Every once in awhile things will go haywire on my 70 mach, gonna have to name her Christine. What had just happened is really hard to explain in words, so bear with me. FYI, the car has factory tach, duraspark ignition, stock 351w and FMX auto trans.
Last week i was driving about 40mph and all of a sudden the car felt like it died. The gas pedal was unresponsive, the factory tachometer read 0 (flatlined), and i began to decelerate and coast to the side of the road. At first i glanced at the tach and it read 0 (bottomed out) but I could still hear the exhaust rumbling somewhat. It wasn't loud like at idle but could still hear it. I quickly stuck it in neutral (without restarting the car!) and the gas pedal was now responsive and i could rev the motor up, with the tach working properly. Once i put it in neutral, I could actually hear the motor rev back up to the idle rpms (similar to downshifting). Figured it was just a one-time deal and stuck it back in drive and away i went. This didn't happen again until a few weeks later on my way to work. Now i figure i better do something before i get stranded somewhere. Its just weird cause i could hear the exhaust but the car felt and sounded like the motor died, wasn't feeling any vibrations from the motor like normal. When i shifted into neutral the rpms on the tach rose to 800rpms and i could actually hear the motor running again.
Is there any possible reasoning for this? I know a motor can't be at 0rpms and still have exhaust flowing. I'd also understand if the car just flat out died in drive then i would have had to restart the car in neutral (when moving). Would it would have anything to do with the factory tach or neutral safety switch? I could understand it being the tach, by cutting out the spark, but why would it matter if i was in drive? At first i thought my transmission went out, when the motor went back to normal when i put it in neutral. Then i stuck it in drive and everything was normal again. Maybe a wire that rattled loose when driving? Anyways, Christine thanks your for your suggested solutions
Last week i was driving about 40mph and all of a sudden the car felt like it died. The gas pedal was unresponsive, the factory tachometer read 0 (flatlined), and i began to decelerate and coast to the side of the road. At first i glanced at the tach and it read 0 (bottomed out) but I could still hear the exhaust rumbling somewhat. It wasn't loud like at idle but could still hear it. I quickly stuck it in neutral (without restarting the car!) and the gas pedal was now responsive and i could rev the motor up, with the tach working properly. Once i put it in neutral, I could actually hear the motor rev back up to the idle rpms (similar to downshifting). Figured it was just a one-time deal and stuck it back in drive and away i went. This didn't happen again until a few weeks later on my way to work. Now i figure i better do something before i get stranded somewhere. Its just weird cause i could hear the exhaust but the car felt and sounded like the motor died, wasn't feeling any vibrations from the motor like normal. When i shifted into neutral the rpms on the tach rose to 800rpms and i could actually hear the motor running again.
Is there any possible reasoning for this? I know a motor can't be at 0rpms and still have exhaust flowing. I'd also understand if the car just flat out died in drive then i would have had to restart the car in neutral (when moving). Would it would have anything to do with the factory tach or neutral safety switch? I could understand it being the tach, by cutting out the spark, but why would it matter if i was in drive? At first i thought my transmission went out, when the motor went back to normal when i put it in neutral. Then i stuck it in drive and everything was normal again. Maybe a wire that rattled loose when driving? Anyways, Christine thanks your for your suggested solutions
