rpm gauge drops to zero

[beautyand2bears]

when driving down the road i have a surge then a drop and then a surge of power while this is happening the rpm gauge drops then goes back up and sometime my rpm gauge goes dead to zero and will not register until the surge happens again. no one seems to be able to find the problem. please, please can someone help me find out what the problem is. thank you for your time.:frustrate :frustrate

 

[Alec]

Hmmm, maybe the coil pack or it's wiring? Reason I say this is because 1) a bad coil pack or coil pack wiring can cause surging and dying and 2) the tach gets it's readings from the coil pack.

Just my suggestion.

 

[dogfriend]

This thread might help you even though it isn't exactly the same problem:

Dead Link Removed

Are you getting a Check Engine Light at the same time the problem occurs?

 

[beautyand2bears]

when is happens no check engine light comes on. the thread that i read, well he did not say that his car had the surge then the tach went dead. well went out again in the car to go to the store the car was fine on the ride over to the store but on the ride back home the car surged again and the tach went to zero and did not come back until i got home turned off the car and started the car back up agian. that is when the tach came back on and started to read again. i was reading on another thread and wanted to know could it be the MAF sensor that needs to be cleaned because it says the symptoms of the MAF sensor needing to be cleaned is you get a surge or a hesitation but it does not say that your rpm gauge will drop to zero and stay there? so pleases help!!!! thank u for your replies.

 

[dogfriend]

I think that Alec is probably on the right track with some problem with the wiring or coil pack. The reason that I pointed you at the other thread is because we were discussing (in the other thread) the way that the tach gets its signal.

It seems like you have an intermittent connection in the ignition system. A lot of the time, an intermittent connection will be temperature related, because the connectors and components expand as the engine warms up. I had a no start problem with my Ranger that was like this; it only refused to start after I had driven for awhile (engine warm) and then tried to start again. In my case, it was an intermittent problem with the ignition coil, but it was a pain to diagnose because it only would happen under certain conditions - like your problem.

One way to find a problem like this (temp related) is to use a heat gun (a hair dryer will work but not as quickly) to heat up the component to see if you can cause the problem. If you suspect the coil pack could be the problem, use the heat gun to heat it up while parked and idling to see if you can cause the problem. I also think that a bad ICM (aka TFI module) could cause your problem so you could test it also.

Definately check all under hood wiring (especially where harnesses rub on things) to make sure it isn't a wiring problem.

It wouldn't hurt to clean the MAF sensor carefully, but the problem with the tach cutting out at the same time as the engine surges seems to point to a problem in the ignition system.

 

[dogfriend]

Also, check the SPOUT connector (location discussed in other thread) to make sure that it isn't part way out. That would cause loss of tach signal and probably would cause surging also. The purpose of the SPOUT connector is to disable the signal when setting the base ignition timing.

 

[beautyand2bears]

please can anyone help. tomorrow going to look into what the other said it might be but still would like more ideas of what the problem might be. thank u.

 

[dogfriend]

I'll bump this up again, so maybe some others will add suggestions.

If I were having this problem, I would check the following:

Coil Pack

Ignition Control Module (aka TFI Module)

All the wiring between the PCM (computer), the Coil Pack and the Ignition Control Module including the SPOUT connector which is near the Ignition Control Module

 

[beautyand2bears]

thank u dogfriend and everyboby for the surggs. going to look into it today because have to have the car for me and the kids. thank u again. and still would like everones surggs.

 

[beautyand2bears]

found the problem

well guess what found the problem with the surgen and the rpm droping to zero...... it was ( so far) the spark plugs. my brother today changed the spark plugs and the spark plug wires. they looked like they had never been changed before because the metal piece that comes out of the spark plug was almost gone!!!!!!!!!!!!! and two of the spark plugs hooks, my brother broke off with his finger. after he was done, took the car out and i have had no more problems out of the car. have to say thank god for brothers and thank u too for all the surggs. everyone has given me.

 

[dogfriend]

Cool.

I guess it is best to start with the basics.