I have a 1988 GL that I got about 6 months ago and it is the best running car I have ever had...after replacing the air flow meter and the idle air control and a couple of other non-electrical things that need to be done on a car with 130k+ miles. I just replaced my radiator with a new one and it was a joy to work on that car after having replaced the radiator on my tr3. Like putting a piece of bread in a toaster. Here is my problem. After I installed the radiator I took the car for a test ride to make sure everything was tight and dry. Turned out one of the transmission cooling lines needed some teflon tape. No problem. Just amazed about how easy it was to do the radiator. While I am test driving it I am feeling really good about myself and my 240 and all of a sudden the car cuts out.
All idiot lights are on like a Christmas tree. All electrical stuff is carrying on like nothing is wrong. Radio, wipers, lights, heater. But I am coasting with the engine decidedly OFF. No ignition, no sputtering, no warning just my full array of idiot lights are on and I am no longer under power. It has never done anything like this before. And the saving grace is that instead having to walk home in the rain and parking the car in the mud, all I have to do is put it into neutral turn the key and we fire right up like nothing happened. I don't have to turn the ignition off. Just turn it over and we are on our merry way as if I was starting it up in my driveway.
Here is what I am hoping. It was raining pretty hard tonight and I had the hood up for a little while though not that long. I did the radiator work in the garage. I did not touch anything electrical save disconnecting the battery. All the work was at the very front end with the radiator. This has got to be electrical and what I am thinking is that some very important wire got wet and is randomly killing my ignition somehow. I replaced the fuse for my injectors just to make sure it was not wet. No difference. It stalled out on me a couple more times after that. Checked all the ignition wires for tightness. There is absolutely no commonality as to when it cuts out. Once it was slowing down to take a turn. Once it was on acceleration turning on to a road. Once it was just cruising down the road at 45.
I really love this car and i really want to think that I did something stupid, per usual, to cause this problem but I cannot imagine what I could have done while replacing the radiator. Any and all thoughts and ideas would be more than
welcome.
Thanks very much,
Jim Lee
sasjzl@earthlink.net
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