Bruce_Aldridge

Ok, has anyone else had this problem? Car is a 1982 zx with approx 175xxx mile. My wifes DD. This week it shut of on her three times in seven miles on the way to work. Cranks right back up. I drove it over 70 miles (two days) and was able to get it to shut down only twice. No stutter or anything, just dead. One moment your running fine and then the tach hits zero. The ignition has to be switched off and on for it to restart. The only thing common to the shutdowns is that the car is on a downhill grade each time. The only other thing unusual that I've noticed (maybe unrelated) is that in the morning it cranks better if the fuel pump comes on and pressurizes first. In the past it cranked without the wait. Anyone have any thoughts on where to begin?

rogerz

do this and see if it corrects the situation
Get your battery load tested. Be sure you have clean, tight corrosion free terminals on both ends of your battery cables. Be sure the ground (negative) cable goes to a bolt into the frame before going to the starter. grounding through the starter is not a reliable connection. Z's don't like low voltage. causes the electronics to act funny. it is possible to have enough amps to crank but not enough voltage to run the electronics. If you have one size fit all cheapo clamp on terminals they are a problem waiting to happen.

Clean the connectors for the maf or afm, ecu and tps. Deoxit by CAIG is probably the best connector cleaner on the market. spray with CorrosionX after cleaning and before putting together this will help prevent any further corrosion.

Bruce_Aldridge

I'll start looking at these this weekend. It shut off three times today so it is getting more frequent.

Bruce_Aldridge

Rogerz you were right about the battery. It worked fine, had it tested and tested bad. In going through everything I found that the AFM wasn't bolted to the bracket from sometime in the past. I remounted it and hooked up the ground wire under it. I thought I had it solved. Drove it almost 150 miles and two days with no trouble. . Today it shut of four times in seven miles Any other ideas? I'm still lost on this one!

Bruce_Aldridge

Update to an old dead thread, problem was the ignition module, why it did it going down hill I haven't a clue.