1997 965 with 166,000 on the clock.


I was driving with cruise on at 65 mph for about 20 miles, I felt the car hesitate slightly. Looked at the tachometer and saw the RPMs were dropping in sync with the hesitations. Immediately went out of cruise control and headed home on manual. After turning around and going about 60 MPH or so, the RPMs really dropped, maybe 800-1000 and recovered immediately. The engine then recovered and drove home about 20 miles flawlessly. The duration of the event was < 3 minutes.


The car did not throw any codes has preformed with no problems since. The timing belt was changed about 8K miles ago along with the water pump and tensioner. Fuel filter changed last year. Ignition switch three years ago. As far as I can tell all sensors and relays are from the factory.


The PO dealer records showed they brought the car in at 60 K with the same symptoms. They found no problem, no codes and an 11 mile test drive.


Not a clear path to me, but since no codes maybe fuel pump relay, fuel pump, all original? Any thoughts/experiences appreciated.


Thanks,


Fred

 

Hey Fred. My guess would be that you have a MAF going bad. Don't know what else it could be unless you have a fuel pump going bad.

 

Pull the coil packs from the spark-plugs. Check under the packs and boots for cracks, all six of them. If you got cracks in the boots you can get Denso replacement boots for about $ 40 for a set of six. If you packs are cracked, they cost from $ 40 to $ 60 each.

 

Look for a Cam Position error happening. I found that the ignition switch on my 1996 960 had some bad contacts and caused the Cam sensor to act up because the lack of power. Whan I'd wiggle the switch the car would run properly.

 

Thanks for replying. I looked for codes but none got thrown, and of course the car hasn't missed a lick since.

I went through the PO's dealer records, lo and behold it has happened in the past. The dealer reported they could not duplicate the problem. However, I will certainly check the connector for the cam sensor. I did replace the ignition switch a couple of years ago, much easier than a 240. When the ignition switch goes South, it can do really weird things electrically.

Thanks again

Fred