1991 Dodge Shadow stalling and restarting problems
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02-26-2012, 10:19 PM
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1991 Dodge Shadow stalling and restarting problems
My wife and I bought a '91 Dodge Shadow in mid January. So far it has been a lemon. Soon after we bought it, it would do random things that have gotten progressively worse. To make this easy to follow, I will list problems as they have occured from earliest to latest problem.
Problems had while in Boise Idaho, was in the mid 20's over night. Dry cold.
- Car would stall soon (like after going 100 feet) and would not restart. When it stalled, it was allways when I was at idle and on the brakes slowing down or stoping. When it would stall it would just cut out. After letting it sit a while (30+ minuites), it would sometimes start right up, and other times act like it was starving for fuel and run rough for a second.
-Next it would not start in the morning. Had a mechanic come look at it and it had no spark. He taped on some things and it would fire up. He replaced the coil, and cleaned the wires to the fuel pump. We drove to Sumas Washington with no problems.
Problems while in Sumas Washington lows in the 30's and humid.
-Car would start and run fine and warm up, but sometimes after say a quick run into a store, upon restarting it would run rough, I assumes it was starving for gas. In Sumas we started having overheating probelems too.
Problems in Abbotsford BC.
-Made it over the border after a week in Sumas (Immigration SNAFU). In Abbotsford took car to a mechanic to get the head gasket replaced. Told mechanic of random starting and stalling problems, but during the time he had the car it started every time and never stalled.
-So two days ago got car back from auto shop and the first day it ran like a charm. But next day we were driving around town doing errands and it started to run rough as I was on the brake slowing down for a light. Put in neutral and saved it from a stall, but when I put it into drive it stalled out and would not restart. In Boise I was left with the feeling that it was a spark problem, or perhaps the gas pump loosing power (pump pressure checked in Boise and it was fine). So we stalled right next to a Walmart, so I went in and got a cheap screwdriver to test spark... had wife crank and to my amazment we had spark, so I figured fuel. So I opened up the air filter cover and had a strong smell of gas. So I assumed it was flooded. Jumped into the car (it had been sitting for over 30 minuites) and cranked for a few secs and it restarted. Drove it to a couple more stores with no prob and went home. Oh ya, looked at the fault code and it was 42 ASD Relay.
- Once home called around for a ASD relay, jumped into car to go get it, car started right up, but died within 20 feet. Restarted on first try, but now it was running rough, like it was starving for gas... or perhaps flooding again... jabbed the accelerator really fast and this made the idle go way high for about 10 seconds. I jabbed the acceletator again thinking the throttle was stuck, but made the car sound like it was going to die... so left foot off accelerator and after 10 seconds it went to a normal idle. Put it in Drive, and it immeadiately started to run very rough and almost died, so into neutral again and saved it from a stall. Next I put it in drive and immeadiately got in the gas before it could die.
During drive to parts store, the car was at an unusualy high idle. I mean I was going down the road at 60 kph / 35 mph without my foot even being on the accelerator! When stopping the car felt like it wanted to keep going forward. At parts store kept car running while I went inside to get the relay. Came out, got into car, put it into reverse and it would run rough... dies once. Coasted backward, restarted, put in drive and jamed the accelerator before it died.
When I got home and got out of the car in our garage, I noticed a weird smell, not sure but perhaps partially burnt gas. I have noticed that the car does not get the gas milage that I had expected. In fact it took a 1/4 tank to go like 90 kilomiters / 55 miles the other day.
So there you go. I am at a loss. We paid too much for the car because it was low miles around 110,000 Kilomiters or 60,000 miles. In the last month and a half of owning the car we have had $1,600 worth of work done to it. I am at my wits end and nearing the last straw with the car. My wife and I are disabled and need the car. We bought it because we have been taking the bus and walking for years and it is just getting to hard for us to do anymore. I have looked up the cause for a high idle and or running rich, and there are like half a dozen possible problems and solutions. I am tired of guessing and just want to get this figured out so we can have reliable transportation. This thing is killing us financially.
