Wagon is possessed........

[91longroof]

My '91 Squire is acting very strange. Car cranks up perfectly and runs great.....for a while. The further you drive, the worse it gets. It initially starts missing occasionally and after about 4 miles of driving it will barely run. Bucking, farting, barely moving, but it never shuts off. When it first starts doing it, it idles fine but off idle shakes like half the plug wires are off but then will level out. At the worst of it, you can floor it and it will barely move and shake the car like the engine's coming apart. But in a six mile drive, it never shut off. Let it cool down, starts and runs perfect. Had TFI module tested and came back good. He tested twelve times in a row to get some heat in it but it still tested good. Cap, rotor and coil are new(August) and wires and plugs are about a year old. Any ideas? Pickup possibly? TFI even though it tested good? Anybody heard of this before? Thanks for any help.

[mrltd]

could be clogged cats or air and coolant temp sensors.

[86VickyLX]

clogged cats.

I'm leaning towards this. Hook up a vacuum gauge, start it. Raise the idle to about 2k observe the gauge reading. If it's high at first and then gradually decreases, you have clogged cats.

[stinkydogfilms]

replaced my cats, still had the same problem though it did not want to stay running. Barely drove 2 blocks to the mechanic and had to start at least 20 times. In my case it turned out to be the TPS. Let us know the remedy please, when you get it fixed.

[91longroof]

Thanks for the ideas guys. So cats will make it miss like the ignition is breaking down?

[mrltd]

Yes, that's why we suggested it.

[86VickyLX]

Yeah, if the exhaust gases have nowhere to go, when the exhaust valve opens, it will e pushed back into the cylinder, and cause a misfire.

[hypostang]

I would also check fuel pressure , when my pump failed on my Mark Vii it would do similar things to what you described .

[91longroof]

I guess I get to play diagnostician this weekend............ Thanks for all the suggestions.

[91longroof]

So I drove outside of my two mile safe zone last night and sure enough, it did it again. Got home and listened to it closely, Mrltd and 86, I believe you have nailed it. Sounds like the exhaust is having to force it's way through the pipe. Now time for shorty's and H-pipe.

[86VickyLX]

So I drove outside of my two mile safe zone last night and sure enough, it did it again. Got home and listened to it closely, Mrltd and 86, I believe you have nailed it. Sounds like the exhaust is having to force it's way through the pipe. Now time for shorty's and H-pipe.

Yeah, clogged cats suck. Broken cats suck too. Cause it sounds like the engine's knocking.

[91longroof]

So after much debating and consulting, I went against the grain and tried a new pickup coil. Drove twenty minutes, no issues. I would be more excited but as I pulled in in front of my house, I put the car in reverse, the car died and a puff of smoke came from the drivers side hood area. Found a 20 gauge fusible link zapped itself for whatever reason. I've looked in my Chilton's but haven't located this link in the diagram. It links what appears to be about 12 gauge pink wire with green tracer to two smaller wires, both pink with green tracers. Anybody had this issue before or know what those go to? I have all lights(outside and dash) and radio, pretty much everything is working, just no start. I can replace the link but any ideas why it fried? Just old age or do I have another issue? Thanks for all the help so far.

[johnunit]

I'd say it's time for a wholesale cleaning of all ignition and charging system connections and wiring. Time and time again on here we seem to have weird problems caused by seemingly minor charging system or ignition system maladies.

[86VickyLX]

So after much debating and consulting, I went against the grain and tried a new pickup coil. Drove twenty minutes, no issues. I would be more excited but as I pulled in in front of my house, I put the car in reverse, the car died and a puff of smoke came from the drivers side hood area. Found a 20 gauge fusible link zapped itself for whatever reason. I've looked in my Chilton's but haven't located this link in the diagram. It links what appears to be about 12 gauge pink wire with green tracer to two smaller wires, both pink with green tracers. Anybody had this issue before or know what those go to? I have all lights(outside and dash) and radio, pretty much everything is working, just no start. I can replace the link but any ideas why it fried? Just old age or do I have another issue? Thanks for all the help so far.

Red/Light Green sounds more correct. That's the main power for both the TFI module and the power for the coil in the run position. It's also the power for the computer relay. It gets power from the ignition switch. It also powers the warning indicators and such.

[91longroof]

Thanks for that information on the wires. Could the past two weeks of pickup issues have caused the link to weaken? I just don't want to have the same issue again. Luckily, the link is accessible so if it happens again, I can get to it easily.