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what the hell would cause this?

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Old Oct 9, 2011 | 12:47 PM
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i was driving over to a buddies house the other day and my car just all of sudden started bucking, and misfirng, and just straight running like ****. all of my gauges would come on then shut off and come on and shut off again. I had to keep it runnin with the throttle and it would mis out while doing so. the car completely died on my a few times on the street but i finally limped it to his house. when i got to his house i got to looking around, checked all my electrical connections, everything seemed fine. started it up, still ran like ****. did this a couple times, finally i let it sit for about 10 minutes or so, started it, and it ran fine. this is the 3rd time its done something like this. This time being the worst... im thinking and alternator or ignition switch but....what do you guys think?

car is in sig.
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 09:32 AM
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Gremlins maybe? Did you check for codes?

In my experience, bad alternators usually let you down easily and quickly.
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 10:19 AM
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I let my gremlin hunting dog take a sniff but no luck. I may go ahead and replace the alternator. When it was running shitty at ldel. The volt gauge was at like 9. When it started running ok again it was normal. I did notice it was a little higher than normal yesterday though. :-/
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 11:14 AM
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I'd look for the common power connection between the alternator and battery to the car. If either one was going bad independently, the other would cover it for a bit. The ignition switch is a good place to start.
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 11:15 AM
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i'd check all your electrical connections again...
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 11:16 AM
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Ignition relay could be causing it Worth a check
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 11:23 AM
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Aside from the gauges coming and going it almost sounds exactly like when my coolant temp sensor (coolant) broke off when I had my headers installed. It's fairly easy to check as it's right in front (drivers side) of the motor. Mine was actually dangling there not even connected!

GL man
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 11:25 AM
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i had a wire grounding out on a trans coolant line do that.. i had a wiring gremlin for a long time that grounded out up at the front in the hole in the radiator support or whatever where the wiring for the headlights run through cause that also.


check all your electrical wiring and see what could be loose or grounding out... check over any areas of the car that you or anyone have worked on recently.
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 11:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Stinkee
Aside from the gauges coming and going it almost sounds exactly like when my coolant temp sensor (coolant) broke off when I had my headers installed. It's fairly easy to check as it's right in front (drivers side) of the motor. Mine was actually dangling there not even connected!

GL man
forgot that same exact thing happened to me too.
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 11:34 AM
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shorted battery.

Check all your ground wires too.

Feel behind each head to see if the bolts are loose. I thing one of the passengers side head and 2-3 (depending on year) on the drivers side heads.

.
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 12:05 PM
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Ok kool. Thanks for the help guys. I'll take a look later today when I get off of work. an ignition switch is only $14. I imagine a relay is fairly cheap too. I'll start small and work up. It's just kind of hard to pinpoint since it only happens once every 2 months.
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 06:48 PM
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I think I figured out my problem. The main cable going from my battery to the positive post on the drivers side was rubbing against my crank pulley. I have a procharger so my pulley sticks out further than stock. I was tightening up my tensioner pulley on my j bracket for the procharger and I must of touched that wire with my wrench cuz it sparked. I was like wtf was that. Got to looking around and sure enough it had cut through the wire loom and through the insulation of the wire. Hopefully I fixed my problem. Thanks for the help.
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 09:21 PM
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That would do it... (and probably also turn your car in to a rolling taser!)
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