'96 randomly stalls

[scotty269]

Hey guys. About two weeks ago, my father gave me a used 1996 Q45 as an early xmas present. It's my first car and all that, so I was pretty stoked about it. I was driving it home from the store one night, and it had been running for about half an hour and while decelerating for a red light, the engine cut out. I pushed it into park, and restarted the engine and voila it started right back up. It got around the corner to my house, until I started to pull into my parking spot and it died out again.

I did some google searching to try to figure out the problem and one user on here suggested a loose MAF sensor connection. My dad and I checked out the connections and they seemed to be fine. We drove it around for a week with no problems, until yesterday. I drove down to the train station, and my dad drove it home. It stalled out three times on him.

It has approx 110k miles on it, and was completely checked out by my neighbor (who sold it to us). He is pretty good with cars. He cleaned and replaced a few things after taking it for inspection and had the pros check it out.

We still think it's a problem with the MAF sensor, and we are going to clean it later on.

Are there any other reported problems, or are there any other things we could do? Thanks.

[Kiven422]

Another thing you can diagnose is the fuel pump. That is a common problem with ALL Q45s. Its after 100K miles that they start having issues and usually must be replaced before 150k miles, along with the FPCU.

You may also want to clean the terminals on the MAF, with something thats safe for electronic parts.

[qship96]

My 96Q recently had the exact same issue, a brand new MAF {$450} solved it instantly. Did your check engine lamp come on? if so, read the code and follow procedures to pinpoint the problem.

[maxnix]

Are there any other reported problems, or are there any other things we could do? Thanks.

Basically it's maintain it or start replacing expensive systems when they fail.

Read the articles here posted above as stickies.

Then gradually read the FSM and all previous posts by Q45tech. There have been a couple of lists and a spreadsheet compiled in the posts.

[goody90q45]

Did your check engine lamp come on? if so, read the code and follow procedures to pinpoint the problem.

Most of the time if there's no CEL it's the fuel pump/FPCU. A CEL more often than not will lead to a faulty MAF.

[Q45tech]

Just after 100k or 7 years is when the wear and tear starts showing up.Once you spend a few thousand in parts costs replacing fuel pump, MAF, ac compressor, etc..............you get a lull until the next cycle.

[scotty269]

We've come to the conclusion it's a problem with the MAF. Based upon the conditions, etc, it most likely is NOT the fuel pump.

It only happens when the car has warmed up, and it is able to be restarted immediately. After restarting it, it happens again until it sits for a while.

[NJ 666]

Also, check the IAC valve. I've seen a few go bad on these. Should be around 10 ohms. Sometime they test ok electrically but still won't open the pintle. Adjust the idle up a few hundred rpm and see if that solves it(confirms it).

As far as the MAF is concerned try putting a VERY slight twist in the pins to make better contact. You could also tag the ground wire and run it to the intake to help the signal. Most MAF connector problems were mostly limited to 94s.