Just died! Help!!

[930slant]

Just finished a drive with local P-car owners through the back roads of Montgomery County. Great drive. Car ran great. Great lunch at Hard Times Cafe. On the way home, in third gear, 35 mph, I noticed a slight hesitation, like a fuel surge. It lasted about 20 seconds or so and then the car just died. I shifted to neutral and then heard a loud back fire... make that a very loud backfire. After pulling off the road and parking I checked for ??? but found nothing amiss. However, the car would not start even though it seemed to turn over fine. Any thoughts as to what the problem is? Car is a 1988 930 w/ 60,000 miles that is driven not too often and I've owned it for 10 years. This is the first problem of any kind. Your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

[s5uewf]

Check fuel pump relays first off. Could be as simple as that, and would explain the lean backfire before quitting. Could also be one of the boost circuit electrics.

[x98boardwell]

Could be the yellow relay (in the rear on the driver side behind the plastic cover with the wing nut), or the over-boost sensor (on the backside of the IC by the BOV) that has one wire to it. You can ground that wire to verify if that's it.

There is also a way to bypass the yellow relay by connecting pin #30 and #87 (You will not want to do this until you verify I'm correct) and that will bypass that relay once you remove it. It sits on the rear fuse panel.

The yellow one happened to me before and exact same symptoms.

Best of luck,
Bryan

Here is a picture of the yellow relay for reference.



Here is the other relay.. the one with the wire to it. If you move the wire to the other tab (it will ground itself) and this may help.

[930slant]

Thanks for the suggestions. Something wierd is going on so I'll have it towed to Taylor Chapman at German Auto.
Thanks!!

[lucittm]

I would want to know if you have +12V on the positive side of your coil with the key in the on position. That would probably rule out ignition issues.

Mark

[930slant]

Turns out it was the fuel pump relay and the ignition control unit. All were bad. Thanks for your suggestions.

[RichardE]

Glad you have it sorted. I had exactly the same symptoms this time last year in a Targa rally. Engine cut out then an enormous backfire. Turned out to be a dead coil. The coil started to pack up but the excess fuel ignited and caused one hell of a bang before the whole deal shut down. Just post this in case anyone needs other suggestions when this happens.