Car randomly shutting off...

[empera]

ok so lastnight i had the car idling and all of a sudden it shut off and got a CEL on...
its done it before but it only does it every now and then. Also sometimes it takes forever to crank over. Eventually it'll crank over and i'll have a CEL...but then i shut it off and then i crank it over again (quickly turns on) and CEL is gone. WTF could it be? Sparkplugs are new, cables are new, not sure about distributor tho. It only does it when its idling.

Please help!

thanks,
-emp.

[quickangel93]

maybe ecu or something.

when you crank it and its not starting, do you check for spark? maybe fuel not entering the intake mani.

[Mr_Doitagain]

Fuel filter/pump....maybe a bad ground.....

[Rusty]

I actually just got a recall for my Nissan and its doing the same thing. They say its the Crank Sensor messing up the signal going from it to the ECU which is causing the engine to just shut off. The only difference with my situation is that it generally only shuts off when I'm moving at low speeds.

did you pull the CEL and does the car bog out like its stalling or does it just shut off quietly?

[Ralphie]

Sounds like it could be your dist or maybe fuel pump is going out?

[empera]

how do i pull the cel codes?

[93twodoorLX]

sounds like dizzy to me. my car would do the same thing all because i didnt have a dist. cap gasket so when it would rain, condensation <sp? would get in there and kill my spark at low RPM try putting on a new rotor and if problem persists i would try a new dizzy although it is expensive.

-sean

[Rusty]

how do i pull the cel codes?

I bring it to autozone... they do it for me.

[BB6-SH]

x2 on dizzy

[empera]

how much are distributors for these cars?

[jhondayaaj]

could be a bad igniter.

[blackcb7]

could be a bad igniter.

x2

had the same thing happening to me yesterday

[wed3k]

ignitor was my problem however no CEL came on for me.

my car just likes to not give me any CEL's, it just shuts off.

[almostJDM]

how much are distributors for these cars?

depends on where you go ...new anywhere form id say 150-400 lol

[Otto]

Find out what the ECU code is (check the stickies). That should give you a place to start troubleshooting.

And I want to know what Autozone (or anyone) that has a scanner for OBD-I. I have yet to find anyone. I always use the jumper method. Although its free and I don't have to go anywhere.