Trans or Engine symptom?

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The other evening I went to a store about 3 miles away, was in there about an hour, and while driving home suddenly the wagon started lost all power for about one second. I initially thought oh, no, not again the power stage is going bad again, but there were no dash lights. After that it went along okay but then it would do the same thing again a bit down the road, I was throwing it into neutral at stop signs, cause I thought it was the trans slipping or not shifting properly, but it was also like a momentary loss of power. It stayed running fine in neutral. As I almost got home the car suddenly lunged forward. That was the one and only time it did that second type symptom.

A few guys said it didn't seem like a tranny problem. Fluid level seems ok. When parked and still I can get fluid on the stick, or in idle. I haven't run it for 30 minutes since then. I find it easier to get a better reading off the hot side of the trans dip stick.

Anyway, someone said to check the codes - I didn't even think of that, never do, guess that habit is form growing up with non-computer cars. I did check it tonight (March 27, 2003) though, and no codes. So, I was thinking a few things about this.

What failing parts give these two symptoms and no code? Fuel Pressure Regulator or the Fuel Pump?

Btw, I took it out for a spin close to home around the block twice, punched the tranny, twice in 1, 2 and D, no problem, shifting well. No symptoms either.

Could this happen if someone put something in my gas tank when I was in the store.

What about this thing called the intermediate shaft? Do they make a hollow sound as if one is tapping furiously on a cardboard box. There is an unusual noise in the engine compartment.

How about a timing belt in a pre-failing stage?

Would a torque converter cause a lunging problem and a noisy engine compartment?

That's about all I can thing of. Everything I looked, and all the basics seemed ok. Connections, fluid levels.


Well, thanks for reading this.
diyer
diyer999@aol.com

I think you can safely rule out a few things. The bearing on the driveshaft is not the problem. You can't hear that unless you're moving. They usually howl.
(The hollow knock you describe sounds like piston slap, and it's common in these engines, and pretty much non-life-threatening).
The timing belt won't cause a problem like this- if it fails it won't run any longer. If it jumps a tooth (unlikely) it will continue to run poorly from then on.
You could have a failing crank sensor ($45) or a fuel pump relay on it's way out ($20-40 depending on source). Usually these also cause no-starts. Replace the relay first to see if there's any improvement.
The transmission could slip and give a sensation of power loss- however, I'm sure you'd notice the engine racing. It would be exactly like stepping on the gas in Neutral or Park, a whole lot of noise and not going anyplace. Is that what happened? If so, it's almost certainly low fluid. If fluid is OK, keep checking engine stuff.

I've just recently had a similar problem in my '87, which doesn't have your diagnostic port or the crank sensor, so I'm checking out fuel pressure issues- mine seems to be worse with a low fuel level, so I'm thinking it's the in-tank feed pump. I can produce a symptom of power loss (almost totally cuts out) if I ride the brakes with my left foot, and floor the gas. I get 10-15 seconds of good power, then it almost stalls. Sometimes it happens if I accelerate too quickly from a stop too. My next step, to make sure, is a fuel pressure test. You sound like you need one as well, to rule that out if nothing else.

Good luck to both of us!
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: "Roterande Fläkt Och Drivremmar!"

... "(The hollow knock you describe sounds like piston slap, and it's common in these engines, and pretty much non-life-threatening)." ...
The sound is also kind of scratchy-plastic, BUT it was never there before. Maybe there are two problems or this sound is not related to intermittent, short loss of power?


... "The transmission could slip and give a sensation of power loss - However, I'm sure you'd notice the engine racing. It would be exactly like stepping on the gas in Neutral or Park, a whole lot of noise and not going anyplace. Is that what happened?" ...

Nope, that didn't happen. Btw, I had a full tank of gas. Prior to going to driving I had to put 5 gallons in at one pump, and then another five (approx.) at the next pump (using my Brother's credit card [he owed me gas], and then used cash to fill it) - wonder if there was water or something in one of the tanks; but filling gas on top of gas is something we do everyday, huh, so that probably is a remote possibility.

diyer

I forgot to add that after letting the car sit a few days, while trying to figure out what the problem might be, when I went out to start it, to see if the problem might surface while I had it in front of the house a with the engine running, I was surprised when it almost wouldn't turn over - thought battery was dead it was so slow and almost stopped completely if not totally for a moment, but then it did fire up anyway. I left the engine run for about 10 minutes and also did a few battery electrical tests - parasitic drain, static voltage, charging voltage, electrolyte level, all were ok. Even if it is the starter, I cannot tie this symptom in with the sudden, intermittent, momentary loss of power. Can you?

diyer