Engine and Electronics Trouble

[bigG]

My car started doing something weird today. When I started it up, it was running ROUGH. I narrowed it down to cylinder 4 (pulled each spark plug wire to see if I could make it worse), but there was also a strange-smelling smoke (not motor oil or anti-freeze). Above 3K it smoothed out, but even flooring it yielded no real power. I changed the fuel filter, but to no avail. Also, maybe I was just being over-sensitive, but my center console around the gearshift seemed warmer than normal.

On my way home, the windows stopped working, and the headlights and seat belt light seemed to dim and brighten intermittently, and the only real power I had was at around 3K, not below or above.

Any ideas? I just posted it for sale yesterday (great time to start having trouble, eh?), and I really need to correct this before anyone calls.
Modified by bigG at 7:12 PM 12/31/2007

[240DrpTop]

Sounds like you might have a bad alternator. You can test it with the car running by putting a voltage meter to the pos and neg terminals of the battery.Voltage should be 14.1-14.7. Make sure you have good clean battery connections. Also could be a bad ground wire.If you dont have a meter, Auto Zone will check it for you for free. By the way, why are you selling it?

[bigG]

I'm the Media Director at Crossroads Church (www.mycrossroads.org) in Lafayette, LA. We're in the process of raising money to build a new 1500-seat auditorium, and, as a department head (and leader) of the church, I wanted to be able to make a substantial gift to the project. Selling my beloved 240 will help me accomplish that.

Otherwise, I'd be holding on to this one for a very long time. I had a 1990 hatchback about 13 years ago, and I've had this one for 2 1/2 years. I absolutely LOVE this car, and I'm amazed at how many people gawk at it as if it were some kind of exotic.

Maybe one day I'll buy another one, but for now...

[bigG]

I just tried to start it to check the voltage, then drive it to my mechanic. I turns like there's plenty of electricity, but it won't fire up. Of course, now it's flooded. Do any of you think it may be a fuel injector problem? PLEASE, any info would be appreciated!

[bigG]

OK, this is a little embarrassing, but I checked the fire from the coil and it was fine, so I checked the fire from each wire, and they were fine. I went to Wal-Mart and got new plugs. Fired up first crank.

I still have an issue with my windows. They're not working, and I even bridged across the fuse with no luck. And yes, the kill switch was off. Anyone have this issue?