Anti-theft unit

This is for my CA18ET.

It's been getting progressively worse.  When it isn't stalling it drives fine.  It normally stalls when cruising and is often hard to start.  Today it happened to do it in stop and go traffic and I was stuck in the middle lane on the expressway....for 5 minutes until it finally decided to start again.  I think my vac system is a little bit messed up but it seems like it might be something else.  I don't have major boost leaks, but may be missing check valves/restrictors, etc.  My first instinct was that the fuel pressure regulator isn't seeing the right vacuum but it appears to be hooked up somewhat right.

It always happens while driving along in gear(but sometimes while at a stop in neutral), never while changing gears.  The tach needle will just drop to zero and it may or may not start back up immediately.  After it stalls I usually leave it in gear, sometimes I give it some throttle, sometimes I don't.  Sometimes I push the clutch in, and let it back out.  Sometimes I end up at a stop and crank the starter.  All have mixed results.  I've tried letting it sit in the "on" position with the fuel pump running for a while, then going for it.  I've tried doing the opposite.  There is no consistency and no condition that recreates the problem.  But it happens multiple times every day on my 43 mile round trip drive.  Seems quite random.

And sometimes after the car sits I'll go to start it and it will just crank all day without starting.  This has happened a handful of times.

Many times when it stalls it will backfire and stumble a whole lot as I let it roll in gear.  Doesn't do it every time though.  The problem started randomly about a month ago.  Every day it happens more and more.  I'm worried that it will stall and never start up again until I figure out the issue.  I'm starting to get VERY fed up with this.

Any suggestions???

Also - is there any way of interfacing with the stock ca18et ECU to datalog?  Any way to see if I have a bad connection at a sensor or something like that to look at ECU inputs in real time?  I'm used to working on cars that I know well, but I'm very new to these cars.  Thanks

My ca20 did this twice. The 1st time the rotor would randomly short out down the distributer shaft. Acted like somebody was turning the key off and on. It would be fine for awhile, then act up for several drives.  The 2nd time was a failing distributer module. Was fine cold but at operating temp would shut down till cooled down.

I've figured out the pattern: when completely cold it will warm up to operating temp and drive ok for a couple of miles, then stall.  I have to wait 8-20 minutes, and it will start up again.  After that, it drives great. No problem.

I keep my timing light in the car now, and when it doesn't want to start, it has no spark. 

I also checked the ECU codes.  After resetting it when it was driving well, I had a 22(fuel pump) and 31(air cond.).  I'm pretty sure these are unrelated.  After driving to work and having problems I have:

11: Crank angle sensor
12: Air flow meter
21: Ignition Circuit

22: Fuel pump
31: Air cond.

sounds like a crank angle sensor in the distributor, Maxpows white car did the same thing and a distributor swap fixed it

Well I went to the yard and pulled a distributor, swapped it into my car, and nothing.  No spark at all, so I'm guessing the crank angle sensor was shot.  I tested the wiring harness on both of them and they were fine.  I know I installed it properly because I had no problem after putting my old one back in.

Hopefully I'll be able to find another one.

New distributor with crank angle sensor did it.  No problems so far.  That was definitely what was causing the no-spark condition and some whacky behavior on the highway.  The rough idle and other drivability issues I was experiencing were due to cracking in my charge pipe coupler coming off of the turbo leading to boost leaks.  Drives and boosts like a dream now!

Is the anti-theft unit under the passenger seat something I have to keep for the car to run?

yeah its under the passenger seat. unplugging it wont affect anything.... it shouldnt lol. ive never unplugged it myself

Auto-lock feature will stop working and light on dash stays illuminated.  Yes, car will run fine.

I keep mine because I like the auto-lock feature.

autolock feature? oh really? mine doesnt do any of this

I don't have autolock....

but I do have this neat feature that I like to call "Unnecessarily Random Panic Attack Mode" or URPAM.

VG33ERGazelle? on 03:34:11 PM / 05-Oct-11but I do have this neat feature that I like to call "Unnecessarily Random Panic Attack Mode" or URPAM.

The day I bought it(wobbler) I got it to go off, and the 2nd owner was like "I didn't know it had an alarm I don't own a key fob" so I turned it on, it shut up.

Among other crazy times the Secu- Rity system (URPAM) whatever it is called went off the worst was when I was at school. Sitting in Psych 101 hearing a distant horn go off over and over again I was like "damn what an idiot, who doesn't turn their shit off after 45+ minutes just go out there."

I walked out of class towards car kept getting louder... got around corner see car freaking out and panic, just bolt down there and hop in and dip the fuck out of there. I was so embarrassed. Always thought about the irony of me judging the person with the alarm and it being me for once. Damn S12 devils advocating me.

my URPAM goes off incessantly. So much so, in fact, that I rarely lock my car since I only go home and go to work where I can watch it. I need to take out the seat and unplug the fucker.

I removed the sensor for the hood, cuz it's warped and doesn't contact, but I'm pretty sure the one in the hatch it making it go off now, cuz the latch is all warped and retarded. yay body flex.

Congrats on the fix. Years back I experienced the same thing, eventually found the pickup in the dizzy was bad. Found an aftermarket replacement for about $100 and it fixed the stalling. I also had severe bucking on acceleration, turned out the dizzy cap was shorting to the shaft as was mentioned, new cap fixed that too.

Thanks, she's still running great.  I don't want to jinx it, but it's coming off the road for winter anyway.  I need to find some indoor storage.  Not only is it making the daily  commute, I'm back to getting 28-30 MPG (a lot of highway but also a lot of traffic jams and stop-and-go).

I'm wondering if not having my exhaust manifold heat shield might have messed it up.  I'm going to look into getting that on there.