Help!
P.S. Thanks in advance for any replies.
Problems had while in Boise Idaho, was in the mid 20's over night. Dry cold.
- Car would stall soon (like after going 100 feet) and would not restart. When it stalled, it was allways when I was at idle and on the brakes slowing down or stoping. When it would stall it would just cut out. After letting it sit a while (30+ minuites), it would sometimes start right up, and other times act like it was starving for fuel and run rough for a second.
-Next it would not start in the morning. Had a mechanic come look at it and it had no spark. He taped on some things and it would fire up. He replaced the coil, and cleaned the wires to the fuel pump. We drove to Sumas Washington with no problems.
Problems while in Sumas Washington lows in the 30's and humid.
-Car would start and run fine and warm up, but sometimes after say a quick run into a store, upon restarting it would run rough, I assumes it was starving for gas. In Sumas we started having overheating probelems too.
Problems in Abbotsford BC.
-Made it over the border after a week in Sumas (Immigration SNAFU). In Abbotsford took car to a mechanic to get the head gasket replaced. Told mechanic of random starting and stalling problems, but during the time he had the car it started every time and never stalled.
-So two days ago got car back from auto shop and the first day it ran like a charm. But next day we were driving around town doing errands and it started to run rough as I was on the brake slowing down for a light. Put in neutral and saved it from a stall, but when I put it into drive it stalled out and would not restart. In Boise I was left with the feeling that it was a spark problem, or perhaps the gas pump loosing power (pump pressure checked in Boise and it was fine). So we stalled right next to a Walmart, so I went in and got a cheap screwdriver to test spark... had wife crank and to my amazment we had spark, so I figured fuel. So I opened up the air filter cover and had a strong smell of gas. So I assumed it was flooded. Jumped into the car (it had been sitting for over 30 minuites) and cranked for a few secs and it restarted. Drove it to a couple more stores with no prob and went home. Oh ya, looked at the fault code and it was 42 ASD Relay.
- Once home called around for a ASD relay, jumped into car to go get it, car started right up, but died within 20 feet. Restarted on first try, but now it was running rough, like it was starving for gas... or perhaps flooding again... jabbed the accelerator really fast and this made the idle go way high for about 10 seconds. I jabbed the acceletator again thinking the throttle was stuck, but made the car sound like it was going to die... so left foot off accelerator and after 10 seconds it went to a normal idle. Put it in Drive, and it immeadiately started to run very rough and almost died, so into neutral again and saved it from a stall. Next I put it in drive and immeadiately got in the gas before it could die.
During drive to parts store, the car was at an unusualy high idle. I mean I was going down the road at 60 kph / 35 mph without my foot even being on the accelerator! When stopping the car felt like it wanted to keep going forward. At parts store kept car running while I went inside to get the relay. Came out, got into car, put it into reverse and it would run rough... dies once. Coasted backward, restarted, put in drive and jamed the accelerator before it died.
When I got home and got out of the car in our garage, I noticed a weird smell, not sure but perhaps partially burnt gas. I have noticed that the car does not get the gas milage that I had expected. In fact it took a 1/4 tank to go like 90 kilomiters / 55 miles the other day.
So there you go. I am at a loss. We paid too much for the car because it was low miles around 110,000 Kilomiters or 60,000 miles. In the last month and a half of owning the car we have had $1,600 worth of work done to it. I am at my wits end and nearing the last straw with the car. My wife and I are disabled and need the car. We bought it because we have been taking the bus and walking for years and it is just getting to hard for us to do anymore. I have looked up the cause for a high idle and or running rich, and there are like half a dozen possible problems and solutions. I am tired of guessing and just want to get this figured out so we can have reliable transportation. This thing is killing us financially.
Help!
P.S. Thanks in advance for any replies.