engine dies for half a second

[quietrangr]

My 89 2.9 dies, the check engine light comes on, then the engine comes back on, probably before it has stopped revolving. This happens sometimes at idle, but mostly going down the road. It has always been easy to die when releasing the clutch, but this is different. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[jhammel85]

I would start by running codes off of the EEC (computer) to find a starting point.

 

[RustedRanger]

Several things could be wrong....but my 87 did something like that when the idle control valve was bad. They are expensive so if finding the codes don't solve it you can have it diagnosed...not with a code checker but with a diagnostic computer. If the guy knows what he is doing he can "look" at how the various sensors and everything else is doing and can tell what's wrong by what the computer shows. It saved me money by not throwing parts at it anymore trying to get it running right.

 

[BillupsOMally]

Mine did that, was the TFI module. Take out the SPOUT connector, it'll run like a wet sack of potatoes but shouldn't randomly turn off. (Mine quit all together after a few weeks of doing that, much easier to diagnose at that point. lol)

I think the CEL is just coming on to tell you the engine isn't running anymore, and there may not be any codes but you should definitely pull em anyways.

 

[quietrangr]

Thanks for suggestions, everybody. Today I thought I would get a used ecc, and I loosened up my old one to see what tools I'd need to bring to the junkyard. I then retightened it, and the problem has stopped at least for the time being. I've run it about 50 miles without the cutting out I was getting, before, and much better taking off from stop. It still does some put-put-puttering when starting out cold, though.