lw300 needed a tow

[Oppie]

Stopped at a light the other day on the way to work and the engine sputtered
and died. Wouldn't restart even with the MAF unplugged (causes a limp-home
mode).

Towed to a shop (I'm on a deadline at work so couldn't futz with it myself)
where they finally got it to start. It sounded like the ignition would cut
out intermittently at idle when hot. Wound up throwing a new crank angle
sensor in it and so far, seems to be running well. As a test, when it died
initially, I had put a bit of sheet metal under the EGR valve to block it
off since I was thinking that it hadn't been closing properly and giving me
other issues. Block-off is still in place and check engine light is on
though displaying only EGR related issues. Without EGR, the knock sensor
will just cut back the timing so no destructive pinging that I have to worry
about for the moment.

Figure if all is well, in a few days will pull out the EGR valve to inspect
and replace if necessary.

[Fred]

Sounds like my old 89 Mustang. The electronic ignition module was the
cause there.
I had a 79 Datsun once. The first thing I did was the sheet metal thing
for the EGR after the guys at my old job said EGR was like throwing
water on a fire. That car ran perfectly for over 200k miles until rust
did it in! Even passed emissions every time with flying colors. Of
course the engine was only 1.2 litre.

[Oppie]

"Fred" <fre...@optimum.net> wrote in message
news:50c9adfa$0$1230$607e...@cv.net...

Looked up the EGR valve in the factory service manual. I had thought it was
a motor operated pintle valve but it turns out that it is a solenoid with a
position feedback pot. Should be able to energize the pot on my workbench
with 5V, measure pot voltage with a meter and push the valve manually to see
if the pot has any dead spots. Not sure what the return spring tension is
supposed to be and if the valve is being jammed by carbon. Will have to look
further into this. Don't want to be spending on unnecessary parts.

[Oppie]

"Oppie" <Op...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
news:wFFys.19378$LS5....@newsfe10.iad...

Found there is something wrong with the airflow calibration when the engine
is hot. Replaced the MAF in December and seemed to make a difference for a
while. Check engine light stayed off long enough to pass state inspection.

This engine will work perfectly well with the MAF disconnected. It just runs
a bit more rich. Friend at the repair shop said that if the engine won't
start, disconnect the plug to the MAF, turn the key to on for 20 seconds and
then start. On the few times it's been finicky since, this has worked.
Still want to find the root cause...