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Nerfdude
09-27-2002, 09:18 AM
the car: '92 240SX SE hatchback, fivespeed.

the problem: a couple nights ago, i was driving home, and about 3 miles from my house, the car dies at a stoplight. i had just stopped and put it in neutral, and about a second of sitting there, it just died. i didn't kill it. it had half a tank of gas left. it just flat-out stopped running, and it wouldn't start again. the starter cranked, and i didn't notice anything out of the ordinary- EXCEPT THAT THE CAR WOULD NOT START. so, i call my dad and we drag it home with a tow cable and his oldsmobile, planning to have it towed out to the shop the following day. we figured the fuel pump had gone out.
the next morning, i go out and try starting it, and it starts up like normal. after some consideration, i decide to drive it to school. no problem. i drive it home, still no sign of a problem. later that night, i pull up to a stoplight and put it in neutral. BAM! it DOES IT AGAIN! we tow it back to the house, and right now it's sitting in my carport. it starts up fine, but i'm not driving it around anymore, until we fix the problem...

the real problem: we don't know what the hell's wrong with it. has anyone else had this trouble? is it just a bastard fuel pump? or is it electrical?
any help would be greatly appreciated...

Yoshi
09-27-2002, 12:47 PM
when I had just bought my car (91 LE auto), it did the same thing, it was consistantly inconsistant... by that I mean it would do exactly as you described, only it would do it every 10-12 times you started the car and ran it for more than a few minutes.  Sometimes under power (it did it to me at busy intersection once, damn I was embarrased).

3 mechanics later, we found it was the distributor.  It was somehow damaged causing the engine to die every 10-12 starts consistantly.  I got a used (w/120 day warrantee, w00t) one off a car-parts.com yard for $70, my car has been fine ever since (cept the surging thing I had from a bad O2 sensor).

It might not be the problem, but it sure sounds similar to what happened to me.  Hope that helps.

Nerfdude
09-27-2002, 04:11 PM
that helps, excellent. i'll find me a distributor tomorrow. now this surge thing.. could you describe that? cuz i've got another problem: when you start the car, it idles at about 1100 RPM's. and when you stick in the clutch, it drops to like, 300 RPM's, then works it's way back up to about 600 or so, where it should be.

luke91
09-27-2002, 05:01 PM
Check your MAFS, too.