car is cutting off while driving

**jasons_98gt** · 05-26-2014, 11:45 PM

i went to the mountains this weekend and on the way home the car started acting weird, felt like it was hitting dead spots while cruising, shortly after all the warning lights would come on, on the dash like when you would turn the key to start it and the motor cut out then in a second or 2 it would start running again, i went to drive home last night and i came to the conclusion its electrical because when it would do that the headlights would go out and everything.
i took it to an advance auto parts and had the batter and alternator checked and he said they passed... any ideas????
thanks

**John4cam** · 05-27-2014, 05:28 AM

Bad ground?

**jasons_98gt** · 05-27-2014, 03:33 PM

WP_20140527_001.jpg WP_20140527_002.jpg WP_20140527_003.jpgi checked these connections here because someone on another forum chimed in and said these specific ones get alot of corrosion and will cause that, they were clean but i cleaned them up and put some grease and put them back together. i did check the ground from the motor to the frame, its good. I checked the grounds from the battery to various areas and they turned out the be ok, and i checked the positive from the battery to fuse box and its clean and tight. I took it for a quick drive and its not acting up right now, sometimes it does it instantly sometimes you can drive for miles and it wont do it.....im stumped

**John4cam** · 05-27-2014, 04:37 PM

Next guess would be pcm

**White5.0** · 05-27-2014, 05:15 PM

what kinda car? I'm guessing 98GT by your username...

what do you mean when you say the "grounds are OK"? Just cause they're tight doesn't mean they're ok. unbolt grounds and clean behind them with some sand paper to get a nice metal contact if they're ground straps. Clean connectors with electrical parts cleaner spray.

clean your mass air meter too.

Also what I'm guessing is that it could be a bad coil pack or even a plug wire going bad...

**jasons_98gt** · 05-27-2014, 08:20 PM

[=White5.0;350452]what kinda car? I'm guessing 98GT by your username...

what do you mean when you say the "grounds are OK"? Just cause they're tight doesn't mean they're ok. unbolt grounds and clean behind them with some sand paper to get a nice metal contact if they're ground straps. Clean connectors with electrical parts cleaner spray.

clean your mass air meter too.

Also what I'm guessing is that it could be a bad coil pack or even a plug wire going bad...[/QUOTE] its a 2002 gt I never changed my user name, I did clean them up with some sandpaper, its definitely electrical I believe headlight and everything go out when the problem happens, and the car is running like total shit!!!!! It choking horrible at idle from the exhaust, I bought this car at community motors and they must of laughed all the way to the bank

**mustang50lx** · 05-27-2014, 10:18 PM

What do you mean by choking horrible? Any smoke out the tailpipes? Are the headlights going out at idle too? If it is blowing black smoke the fuel pressure reg. could have ruptured and that could be an idle problem. How is the air intake tube. Any air leaks between the MAF and throttle body can cause problems. If it hiccups while driving that sounds like a coil pack. Is the check engine light on? Any stored codes?

**John4cam** · 05-27-2014, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by jasons_98gt

[=White5.0;350452]I bought this car at community motors and they must of laughed all the way to the bank

Total BS, I know them personally and they would never sell something they didn't believe was a good vehicle. Good luck finding your gremlin.

**jasons_98gt** · 05-27-2014, 11:36 PM

Originally Posted by mustang50lx

What do you mean by choking horrible? Any smoke out the tailpipes? Are the headlights going out at idle too? If it is blowing black smoke the fuel pressure reg. could have ruptured and that could be an idle problem. How is the air intake tube. Any air leaks between the MAF and throttle body can cause problems. If it hiccups while driving that sounds like a coil pack. Is the check engine light on? Any stored codes?

no smoke at idle no check engine light no codes, and yes I'll just be driving and all the warning lights will come on the dash just as you would turn the key to start it, all electrical goes out headlight etc..and it just turns back on its a 5 speed so its just catching itself in gear.

**jasons_98gt** · 05-27-2014, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by John4cam

Total BS, I know them personally and they would never sell something they didn't believe was a good vehicle. Good luck finding your gremlin.

yeah that's what I though too until IT LEFT FROM DAY 1 with a clutch that chatters so bad the transmission feels like its going to fall out of the car and everytime I called to have it checked out they were short on mechanics, I took it to many other shops that believe they flywheel wasn't cut and the pilot bearing is bad guess who got stuck with the headache :) yours truely

**White5.0** · 05-28-2014, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by jasons_98gt

yeah that's what I though too until IT LEFT FROM DAY 1 with a clutch that chatters so bad the transmission feels like its going to fall out of the car ...

^Did you test drive it before you bought it??? lol

sounds simple and you may have already checked, but, check your battery cables, make sure they're secured tight and are clean and that the negative cable is grounded good.

If your headlights are coming on and off, I'm guessing it almost has to be a bad ground somewhere. I'm not sure what else could cause that behavior...

**jasons_98gt** · 05-28-2014, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by White5.0

^Did you test drive it before you bought it??? lol

sounds simple and you may have already checked, but, check your battery cables, make sure they're secured tight and are clean and that the negative cable is grounded good.

If your headlights are coming on and off, I'm guessing it almost has to be a bad ground somewhere. I'm not sure what else could cause that behavior...

I did test drive it and noticed it and I was told that it just had a new clutch kit put in it, and may just need break in time if it kept doing it to take it back which I did but kept getting the run around, don't get me wrong it blew number 3 plug out and had an axle seal leak and they took care of it but they did not want to check the tranny lol. Its water under the bridge and so far after cleaning the grounds and some other things it hasn't acted up yet, but I haven't driven it that much either. I will post a video of that exhaust choking at idle later though

**jasons_98gt** · 05-30-2014, 02:15 PM

problem solved i drove it downtown pgh yesterday and went to wheeling and back and no issues so it was either one of those grounds i cleaned up or one of the harnesses