1998 S70 GLT with 180K miles. This one's got me stumped, hopefully someone has seen the problem before & has the answer.

The car, when it starts, will run for a very short while, a minute or less, and then the gas pedal has no effect at all. The car drops back to idle and stays at idle no matter what. The gear it's in makes no difference, the tranny mode selector does nothing, even the headlights (yes, I tried that too) don't faze it. When this happens, the oil, charge and shift arrow lights all come on. The dash lights give every appearance of the ignition switch being on without the engine running, except the engine is still running. Turning the ignition off and restarting the car gets it moving again.

The other, most likely related, problem is sometimes it doesn't start. The only way to get it going is to romance the throttle, giving it more gas when the time is exactly right, less when it's wrong, feathering it and then holding it down until the RPMs pick up over 1500. Then it has all it's normal power, until it decides to stall. Or not; nothing is predictable here.

It has new injectors, coil, cap, rotor, wires, plugs, O2 sensors, all vacuum lines, MAF, and a temp sensor.

Anybody seen this before? THANKS!!!

 

Not really but I would have the alternator checked and the battery.

 

I probably should have mentioned the alternator puts out 14.6V, and the engine will crank for minutes at a pop, many pops in a row, without starting. The battery & alternator have been ruled out. Thanks, though! it's people helping people that make this site what it is.

The starting issue involves the engine trying to start, sputtering and running for 2 or 3 seconds at a time before going back to just cranking over. If the stars are in alignment, it will catch and run for more than a few seconds. Then if I feather the throttle just right, it will pick up RPM. Once it hits about 1500 RPM it will continue to run, normally. Both problems are intermittent, making diagnosis that much harder. By the time I get out gauges & meters, and find a helper to turn the key, everything is back to normal. GRRR!!!

 

What brand MAF did you install?

The video is not about the battery or alternator, it's about the cable and connections.

You may want to pull all of your intake tubes and hoses and check them for holes and tears.

 

The MAF is Bosch, as are all the electrical components with the possible exception of the temp sensor. That one came from Pelican, OEM part. The cables and connections are all good, no more than .01V total loss, engine running, with headlights on bright and A/C on high fan. The voltage given is at the battery post, not the terminal, just to eliminate connection issues. As an aside, I always check the alternator output at the wire/cable AND the battery post. That guarantees all the electrons are getting to the battery, not getting lost along the way. Also, you can put your digital VOM across any connection to find the voltage drop across that connection. That will tell you if there's a corrosion problem right there.

I appreciate the input! Every one that chimes in will either eliminate a potential problem, or find the big one. Thanks to all who read this, eventually we'll find it.

 

And now it's for sale. We replaced it with a Jeep! 1998 GLT, 182K miles, decent shape except it dies from time to time. Good engine otherwise ,great trans, near new tires, tan interior. $1000, Amarillo TX