Miata Mailing List: September 1994, Message #139
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   From: Gary Samad 
Subject: Bizare engine problem
   Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 20:24:45 -0400


Text item: Text_1

     Since installing the supercharger I've found that I'm often opening 
     the hood to show the curious.  Since the engine bay is a rather grungy 
     place, I thought I'd rinse it out and make it a little more 
     presentable.
     
     Wrong decision.
     
     After letting things dry out, I fired up the car and found the 
     following bizare behavior:  Any attempt to rev the engine beyond 2000 
     RPM met with fuel cutoff and the revs dropping to about 1500, then 
     revving back up to 2000, then cutoff, etc.  It felt very much like 
     hitting the redline.  What did I screw up?
     
     After a few days of warming it up, then letting it cool, hoping that 
     the nasty water that entered the mysterious opening might evaporate, 
     the car finally would rev past 2000.  This took two days.
     
     Relieved, I took it for a spin, only to find that after warmup, the 
     car started bucking and sputtering at low RPMs.  Finally, I took it to 
     a mechanic.
     
     The problem was the spark plug wires!  Replacement was all that was 
     needed.  Does anyone have any idea why the "2000 RPM rev limit" was 
     happening?  An ECU failsafe mode or somesuch?
     
     I have now sworn off the Concours d'Elegance! :-)
     
        cu,
        Gary