Hi all!!
To start off, I want to say in advance THANK YOU for any and all help anyone is willing to offer up on this freakish issue…
I can say, No matter how hard I try to make this as short, informative and to the point as I’d like, the fact it’ll turn out to be a short “Novel” is not by design, but to try and get as much info out there as I can, to hopefully help you all get the bigger picture of what’s going on…
That being said, I’ve been a wrench for more of my life than not, and I’m 50 now, and have been building, repairing, and fabricating odd things, mostly cars, motorcycles and trucks since around 8-9 yrs old….but this one’s got me stumped!
I’ll also be as descriptive as I can, as well, I’ve tried more things than I can recall, so please don’t be offended if I’ve already tried something suggested, I simply just didn’t remember I tried it when I wrote this… Thanks again!
Okay, 1994 Mark VIII (4.6L DOHC, you all know the engine lol) since 101,000 miles, (now 103,000) I’ll Start up cold, I live in Wisco, but it’s had the identical issue(s) on and off now at -20°F as well as
80°+F, So again, cold start at Ambient temp, let it warm up a few mins, I’ll typically fire it up, light a cig, seat belt on, adjust seat, setup my phone on the dash, radio, move mirrors if need be, then at least wait for base idle to drop to around 700-900 rpm, but I’ll still leave pretty easy…. I live about a mile from the freeway on ramp, and there are 4 streetlights that on a normal day, I’ll hit a red on at least 2 of them…. Jump on the on ramp, and every now and again you’re in the spot where you need to stick your foot in the TBI and get after it because of traffic or what have you, when I do this, the trans kicks down, engine winds up the engine speed and the trans hit to “passing gear”, but then, every single light on the dash, including the radio, LCD temp controls and digital readout, the message center, EVERYTHING that is lit on the dash meant for the driver starts to “flash”?! By that, I don’t mean A definitive “ON” and “OFF”, it acts like my thumb is on the dimmer rheostat and I’m just messing around by going Full bright to Full Dim over and over again, along with the lights all going dim/bright, they all flash “0000”’s or flat lines as if everything was being reset, to add insult to injury, WHILE the dash lights are being wonky, the trans will not shift back out of the “Passing gear” into 3 or OD, but meaning the engine will just Rev its brains out all the while I’m just trying to maintain the speed limit…(70). Now, as long as the RPM’s are in the Kick-down or Passing range, all of the dash lights will continue to…. I’m going to call it “Fluctuate” from now on… The dash lights will keep Fluctuating until I force the engine speed to slow down while in gear…
(If this gets confusing, I’ll outline the issues at the bottom) while the lights fluctuate, the trans won’t shift to the next higher gear, as well, the engine speed wants to hit in excess of 2,800 - 3,200 rpm’s at times…. I don’t dare throw it in Neutral or park unless I plan to shit the engine down, in fear of launching a rod….
To reiterate,
Get on the freeway, stand on it to get a head of hypothetically, three semi‘s in a row, The transmission kicks down to a passing gear causing the engine RPMs to rise, the dash lights all fluctuate crazily while the engine is at higher RPMs, and at this time the transmission is stuck in that passing gear as well as at the higher RPMs as well as causing the dash lights to fluctuate.
All this, until I either pull over on the Interstate, or I make it to an off ramp to try and figure out the issue…
Now that I’ve pulled over to a dead stop, using every ounce of brake I have to keep the car from not pushing the locked up front wheels, or doing a brake stand, I have then just
Simply let off the brake, and started to roll….. HOWEVER, Now the trans is stuck in 1, and won’t shift from that…. Don’t get me wrong, the shift selector has been in “D” the entire time, OD on, haven’t changed a thing from the day before other than my clothes…lol… Anyway, in an attempt to try just about anything to remedy all of the sudden engine/lights/trans issues I’m having, I had decided the best course would be to limp it to somewhere safe and out of the way, throw it in park and kill the key to shut it down before it has a chance to over Rev or blow up, considering I’ve never hit the Rev limiter to know where it actually is… didn’t want to take a chance…
Id shut down the engine, wait a few minutes, NO START. It’ll crank, just won’t fire and will NOT start for DAYS…. Trickle charging the battery, Pulled the battery while charging, unplug, dielectric grease every plug known to man, clean every ground visible and even some not visible, and just simply would not start.
