Loss of power

[marbleheadjed]

Morning , my 1980 spider has an intermittent problem. From a cold start once you get rolling in 1st gear the power will cut out and it will only run at idle in gear. If you put it in nuetral it will rev the whole power range . Usually once it is hot it won't happen. . Recently it happened when it was hot. .?? Have any of you experienced this before? Thanks for any input . Marblheadjed

[bobplyler]

I'm guessing it's automatic.
Carb or Fuel Injection?
Just because it revs in neutral doesn't mean it won't pull in gear. When it's in
gear, it's under load. In neutral, there isn't any load.

[AndyVAS]

I'm guessing pick-up coil. Maybe control module.

Take off the distributor cap and look closely at the pick-up wires. Also check the lead that runs from the distributor to the module. If there is cracking of the plastic insulation on the wires then replace it.

[marbleheadjed]

Thanks for the input. It's a standard with FI . If you give it steady throttle pressure. At about 2000 rpm the car will idle up and down . If the revs go op by the redline the car will operate normally after. .? I just got a new complete distributor from Vicks . The old one had bad seals and bearings . I hope that does it . No time to install it yet . Thanks for the help.

[RRoller123]

Do you mean that if you hold the throttle steady at about 2000 rpm, it increases and decreases up and down significantly by itself? Sounds like a bad AFM.

[NSFIAT]

I can relate to the cold start issue with my '81 FI. Until it came up to temperature I'd have severe loss of power - pretty much cutting out completely. Once at temperature it would run just fine. Turns out the coolant temperature sensor was at fault - the connector was spinning freely on the metal body of the sensor and when cold the car was running wayyy too rich. Swapped it out and zero issues.

It was frustrating as I was looking at all of the other suspects first!

[klweimer]

Jed,
Shoot me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a scan of the factory FI troubleshooting manual. It's the best for these kinds of issues.
Kirk

[marbleheadjed]

Thanks for the help everyone . I haven't had Time to try anything yet but I'm off next week so I'll run through your suggestions . Can't thank you enough . I'll keep you posted . Plenty of nice fall driving ahead !

[marbleheadjed]

Yes with steady pressure on the accelorator at 2000 rpm ,it fluctuates on it's own up and down to 3000. If you hold the pedal down for awhile it will respond up and down with the pedal. Thanks Jed