Hey, I have a 1988 Daytona Shelby Z, T2. Going down the road the engine will cut out for a millisecond or stall altogether, not sputtering just cut out. Have replaced distributer, Hall effect pickup, checked all wiring, done usual tuneup. One odd ball item, Power loss, brake and the other lights which are required to come on when ignition in ON position, they do not, bulbs have been replaced and wiring and circuit board look OK. ANY IDEAS?[:@]

 

The Daytonas, especially the Shelbys, are wiring nightmares. There are probably 1 1/2 tons of frickin' wiring in them.[sm=smiley5.gif] They seem to either be fine or completely screwed. Get a manual, Chiltons or the factory manual if possible but Haynes will do, and just start going through it.

 

Seems like the best way I guess, Daytona has been in the Las Vegas heat since brand new, and the wiring and connectors are quite brittle. Thanks.

 

Sorry that I couldn't be of more help, it's just that these cars are known for electrical problems.[sm=smiley13.gif]

 

Bobs68charger ,

I don't really know what is going on there, but you can troubleshoot your car by doing the computer code thing. "On 1983-90 Chrysler cars turn the ignition ON-OFF-ON-OFF-ON within 5 seconds (do not start the engine) and the engine light will light for 2 seconds and then start flashing 2 digit engine codes. These codes can be extremely helpful, and most parts shops will give you lists of the code numbers and what they mean." (www.allpar.com)

Go here http://www.allpar.com/fix/80s-codes.html to see what the codes mean for your daytona.

Hope this helps you out,
shadowsfall

 

Since your power loss light doesn't work that won't be much help..... get yourself to somewhere that can access the codes or buy a code reader
As a shear GUESS i'd be inclined to think your injector might be failing.... are you SURE your loosing spark???

 

I am not positive, but it seems like an electrical outage. I would be going down the road and for a millisecond the engine quits, RPM gage goes to zero and then it picks back up in a millisecond. Sometimes it will just quit altogether. After it sits for a minute, I can start it again. I am not well versed on injectors, could all four injectors go bad? Could it be a worn ignition switch? Thanks for all the help! Bob

 

I replaced the Mechanical cluster with a same year Electronic cluster and now the power loss light works. It gives fault codes of 12 (Memory Standby power loss) and 55. I have changed out SMEC's, all 4 relays on the left fender and checked the wiring, it still will just die, meaning electric power to dash, lights, engine, etc will stop and then come back after a few seconds. It almost feels like a relay or switch is sticking or worn real bad. Could the ignition switch mounted to the top of the steering column that has that key rod or whatever it is be bad? I noticed in the wiring diagram alot of electric parts go thru that switch. Thanks for any and all help! Bob

 

then you need to try the wiggle test
with the car running wiggle every wire under the hood & dash and see if you can make it die!!
It could be the Ignition switch... Jiggle the key while it's running
try everything you can to make it shut down
If your headlights are going out when this happens check the wires to the starter real good!!

 

I am having the same trouble with my '88 Shelby Z. It will run just fine and then all of the sudden it will just die or cut out. Code 54 shows up and the engine will start after a few minutes and will die again at some other inconvenient time. I replaced the hall effect pickup, wiring harness that connects to hall effect pickup, SMEC. Any help is appreciated.