97 TA is acting funny.

[bigred97]

A little background on the problem. This car has 66K miles on it and the optispark was replaced along with the water pump about 30K miles ago. I never drive this car in the rain unless I get caught in a surprise storm. This happened about 3 weeks ago.

I got caught in a torrential downpour and the car started acting funny (service engine light flashing and hard idle) a few minutes before I got it home. It drove home without a problem and I pulled it in the garage and left it sitting for the last 3 weeks.

I got it out and drove it Saturday. It started right up without a problem and I took it to get gas. I put in 91 octane, like usual, and drove it down the road. All of a sudden it dies and coasts to a stop. I tried to get it to start, but it wouldn't turn over. Finally I get it running for a few seconds, but it sounds awful, then it died again. I pulled out my 5/16 wrench and removed the positive battery cable for about 10 minutes to reset the SES light. I also removed the gas cap and a lot of air hissed out, and then I put it back on, just in case. After I re-attached the cable the car started right up and I headed back towards home. After about 400 ft. the car died again. I let it sit a couple minutes and it started again and ran for a couple seconds then turned off. It did this three or four times then it started and ran for a couple of minutes and I started to drive towards home again. Once again it ran for a few hundred feet and died.

I called for a tow truck and after 45 min, the tow truck arrived. During that time I was for the tow truck I got the car started several times and each time the car ran for a longer period of time before shutting off. By the time the tow truck arrived I was able to start the car without any problems and run it without it shutting off. I had the car towed anyway, but I've been running the car without any problems since Saturday and I even took it for a short drive today without incident.

What do you experts think the problem could have been? I was wondering if the optispark could have gotten wet and was still damp after three weeks. Sorry this was long, but I wanted to give as much info as possible. Any help would be appreciated.

1997 TA A4: Hooker Catback, SLP CAI, Descreened MAF, TB bypass, JBA headers, Borla Y-pipe, 02 sims, SLP 2800 stall, MAC subframes, and a few other things.

[paxton350]

same problem

im having a quite similar problem. on thurs i was driving home and at about 40mph the car suddenly died. it would crank but not turn over. the car sat for about 4 hours then it turned right over no problem but then died about 15 min later. next mornin i checked it out after it died i drove it around my block and it died but then coasted into my drivewy niceley. i immediately did a spark check. i got no spark from the coil. i replaced coil but it died again after running it. then the ignition module. then it died again. i was getting so frustrated. i decided to have my buddies friend who has a shop just take a look at it where it currently is. you sound like you have a similar problem. does your check engine light come on when it dies? my check gages light comes on. im certian its a spark issue. im not sure if its the optispark or the msd ignition box i have. but if the optispark was gone wouldnt the car not turn at all?

-chris

[Dave M]

get the codes scanned to see what the computer is telling you the problem is. The optispark could have some condensation on the optical part after three week and running it ended up drying it out. But you won't know until you get the codes scanned.

[paxton350]

yea its at my buddies shop right now, theyre tryin to figure out what it is because im clueless, it has no spark so its obviously an ignition problem. id hate to think that the optispark needs to be replaced since the previous owner replaced it about 2 years ago with a delco.

-chris