97 SHO loss of power and dying??

[SHO04093]

Hey, Guys my 97 SHO is giving a little bit of a mystery?? I took my car out today for a little ride today and about 15 miles into my trip my car just died??? I pulled over to the side of the road and re-started her and when I did there was hardly any power to get her moving and when I did I would have to hold her all the way to the floor just to keep her running, there was black smoke coming out the rear exhaust too.

The first thing I thought of was maybe one of the catilaytic converters was clogged I pulled over and looked under the car and one of them had smoke coming out of one of them. It was not red or anything, after waiting a few minutes I restarted her and she ran just fine. There is no Check engine light on at all or anything, this has happened to me before when I have started her and let her run at idle for a little while. The car has a 128,000 miles on her and has been well taken care of. I am kind of stumped so any ideas would great be appreciated thank you very much for your time.

 

[SHOZ123]

Is the check engine light on?

 

[SHO04093]

No there is no check engine light at all. That is why I am so puzzled with this.

 

[SHOZ123]

Assuming the bulb is good for the SES then it would have to be a hardware system that is not monitored for whatever is happening. This would point back to the cat being partially plugged . Either that or the crank sensor as it will not necessarily set a code.

The cats could be partially working and passing the post cat O2 sensor checks.

 

[SHO04093]

The Check engine light bulb is working it comes on every time your turn the key and goes out as soon as you start the car.. So Basicly you are thinking that it is a partialy clogged cat???? and If not could be a crank position sensor?? I am assuming with you also that it could be a partialy clogged cat because when ever it does do this one cat always has smoke coming from one of them .. Thank you very much

 

[SHOZ123]

The crank sensor will cause the engine to die or not start.

 

[93rev2sev]

a slipped cam sprocket will screw with cam timing so as the car might not start...also might run like described if the slip was small enough.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Could also be a coil on its way out. Read the codes (or have them read for free at AutoZoo) just in case there is a pending code for a coil.

You can also try putting the car in 2nd gear and flooring it from a dead stop up to about 30mph several times. You'll really feel the skip then from a coil, and often get get it to set a code that way.

 

[SHO04093]

If it was a bad coil wouldnt it trip the check engine light??? I had that happen this past summer and replaced to coils, As of right now the check engine light has not come on at all to trip me a code.. i have a code reader and all is well on the front with that.

 

[SHOZ123]

Coils don't necessarily set the light. In fact I never had the SES come on from bad coils.

Best bet with coils IMHO is to dump the OEM ones and get new ones. Manufacturer does not matter.

 

[ThatShoGuy]

Hey, Guys my 97 SHO is giving a little bit of a mystery?? I took my car out today for a little ride today and about 15 miles into my trip my car just died??? I pulled over to the side of the road and re-started her and when I did there was hardly any power to get her moving and when I did I would have to hold her all the way to the floor just to keep her running, there was black smoke coming out the rear exhaust too.

The first thing I thought of was maybe one of the catilaytic converters was clogged I pulled over and looked under the car and one of them had smoke coming out of one of them. It was not red or anything, after waiting a few minutes I restarted her and she ran just fine. There is no Check engine light on at all or anything, this has happened to me before when I have started her and let her run at idle for a little while. The car has a 128,000 miles on her and has been well taken care of. I am kind of stumped so any ideas would great be appreciated thank you very much for your time.

this ended up being my cars prob.... idk if its yours but check this out






http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/AllSHOandNoGo.htm

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xTrem4Rt2lo&feature=related this is how mine was running.... and if i would shut the key off while the car was reved and turned the key back on b4 the motor stoped spining... the car would run fine for a few... i found this read thru it.. ended up being my prob could be yours... it was my # 8 coil.. replaced it and it had fixed the prob..(to bad the motor crapped again..)

 

[SHO04093]

Well i think I found my problem, last night on my way home from work it did it again and I pulled over and I looked under the car and the third cat was glowing red soI am sure that she is clogged... Is there any replacements for this third cat??

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Well i think I found my problem, last night on my way home from work it did it again and I pulled over and I looked under the car and the third cat was glowing red soI am sure that she is clogged... Is there any replacements for this third cat??

Chop it out and install a bypass pipe.

 

[SHOZ123]

I agree. But you must be running quite rich to be causing this.

 

[SHO04093]

What are some ideas to why I would be running so rich?? Thank you for all the help.

 

[SHOZ123]

Check the fuel regulator vacuum line to see if it is wet with gas. May be a ruptured diaphragm that allows gas to be sucked directly into the intake.

 

[SHO04093]

Check the fuel regulator vacuum line to see if it is wet with gas. May be a ruptured diaphragm that allows gas to be sucked directly into the intake.

It was actually my Flex pipe that was glowing the other night??? Would that mean the it is the 3rd cat was Clogged? I agree that the car is running rich for some reason. Where is the Fuel regulator vacuum line located at? Any other ideas on what would make teh car run so rich? I mean the car starts fine and runs for a while and seems to be fine then it just dies and it will start back up but then it runs rough and you have to hold the throttle open just to get her to move.... If i sit and wait like a couple of minutes she starts up and runs just fine ?? I am puzzled.... I could replace the cats but is that the real problem???

 

[SHOZ123]

The FPR and vacuum line are on the passenger end of the fuel rail. Very easy to see and work on. It's just towards the firewall from the PS pump.

 

[SHO04093]

The FPR and vacuum line are on the passenger end of the fuel rail. Very easy to see and work on. It's just towards the firewall from the PS pump.

Is this a rubber line????

 

[SHOZ123]

Yes a short piece of runner vacuum line.

It often leaks which would put the FPR into full pressure mode all the time while also introducing unmetered air into the engine.

But if the internal diaphragm of the FPR is ruptured it will suck fuel directly into the motor. Look for a wet vaccum hose of one that smells of gas.