car randomly cutting off... for 6 months

[mattgreen058]

my 95 gt has ben cutting off after being driven for long periods of time.. like an hour or more. then it recently started cutting off whenever it wants to. sometimes it will continue to barely run, and if i hold the throttle down it will go to like 4000rpm ad then slowly go down to 1000rpm and then jump back up to 4000rpm again without ever taking my foot off the throttle. when it does cut off, it will usually start back up ad 10 - 15 minutes. help. (i've replaced the coil, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, thingy down in the distributor, fuel filter and air filter....help

 

[screamin5oh]

you replaced the pip sensor? check grounds?

 

[mattgreen058]

whats a pip sensor? i unplugged the mass air sensor 2 days ago and it hasn't cut off since. but sometimes it runs fine for a week or 2 so i'm hesitant to jump out there and buy a mass air sensor.

 

[toyman]

Have you cleaned the MAF sensor? The PIP is part of the distributor. The reader probably thought you were referring to the PIP when you said, "thingy down in the distributor". If that wasn't the item can you describe "thingy" better?

 

[BlackVert]

that does sound like a standard PIP problem.

the TFI can also overheat and go out and then be happy after cooling off for a while

 

[mattgreen058]

the little thing inside the distributor... not the rotor... some people call it a stator, but it's not.

 

[99FiveOh]

I can tell you from first hand experience that those PIP sensors/stators can be bad right out of the box. Did you replace it yourself? Pressed the gear off and back on again? If so, take it out and go to napa and ask for their Echlin brand sensor. Let us know if it fixed your problem.

We really need a sticky on the tech page for this. Seems that it is happening a lot this summer with the record temps and the age/mileage of these cars getting up there. I replace these sensors as a matter of precaution whenever I buy a 94/95 stang.

 

[mattgreen058]

yeah... i googled it. thats what my mechanic changed. the pip sensor. could it b the mass air? it seems to be running without it plugged in. acting a lil funny, but not cutting off.

 

[screamin5oh]

could be egr sticking, could be maf is dirty/broken, could be iac, does it rev up nice? is it just a idle problem?

 

[gtthomas]

The same thing happened to my car for awhile. Do you have a CAI? I had one and it came lose so the stock sensor was reading all wrong and automatically shutting off the car when I accelerated hard. If you have a CAI make sure you check the sensor

 

[99FiveOh]

A dirty MAF won't cause the car to shut completely off or cause a no start issue. If I were a betting man I'd bet 1000 bucks that it's the PIP. His mechanic probably ordered the cheapest PIP sensor he could find (Autocrap and Noadvance) and ended up with one of the BWD/Sorensen DOA pieces of crap.

I've been here, done that so many times. And those who listen to me end up solving their issues for good. MAF, EGR, ECT, ACT, O2's, ALL of these devices/sensors will NOT cause a no start situation. Faulty PIP sensors and TFI modules will. 9 times out of 10 our TFI modules won't burn out like the foxes did because they are away from engine heat.

 

[mattgreen058]

whats a tfi? i've had 11 mustangs, but believe it or not, i've never had to work on one. i know i sound like an automotive dip****, but i generally get other people to fix my car. i'vehad a guy messing with this thing for 3 weeks. he owns a garage and a $12,000 computer to diagnose problems. (he also has a 700hp mustang) computer is saying nothing is wrong and it doesn't do it often enough for him to diagnose it... what a pain in the butt....

 

[99FiveOh]

Does he own a 94/95 5.0 powered Mustang? Hate to say it but those 12k $$ diagnostic systems don't do much more than you can do yourself at home, at least on these simple EEC IV systems.

the TFI module is mounted under the airbox.

 

[BlackVert]

aka the Thick Film Ignition. it implements the timing advance for the computer. it is located under the mass air meter housing

 

[mattgreen058]

thanks for all the info... wish one of u guys lived down the road so i could pay you to fix this turd...lol

 

[mattgreen058]

i've been driving the heck out of this car for a week with the maf sensor unplugged... hasn't cut off yet... does antone think it could be the maf ?

 

[screamin5oh]

well if its not doing anything you say it was then i guess you found the problem, but.... there is always a but, could be a coincidence and the pip is just working for now, witch is not all that uncommon, did you try cleaning the maf? i would connect it back again and see if it starts acting up again, if it does right away you found your problem, i would disconnect the battery and clean the maf then reconnect everything and see what happened, dirty maf's will cause some weird crap sometimes

 

[mattgreen058]

what is a cai?

 

[BlackVert]

CAI = Cold Air Intake