I finally gave up after trial after trial, and every time a complete fail…. I was so angry, I pushed the car out of sight and ignored it for 3-4 Months, and just drove my truck…. About 4 months go by, and I walked past the car, and by coincidence I had the keys with me… hopped in, barely breathed on the key, and the darn thing fired up like I’d been driving it daily and i just drive it 15 mins prior!?!
I have figured out after this has happened a few times, if I walk away for a few months at a time, eventually given enough time has passed, it’ll start back up, and runs like NOTHING ever went wrong! In fact, I just started driving it three days ago, after it died back in the beginning of January this year, I had a friend who owns a towing company, and just had him stash it in his impound lot, up until three days ago when I threw a key in it, and a jumper pack, and once again, it started up as though it never had an issue to begin with. I’ve been driving it daily, several times a day without fail or falter …..
Okay, to reiterate….
1. Jump on the gas to pass
2. Trans will downshift but stays there
3. Causes dash lights to fluctuate, until/if engine speed drops
4. Engine racing at 2,800 - 3,200 rpm
5. After complete stop, trans won’t shift from 1st, all the while in “D”
6. Seems that walking away and giving the car a “Break” is the current fix….
The battery is charging at 14. 2 V, all of my fluids are up to snuff, transmission filter gasket and fluid all changed last December, oil change 1500 miles ago, The serpentine belt is less than six months old, and the battery is less than a year old. I’ve replaced the IAC motor, TPS, and cleaned the MAF sensor, checked for any vacuum leaks by way of carb cleaner, as well as reverse fogging the engine, and the one line I found, was so small, it didn’t change a thing, and was for the air-blend door for heat…
Anyone who can shed ANY light on this Gremiln that brings results will literally be MY HERO, because to top it all off, it’s not throwing ANY codes… well, it did until I pulled and cleaned the MAF sensor, but now it just gets better mileage and has much better throttle response, as well as turned the CEL off finally….
Thanks in advance for any and ALL input everyone!! I can’t tell you the level of appreciation!!!
~ Mark
To start off, I want to say in advance THANK YOU for any and all help anyone is willing to offer up on this freakish issue…
I can say, No matter how hard I try to make this as short, informative and to the point as I’d like, the fact it’ll turn out to be a short “Novel” is not by design, but to try and get as much info out there as I can, to hopefully help you all get the bigger picture of what’s going on…
That being said, I’ve been a wrench for more of my life than not, and I’m 50 now, and have been building, repairing, and fabricating odd things, mostly cars, motorcycles and trucks since around 8-9 yrs old….but this one’s got me stumped!
I’ll also be as descriptive as I can, as well, I’ve tried more things than I can recall, so please don’t be offended if I’ve already tried something suggested, I simply just didn’t remember I tried it when I wrote this… Thanks again!
Okay, 1994 Mark VIII (4.6L DOHC, you all know the engine lol) since 101,000 miles, (now 103,000) I’ll Start up cold, I live in Wisco, but it’s had the identical issue(s) on and off now at -20°F as well as
80°+F, So again, cold start at Ambient temp, let it warm up a few mins, I’ll typically fire it up, light a cig, seat belt on, adjust seat, setup my phone on the dash, radio, move mirrors if need be, then at least wait for base idle to drop to around 700-900 rpm, but I’ll still leave pretty easy…. I live about a mile from the freeway on ramp, and there are 4 streetlights that on a normal day, I’ll hit a red on at least 2 of them…. Jump on the on ramp, and every now and again you’re in the spot where you need to stick your foot in the TBI and get after it because of traffic or what have you, when I do this, the trans kicks down, engine winds up the engine speed and the trans hit to “passing gear”, but then, every single light on the dash, including the radio, LCD temp controls and digital readout, the message center, EVERYTHING that is lit on the dash meant for the driver starts to “flash”?! By that, I don’t mean A definitive “ON” and “OFF”, it acts like my thumb is on the dimmer rheostat and I’m just messing around by going Full bright to Full Dim over and over again, along with the lights all going dim/bright, they all flash “0000”’s or flat lines as if everything was being reset, to add insult to injury, WHILE the dash lights are being wonky, the trans will not shift back out of the “Passing gear” into 3 or OD, but meaning the engine will just Rev its brains out all the while I’m just trying to maintain the speed limit…(70). Now, as long as the RPM’s are in the Kick-down or Passing range, all of the dash lights will continue to…. I’m going to call it “Fluctuate” from now on… The dash lights will keep Fluctuating until I force the engine speed to slow down while in gear…
(If this gets confusing, I’ll outline the issues at the bottom) while the lights fluctuate, the trans won’t shift to the next higher gear, as well, the engine speed wants to hit in excess of 2,800 - 3,200 rpm’s at times…. I don’t dare throw it in Neutral or park unless I plan to shit the engine down, in fear of launching a rod….
