Miata Mailing List: December 1999, Message #226

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Thanks for the suggestions:

A quick summary:

>Do you have a lot of keys on your keyring???  If so take them all off
>except the ignition key and see what happens.  The ignition switch is
>know to be affected by the heavy weight of a lot of keys.
>Larry

I have always kept this key on a single (auto alarm) fob.  I have tried
jiggling and turning the key, but there seems to be no correlation between
the stall and a bump that could jostle the key.

>Wouldn't the check engine light come on if the engine shut off anyway???
>Larry

As I tried to push start the car (while I decelerated from 7.... I mean 55),
the alternator light went out, but the check engine light stayed on.

 >since the check engine light came on it might be worth checking the error
>code(s)...  that may give you a good idea of where to start looking.
>Bob Schnider & Tango

>old fart syndrome... thought i read the light came on and the engine quit
>but in rereading i see i was mistaken... happened in the other order.
>still... might be worth checking for a code.
>Bob Schnider & Tango

I have never noticed the engine light come on before (not even a flicker)
the engine stalls.  Sometimes I think I hear a click, (like a switch?) as it
stalls.

The car was in a Mazda shop for this problem.  They couldn't reproduce the
stall so they couldn't fix it.  I'm not even going to ask whether they
should have been smart enough to check the engine codes.

>I had a Honda CIVIC doing the same.  It turned out to be a dirty fuel
>filter.  It stalled twice before I figured it out it was the fuel filter.
>Hope this helps

>Mark

Although I was alone and may have missed it, when I tried to ground the plug
wire, I saw no spark jumping the gap to ground.  I placed a screwdriver
insert into the wire and placed the free end near ground.  As I cranked, the
scredriver slid toward and eventually touched the ground.  I could see no
spark.

>I'd also check the grounds under the brake master cylinder.  I once had one
>of these a bit loose, and it would pull out every time the engine revved
>past 4000 rpm or so and rocked over on the mounts.  ECU lost power, >engine
>cut out.  It didn't actually stall, but the tach would hit 0 for a moment
>when it lost power, then jump back up.

>Did you lose your other electrics?  Radio, for example?

>Keith

I lose no other electrics.

The fact that it comes and goes in such a random fashion leads me to believe
it is microprocessor related.  I'm sure it has something to due with Bill
Gates.

Thanks for your input.  I will throw these comments and any others I receive
to my mechanic.  He has a detective's mentality and always asks good
questions.  The problem is that the probable causes are all expensive to
repair unless we can narrow it down.

Thanks again

Ron
'92T
Pocket Rocket
Balto, MD