engine stalls when i hit a bump- help!

[jasonscottw]

hello everyone

lately when i hit a bump or pothole (on pavement in NYC) in my 91 explorer the engine shuts off, and i have to quickly throw it in nuetral and restart. Any ideas on the cause? Thanks!

 

[section525]

Is your battery making contact with the hood?!

 

[X~FACTOR]

Either what Section say or you got some loose connection on the battery post. Does it only start on neutral or does park gets it started also? Almost all cars have a safety devise where it would not start if the tranny is not in park or neutral.

 

[jasonscottw]

re help with stall

thanks for the tips, it hadn't occured to me that the battery bouncing up and hitting the hood could screw with the electrical system like that- is that because the neg. charge flows through the body? The only other symptom that may be related (?) is that when i slam the hood shut the idle instantly revs really high for a
second . . .

 

[jasonscottw]

re stall

hmmm . . . checked the battery, it's locked down pretty tight, i don't think it could move enough to hit the underside of the hood. Any other ideas?
Also, after I hit a pothole or bump there is an immediate surge in the revs for an instant and then the engine shuts off.
thanks again-

 

[Bottomlesspit]

I had a similar experience with my 93 mustang. It sure sounds like a loose/bad ground wire to me. The vibrations/knocking around when you hit a bump or slam the hood sounds like maybe a ground wire is getting bad contact. There are a lot of ground wires...............the battery, the computer ground!!!, the sensor grounds, the alternator ground wire. I would start the engine and start wiggling wires one by one.
Just a thought, good luck and let us know.
Ken

 

[Sonny]

Don't know about your year, if it has a MAF sensor, if I unplug mine when the engine is running it dies. I really do not know what it would do if I was going street speed and have it come loose. Just a thought. Good Luck

 

[jasonscottw]

found stall cause

finally found the cause of the stalling, on the negative/ground wire between the battery and body ground terminal was a crimp-on connector sleeve that was loose, so whenever i hit a bump it broke the circuit- thanks again for the assistance-