

How is it stalling out? Kind of sputtering to a stop, or a hard stop?

If it's a hard stop, pull plugs immediately and check condition.
Are they wet? Wet with fuel, or wet with coolant?

When my head gasket went, it did what you're describing, but the stumble quickly became a total stall out and hydraulic locked the engine.
Stumble in the am, total lock up in the pm.

I ended up with a cracked crank in mine.

 

[Francis K]

How is it stalling out? Kind of sputtering to a stop, or a hard stop?

If it's a hard stop, pull plugs immediately and check condition.
Are they wet? Wet with fuel, or wet with coolant?

When my head gasket went, it did what you're describing, but the stumble quickly became a total stall out and hydraulic locked the engine.
Stumble in the am, total lock up in the pm.

I ended up with a cracked crank in mine.

Mud my heart skipped a beat reading that, it's sputtering to a stop not a hard stop....you're saying I'm going to do more damage than just possibly the head gasket if I keep driving it?

 

[-Spike-]

No matter what's wrong with it you're likely to do more damage by driving it. Too much fuel will wash the oil out of the rings, and an extreme amount could hydrolock the piston. Water may do the same.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Mud my heart skipped a beat reading that, it's sputtering to a stop not a hard stop....you're saying I'm going to do more damage than just possibly the head gasket if I keep driving it?

Sorry to frighten you.

I'd do some investigating for sure.

I think my crank failure was realistically avoidable. There was warning signs, I figured it was ok coz it still ran good once going. I don't think my head gasket was an instant failure, it happened over a period of at least days, if not weeks.

A half hour to pull plugs could have saved me a LOT of grief and expense.

Busy work schedule, busy life meant I pushed my luck with my DD and only vehicle. I could have parked it and found an alternative.

 

[Francis K]

Alright boys, this morning no issues.....started up fine no long crank no stumbling.

Stopped at the gas station, long crank again and stumbling but didn't stall.....was good after a few seconds of stumbling.


Pulled her into the warehouse, no bubbles in overflow and normal levels, no sweet exhaust, plugs are dry, air intake not cracked.....hoping it's not the HG. Thank you @Kernal @mudgudgeon

What do you guys think? What else can I check with my half banana donkey self?

 

[FMC80]

Have you checked your main engine harness nearest the firewall/#6 cylinder?

I encountered similar issues that you’re having and through troubleshooting, I found some exposed wires in my harness which required repair.

Then again, the last time I had a stumbling idle was when my head gasket blew on the freeway at 85 miles per hour. That was almost 2 months ago.

 

[-Spike-]

Alright boys, this morning no issues.....started up fine no long crank no stumbling.

Stopped at the gas station, long crank again and stumbling but didn't stall.....was good after a few seconds of stumbling.


Pulled her into the warehouse, no bubbles in overflow and normal levels, no sweet exhaust, plugs are dry, air intake not cracked.....hoping it's not the HG. Thank you @Kernal @mudgudgeon

What do you guys think? What else can I check with my half banana donkey self?

Year? Scangauge or similar?

 

[Francis K]

Year? Scangauge or similar?

97 with an ultragauge in there, new radiator no over heating issues or engine codes

 

[JoeW]

What's the last 'repair' you did to the car before this started happening?

Also, how is your charcoal canister? This kind of sounds like one that's being a butthole.

 

[-Spike-]

97 with an ultragauge in there, new radiator no over heating issues or engine codes

Seems like you should at least get some random misses when the engine is stumbling.

 

[Francis K]

Seems like you should at least get some random misses when the engine is stumbling.

You mean a code coming up?

 

[Francis K]

What's the last 'repair' you did to the car before this started happening?

Also, how is your charcoal canister? This kind of sounds like one that's being a butthole.

Dobinsons springs/shocks which I'm sure is unrelated, before that a new OEM radiator.

Would be awesome if it were only the charcoal cannister....

 

[-Spike-]

You mean a code coming up?

Yep. Although I'm not all that familiar with OBDII, IIRC it can give you codes in real time, and possibly logs them even if they aren't severe enough to trigger a CEL.

 

[Francis K]

Yep. Although I'm not all that familiar with OBDII, IIRC it can give you codes in real time, and possibly logs them even if they aren't severe enough to trigger a CEL.

Nothing registering on the ultragauge at all...

 

[Francis K]

What's the last 'repair' you did to the car before this started happening?

Also, how is your charcoal canister? This kind of sounds like one that's being a butthole.

Hmmm....I have been smelling fuel on startup every now and then now that I think about it but I don't have a hiss when filling up....

 

[Francis K]

Updating for future reference to help anyone else, put a new charcoal cannister in and it has stopped stalling out. Mind you this was intermittent so I'm not 100% counting my chickens but we shall see....

I'll update down the line either way.

EDIT: problem persisted....read on

 

[ozarkmud]

Makes me wonder if you had some kind of vapor lock in your tank if that really was the case. If you opened the gas cap when it was acting up, did you hear air rushing in or out?