To reiterate,
Get on the freeway, stand on it to get a head of hypothetically, three semi‘s in a row, The transmission kicks down to a passing gear causing the engine RPMs to rise, the dash lights all fluctuate crazily while the engine is at higher RPMs, and at this time the transmission is stuck in that passing gear as well as at the higher RPMs as well as causing the dash lights to fluctuate.
All this, until I either pull over on the Interstate, or I make it to an off ramp to try and figure out the issue…
Now that I’ve pulled over to a dead stop, using every ounce of brake I have to keep the car from not pushing the locked up front wheels, or doing a brake stand, I have then just
Simply let off the brake, and started to roll….. HOWEVER, Now the trans is stuck in 1, and won’t shift from that…. Don’t get me wrong, the shift selector has been in “D” the entire time, OD on, haven’t changed a thing from the day before other than my clothes…lol… Anyway, in an attempt to try just about anything to remedy all of the sudden engine/lights/trans issues I’m having, I had decided the best course would be to limp it to somewhere safe and out of the way, throw it in park and kill the key to shut it down before it has a chance to over Rev or blow up, considering I’ve never hit the Rev limiter to know where it actually is… didn’t want to take a chance…
Id shut down the engine, wait a few minutes, NO START. It’ll crank, just won’t fire and will NOT start for DAYS…. Trickle charging the battery, Pulled the battery while charging, unplug, dielectric grease every plug known to man, clean every ground visible and even some not visible, and just simply would not start.
I finally gave up after trial after trial, and every time a complete fail…. I was so angry, I pushed the car out of sight and ignored it for 3-4 Months, and just drove my truck…. About 4 months go by, and I walked past the car, and by coincidence I had the keys with me… hopped in, barely breathed on the key, and the darn thing fired up like I’d been driving it daily and i just drive it 15 mins prior!?!
I have figured out after this has happened a few times, if I walk away for a few months at a time, eventually given enough time has passed, it’ll start back up, and runs like NOTHING ever went wrong! In fact, I just started driving it three days ago, after it died back in the beginning of January this year, I had a friend who owns a towing company, and just had him stash it in his impound lot, up until three days ago when I threw a key in it, and a jumper pack, and once again, it started up as though it never had an issue to begin with. I’ve been driving it daily, several times a day without fail or falter …..
Okay, to reiterate….
1. Jump on the gas to pass
2. Trans will downshift but stays there
3. Causes dash lights to fluctuate, until/if engine speed drops
4. Engine racing at 2,800 - 3,200 rpm
5. After complete stop, trans won’t shift from 1st, all the while in “D”
6. Seems that walking away and giving the car a “Break” is the current fix….
The battery is charging at 14. 2 V, all of my fluids are up to snuff, transmission filter gasket and fluid all changed last December, oil change 1500 miles ago, The serpentine belt is less than six months old, and the battery is less than a year old. I’ve replaced the IAC motor, TPS, and cleaned the MAF sensor, checked for any vacuum leaks by way of carb cleaner, as well as reverse fogging the engine, and the one line I found, was so small, it didn’t change a thing, and was for the air-blend door for heat…
Anyone who can shed ANY light on this Gremiln that brings results will literally be MY HERO, because to top it all off, it’s not throwing ANY codes… well, it did until I pulled and cleaned the MAF sensor, but now it just gets better mileage and has much better throttle response, as well as turned the CEL off finally….
Thanks in advance for any and ALL input everyone!! I can’t tell you the level of appreciation!!!
~ Mark
