JonSC4

iTrader: (2)

I ran into my first problem with the 400 today. Let me begin by saying that two times in the past while sitting at stoplights the car randomly died. Both times it started back up fine so I didn't really worry about it too much. I mention this because it may be related to my problem today.

I was driving on the highway and all of a sudden the CEL started blinking really fast and the RPMs bounced up and down roughly between 300 and 1400 causing the car to buck somewhat hard. The throttle pedal also became unresponsive. The car pretty much lost almost all power and wouldn't accelerate or even maintain speed. Switching between neutral and drive did nothing. This lasted for about 10 seconds then everything went back to normal. I continued driving to my destination.

About 5 minutes later it did this again. This time I turned the car off with it in neutral and started it back up again, all while still rolling forward. It started back up fine but the problem persisted for another second or so and went back to normal.

Then I got to where I was and it did it again while I was parked with the engine running. I turned it off and on again. It still did it when I turned it on but then stopped right away again.

The car is all stock and otherwise has been running fine since I bought it about 5 months ago. I'm going to go to autozone later to see if a code was stored when the CEL was flashing. I'm thinking the TPS is bad. Does anyone have any ideas in the meantime?

ihiryu

iTrader: (7)

I'd check your CEL first, you can do it by the diag box underneath the hood. Should be te1 and e1. You can jump it with a paper clip. Then I'd go from there.

JonSC4

iTrader: (2)

The ECU didn't store any codes. I put some gas treatment in there earlier today thinking maybe I had bad gas. I was just driving around for almost an hour with no problems. I'm thinking either gas was the problem or the problem only shows itself in the morning when it's cold and damp...like maybe moisture is getting into something electrical.

ihiryu

iTrader: (7)

Hmm maybe your karmen is getting damp too?

sydwys

JonSC4,

Have you ever figured out what your issue was? My 92 SC400 started exhibiting similar behavior this morning. The only difference is mine is permanent. It feels as if it lost half the cylinders and runs rough. The tach was jumping around and the cats got really really hot before I shut it off.