Sick, Sick 88 RX turbo.

[-ben-]

Alright here goes:

 

-It started by cutting out in higher rpms everyonce in a while.

-Then it started cutting badly in first gear, while in neutral I could rev it up fine and get it into 2nd and drive off

-Then it started just dieing when I came to a full stop, several off/ons with reving to get it running

-Would run fine once actually going thirty untill stop again

 

Where shall I start? It has a new coil, new alternator.

 

Thanks

Ben

[crazyhorse001]

if the catalytic converter is still attached, it MAY be stopped up. I had the same symptoms in my 87.5 XT turbo. turns out the cat was nearly completely plugged. either way I'd be looking at my exhaust, and air filter, sounds like it can't breathe.

[Tom63050]

Alright here goes:

 

-It started by cutting out in higher rpms everyonce in a while.

-Then it started cutting badly in first gear, while in neutral I could rev it up fine and get it into 2nd and drive off

-Then it started just dieing when I came to a full stop, several off/ons with reving to get it running

-Would run fine once actually going thirty untill stop again

 

Where shall I start? It has a new coil, new alternator.

 

Thanks

Ben

I wonder about the "new coil", as I have been burned by aftermarket coils in the past. Is it a known good coil? Can you swap another one in to see if there is any difference? Recent threads have covered coils, or you can do a search on "jegs coil" in this forum to learn more.

 

I'm inclined to think not the cat. My experience with clogged cats is they still run, but with less power and gas mileage. And you wouldn't notice probably unless you had the car before the cat started getting clogged. On my 86 MR2 when I replaced the cat at 212K miles, the mileage went from 28 to 35 on the highway, and noticeably more power. But I bought it with 186K miles, the cat was already clogged, so I didn't know any better at the time. Holding the old one up to the sun, you could only see a pinprick of light, but it still ran "fine".

 

BTW I'm also in St. Louis.

[Caboobaroo]

First off, when was the last time the fuel filters were changed? When was the last time it had a full tune-up (ie: plugs, wires, cap and rotor)? These are the basic things to take care of before deciding its the cat or this or that. If you decide to take the exhaust off and its the original, then guess what... broken bolts and lots of bloody knuckles if you don't have any air tools. Start off with the simple stuff...

[daeron]

Even if the cap and rotor are recent it is ALWAYS a matter of course to pop the cap off and inspect inside, pull plugwires and pull plugs to inspect them. What do the plugs look like? Their appearance can speak volumes, and even if they looke fine (tell you nothing) it is telling you something. It is also a matter of course to check the TPS wire and connection, and check the output while its running..

 

Someone gave me a good idea for a test for catalytic converters that I am going to shamelessly spread.. Get a Shop-Vac, use that at the end of the exhaust pipe.. If you stick the vacuum hose into the exhaust, (try your best to "seal" it) you should not hear the vacuum cleaner laboring.. a clogged cat will sound as if you had simply blocked the vacuum hose end with your hand.

[MilesFox]

my rx did this oonece, i had to "jump start" the coil by jumping it to the b attery. of course i had to remove the wire to shut it down. but this was with a carb motor swapped in, but, i did have an aftermarket coil too.

 

but this car had other gross electrical problems like the parking light circuit comng on with the brake pedal

[ShawnW]

The cat is ruled out with a vac gauge. Borrow one from a parts store with their loaner program. 15psi vac at idle is good.

 

Im thinking fuel, like clogged/rusted pickup in the fuel tank or bad gas.

 

When it wont start check for spark, rule that out and move on to fuel.

[Cougar]

As some others mentioned I tend to think the trouble is with the fuel delivery system. If changing the fuel filter doesn't correct the trouble then check the fuel pressure and see if that is ok. You may have a weak fuel pump and is a fairly common problem. My car would die on me at times and jerk a little going up hills. Replacing the pump fixed the problem. Later on another problem occured within the ECU and I had to replace a transistor in it. The transistor was in the circuit for the fuel pump. This failure caused the pump to not run at all. The ECU controlled the ground side of the pump circuit.