Rudy97

My 97 4cyl 5sp is acting up. It started when I got the truck a few months ago, but the problem has been increasing. Every once in a while, while driving down the road the engine would cut out and back in making the entire car jerk. I happen to think it's something electrical, like a short or condensation in the distributor cap.

I'm fairly certain there is a problem with the electrical system but I need some help possibly diagnosing before I spend money. Back when visiting an offroad park the truck broke down because water got into the coils and was interrupting the spark. We let it dry after spraying brake cleaner in it and it ran fine. Then while washing off the engine (while it was running) a few weeks ago, I put my hand on the coil wires and got a really nasty shock.

Has anyone experienced this before? It's happening a lot more frequent, it's uncomfortable to passengers, and it's starting to worry me about reliability.

b0n3mast3r

change your plug and check your fuel injector i had 1 went out at 200k mile and it aint cheap either

stormin94

Engine mount?

brian2sun

What's an offroad park? How deep was that water that got into your coils? Did you suck water in the airbox?

olharleyman

check for air leaks before and after your intake, look for breaks in your plug wires run it at night a watch for spark coming off them then you know which one is arcing change your plug wires if you see any that's a possible reason your getting shocked by them

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

You are pretty much going to get a thread full of guesses, since there really isn't much info there.

You are not, however, supposed to get a shock when touching the plug wires. Step one, do a minor tune up. The truck likely needs it anyways. But FACTORY plugs and wires (should have coil packs, so no distributor) The super thin aftermarket stuff seems to not work very well in any vehicle I have worked on, and the construction of the wires is sub par at best.

b0n3mast3r

so you saying i just waste 60 dollar on 3 wire for nothing

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

Waste? No. Could have made a better decision? Yes.

After a few years of heat/cooling cycles, the first time you try to take those wires out they tend to seperate. Factory plug wires are built 10x better. Word of advice too, use Dielectric grease!

b0n3mast3r

i would say i sure did cuz at the end i find out i had a dead injector on cylinder number 2

littledipper

you might have wires wraped aroud somthing i had that problem it was a wire wraped around the gas pedal so when i would hit the gas the truck would shut off then come right back on check your wires

Rudy97

The truck recently threw a p0120 code (TPMS) and we had it checked out. Turns out that that the reason the truck was bucking (and the reason for the bad catalytic converters) was because the Throttle Positioning sensor was shorting out. Why was it shorting out? Well when the mechanic opened it up there were spiders living in it. Go figure. I could have saved a load of money on TWO cats, and hours and hours of labor by just finding the source of the problem.