Car's going into limp mode..
 

This past weekend, i went on a small vacation...

On my way after about 140+ miles the car started to stumble and I lost power. Eventually, I came to a haul and I was able to start the car.. But soon as I started to move I couldn't accelerate past 3000RPM.

I reset the ECU and I was able to make it to the next exit, filled up the gas, and the car was fine for 2 days. Then I was coming back yesterday and I had the same issue... No engine light, no TCS, no DSC, etc.. Just starte to stumble like it was running out of gas and eventually the car died. I could start the car fine, drive up for 15 sec or so and it would start again.. until fill up the gas and reset the ECU.

It was quite weird?? Anyone have any ideas? I was thinking it could be the fuel filter but I could drive over 100 miles without issues.. I just can't pin point the issue. I drove the car to work today and it was fine. Not a single issues.

I assume your cars out of warranty? Is the ecu flashed with current versions? Wouldn't think it would be the filter if you were able to get 100 miles out of it, maybe got some bad gas and the new gas you put in may have worked it on out.

Wonder if the ecu is throwing any errors that arn't showing on the idiot lights.

Could it be an injector problem?

Well, before I got the car, it had the latest flashes and such. And its so out of warrantee:)

regarding gas, I drove from Bham to MS without an issue (190 miles from fill up).

once I reset the ECU, everything seemed fine.. and filled up again and drove total of about 300 miles. It wasn't until third fill up and 150 miles later that it went into this limp mode.

This time I watched the cluster to see if any lights were blinking and such... NONE!

I thought it might be something to do with ignition but after reset, everything is back to normal. I could get up to 90+ mph without an issue... So, I don't think its injector..

I've heard something about gas cap issues but don't know what that does??

yeah I read about the gas cap issues but i didn't read what it was all about since it didn't effect mine. If I'm not mistaken it was for certain vin# groups. Might look into that, it was a recall thing dealer would have to get you a spanking new gas cap if yours falls into that grouping, not too sure what it would affect though other than maybe pressure loss??

Yeah, I don't think its the gas cap.. Maybe filter? I have no clue why its doing what its doing..

Everything seems ok today.. Very weird.. I changed the oil today and this weekend, I'm going to change the sparks.

I have had that problem but it is more around 4500rpm. I have found that when my intake is cracking there is air escaping and not being sucked in and I have a major loss of power. I have also found that when I add oil if i add it after running the car really hard it does the same thing. it always goes away but i have no idea what causes it.

One of the guys at work was telling me that his gascap on his truck wasn't tightened down all the way and it threw a code which put it into a lower power state until he had the code reset.

So far I haven't expereinced it since coming back home. I been looking thru the car to figure something out but nothing.. Everything looks good, starts fine, idles fine, and nothing.. I guess I might have to go on a trip somewhere and experience it again. I'm going to take this to Cheeha and see if it happens there..

PHIL

Sounds similar to a friend of mine with another '04 - took it to the dealership and it turned out to be his coil pack - check that out (this is the reason I kept a spare set)...

Kevin,

Awesome! I did not know you could use FD plugs in the 8?? Awesome! I have like gazzillion FD plugs at home.. Dont mind changing every 10k:)

I'm doing Catback replacement in next month or so.. i'll check the cat too. But I don't think its the cat.. Since the trip, Everythings been OK... No issues.

I reset the ECU by unplugging the battery, and press the brake.. I used this technique when my Acura used to have misc warning lights pop on... I think it worked on the 8 also... I think?? because I just unplugged and waited 20secs and didnt do shit! LOL!

My guess would always start to be w/ ignition and spark plugs. Mine need to be changed on my 05 soon.

I hope you get it sorted. Please post what you find.

reseting procedures pulled from another website

"There are two reset procedures, one for the NVRAM and the other for the KAM. Neither will erase your radio presets and such like the method XXXXXXXX posted:

1) With the key in the off position, press and hold the odometer reset button and turn the key to on;
Continue to hold the odo button until the odometer reads "TEST" and then release.
2) Turn the key to off and repeat step one.

This will reset the entire PCM except the KAM which contains the sensor profiles amongst other things. You can reset it with the familiar procedure:

1) Turn the key to on
2) Depress the brake pedal rapidly 20 times in a row until the oil pressure gauge sweeps to halfway and back again."

Interesting.. I have to give that a try!

+1 for Johnathon
by the way how is the 20b project going on ?

so far its going nowhere, waiting on the Work wheels I ordered to show up (hopefully next month) so I can get the car to the body shop plus picking up this 8 put a damper on the available funds plus a trip to Japan thats in the works. I'm estimating my time frame to be 2-4 years :rofl: