FlyRyde

Anyone know what the two wires going to the alternator are for? The ones that have a plug, not the main thick wire that charges the battery. I know the power isn't an issue, because all 4 times the car died, I had the fan on, the radio on, the hazards on, and the engine was cranking perfectly... just not firing up. I drove the grandpa car to work this morning, and when I get home I'll swap the CPS. Then I'll drive around my area where I dont mind sitting for 20 minutes if the car craps out on me. This morning I walked out, and it was sitting sideways into the driveway like I left it. I jumped in, fired it right up no issues, and moved it where it should have been parked. This is the worst kind of problem to have if you're trying to have someone else diagnose the problem.

majik

I had a grounding issue with my alternator. The alt grounds to the engine block, and my engine block wasn't properly grounded to the battery. The battery grounds to the block on the right side of the engine... impossible to see the bolt, but I followed the wire with my hand and could feel it was loose. I got a small ratcher in there and finally got it tight. Because the engine block wasn't properly grounded, the alternator wasn't grounded, thus the battery would only intermittently charge when it just happened to get a decent connection on the loose bolt.

But, that shouldn't cause it to drop dead then start up fine. I would think an alternator related problem would show more signs (cutting out when you hit the brakes, radio and clock dimming, dash lights dimming, then it dies.

No, I don't know what that plug at the bottom is for. HMAservice might have an answer. I do know that it's held in by a screw, so you'll have to get under the car to get the screw out to unplug it.

REDZMAN

Could be lots of things Chris.

1. TPS. If your TPS is bad enough, the signal can flucutate to yoru ECU enough to kill your engine. Happened with mine when it went tits up.

2. CKP (Crank Position Sensor) - If this is loose, your fuel pump stops firing off, and the car dies. Check to see if it's tight first, and then if there are any wiring issues with it, if not, then swap it out. I also had this on the RD2.

3. ECU wiring. On the old RD1 I had, which ABQElantra, Cysco, and now Javageek own, it had a major problem like this. The TOP of the gas pedal arm was hitting the ECU wiring harness and had worn through some wires, shorting them out.

majik

He already tried replacing TPS.

The plug on the alternator is listed as "the generator B+ terminal wire and connector" I think.

Since it's directly related to RPM and Fuel, the CKP sounds like a possible cause.

Testing CKP (Crankshaft Positioning Sensor) - http://hmaservice.com/viewer/content.asp?v...63842%5Eshop%24

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The crankshaft position sensor which consists of a magnet and coil is installed by the flywheel. The voltage signal from this crankshaft position sensor is provided to the ECM for detecting engine RPM and the position of crankshaft.

TROUBLESHOOTING HINTS
a. If unexpected misses are felt during driving or the engine stalls suddenly, shake the crankshaft position sensor harness. If this causes the engine to stall, check for poor contact at the sensor connector.
b. If the tachometer reads 0 rpm when the engine is cranked, check for faulty crankshaft position sensor or ignition system problems.
c. If the tachometer reads 0 rpm when the engine is cranked and it does not start, ignition coil, power TR, or an ECM defect can be considered.
d. Engine can be stalled when the crankshaft position sensor cable is close to the high voltage cable due to the noise caused by the high voltage induced.</div>

REDZMAN

I'd also recommend you test your fuel pump, I put up the procedures for it earlier in the DIY section.

Test it with the jumper wire, if it's firing, then good. Pop off the fuel rail and see if it's making it through the injectors when you crank. if not, pop off fuel pump cover under the rear seat and put your hand on the pump, try cranking it and see if you feel it pumping (should be able to hear it too).

if not, and the pump DID work when you jumped it, your CKP is not sending a signal that the engine is cranking.

Ericy321

Sounds like a crank sensor to me. Especially since other have had it happen intermittently also. Let us know what you find. Its nice haveing more than one of the same car because you can borrow parts. I love having like a HYundai junkyard in my driveway. Even though they arent usually junk.

REDZMAN

The intermittant deal really makes me lean towards wiring. The RD1, this was the problem all along, but when we fixed other issues, it went away so we never looked further.

ABQElantra finally figured it out, so for sure, I'd check out the interior ECU wiring by the pedal arm tops, and the engine bay wiring.

FlyRyde

Wiring is all perfect. TPS was swapped out, but didn't work, and I just pulled the CKP from the black car and installed it on the this one. I've had the car running for about 30 minutes +, and its done fine so far. Granted, I've been driving around my area, which would be pretty easy to push it home down hill, so until I'm actually going somewhere I need to be, it probably wouldn't decide to mess up, lol. I'm going to drive it to a friends house about a mile away, and if I make it there with no issues, that will be the longest its been running in almost a year. I didn't drive it forever, then raped it for parts for my wife's and my cars. I didn't even have the power steering pump on all this time, a radiator, A/C lines or condenser, TB, TPS, or Battery, Header, or exhaust. So this past weekend I put everything I had back on, and borrowed the rest from the black car. I put the black car back together too. So now I only have a handful of parts (thanks Eric!) and I got most it all back on. Why after 90,000 miles plus of working fine would a CKP just decide to die though? That makes me worry this isn't over yet... Its not like the car even started all that time. All I've done is re assemble everything, do an oil flush and change, and drive it for a day. I'll keep an eye out for other issues, but hopefully that damn sensor did the trick. I also noticed the rubber sheild around the temp sensor right next to the CKP wasn't there, so it I took the one off the black car and put it on this one too. I'll fill you guys in later, hopefully NOT after I've pushed the car off the road for the 5th time in two days.