1st issue to deal with on the new to me 97 na 850 wagon. The car runs great for about 10 minutes or 10 miles and then dies. If im driving I can coax it home but it sputters, if idling in the driveway it will just die after about 10 minutes and will start after a few times but die once its put into drive. I cleaned out all the junk in the oil trap, cleaned the iac. codes pulled p0335 but the cam position had been replaced twice in an effort to fix the issue so i dont believe its the problem. after i clear the p0335 and restart, idle for about 10 minutes, die, p0335 comes back. more information:
misfire ready
fuel ready
ccm ready
cat not ready
evap not ready
2air not ready
o2s not ready
h025 not ready
egr not ready

seems to stall when the temp reaches 217 (need to double check that)

 

upon further investigation...dies when ect reaches 218f, starts to die when put in drive ect is at 110f. would a bad ect cause this stalling issue?

 

What ive found. Sequence of events...
Cold start with code reader attached
Monitoring ect
Temp gets up to 210 the fan kicks on and car dies
Sometimes the temp will get up to 204 then decrease to 198 and fluctuate there and everything is ok. Eventually it will hit 210 the fan would come on and car would die. I'm thinking ect sensor and thermostat

 

I'd say that's a good start.

Have you tried unplugging the MAF and seeing how it runs and drives?

 

Unplugging the maf runs crappy then dies.

 

Hm.

Do you know if the cam position sensor was replaced with OEM?

Also, since you have another NA you could switch the ECUs and see what happens. It may narrow down your search...or point directly to a bad ECU.

 

the woman i bought it from said she has had 2 cam sensors put in, because that is the code after the stall. dont know if they were oem, for that matter i can start replacing things from the other 850 till i find what it is. if a cam sensor was bad would we notice it from start up not, 5-10 min into idle or until operating temp is reached? i can try the ecu switch and see if it makes a difference. are those not ready codes normal?

 

It would, if it was engine heat that was causing it to start failing.

Like you say, switching parts from your running car is a free and easy way to diagnose.

I think the "not ready" stuff is just the self-diagnostic on the emissions not being complete. Which may or may not matter depending on whether you have to do emissions testing in your area.

 

If I was laying a bet down. My $$ is on the crankshaft position sensor. (Not the camshaft position sensor) Swap it out with the one from the other car and let me know. I would say it could be a voltage drop, since you stated it happens when the fan kicks on. But after reading your other symptoms, I'm 90% sure it's the the Crankshaft position sensor.

 

Not ready codes are normal.

 

Haha, yeah p0335 is Crankshaft position sensor. I agree with ovlov.

That would explain why changing the cam sensor twice didn't help!

 

Thats too funny. I just figured by his symptoms, that the spark was erratic or interrupted. When I read his first post, I was thinking Coolant temp sensor, or voltage drop from the fan kicking on. But I guess that confirms it. Lets hope it's not a false code. If it does work out for you, get the name of that ladies mechanic that put in the 2 new CPS's, and earmark it as the last place you ever want to take a car.

 

Yup. Because it more than likely wouldn't start at all.

 

Interesting, hmm

 

so far replaced
thermostat
ect
removed throttle body and cleaned, (it was gooey and sticking) replaced and cleaned all firetrap related stuff (completely plugged up)
tried the maf from the 95, this is a 97 and would not run so i put the original one back
changed fuel filter, it was plugged too
after this it did run longer before stalling this time, when it did the fan kicked on and i could hear the fuse box clicking shortly after it died, but things are changing. i feel im getting closer to another nice running 850. The camshaft sensor was replaced, i can tell it looks new. ill try the crankshaft sensor and see what happens.

 

i looked at the crankshaft sensor and it looks brand new, it disconnected the camshaft sensor and would not start at all. i called the previous owner and she verified she replaced the crankshaft sensor twice, my mistake. i let it run up to operating temp once more and found that when the fan kicks on the fuel pump relay clicks a few times and then the car dies. if i let it cool down it starts right back up runs for a while and does the same thing over and over. sounding like a voltage drop as mentioned. how do i troubleshoot that! dont know which way to turn.

 

First swap out your fuel pump relay. And see if that fixes your problem. If not go to auto zone (or whatever your flaps is) and have your battery and alternator tested. If they come back o.k., check the wiring to the crankshaft position sensor. If none of these things fix your symptoms then you might want to try and swap out fans and see if there is a difference in the power surge when it kicks on. My guess is that if all this is done you will find the problem. If not, report back, and I'll throw some more at you.

 

Swapped out fuel pump relay, same. On my way to autozone to test battery and alternator.

 

I checked out the crank position sensor and it had oil on it so I cleaned and replaced it, stalling now before the fan kicks on and sometimes getting 0335 some times not. When the ect temp is 199 or less its ok. I start to stall when the temp gets over 200, but not all the time but eventually will stall.

 

O.K. I think we can conclude, it's more than likely not a fuel problem, nor is it the fan coming under load thats stalling your car. What it really sounds like to me now, is that your crankshaft position sensor is thermally failing. Meaning that when your engine gets hot, the sensor fails. Test the resistance in the sensor when cold (Or take the resistance reading from the good sensor) to come up with a baseline. Then when the car heats up and stalls out. Take the resistance reading again. If your Crank sensor is experiencing thermal failure, then you need to trace down why this is happening. Given the info you have been providing, this now seems to be the most likely scenario. My guess is the previous owner had it replaced, then shortly after it went out again. Had it replaced again and the same thing happened. It could be due to cheap part, or an underlying problem. If the latter is true, I would be hesitant to swap in the good one from the other car. If it is indeed an aftermarket one, go the the junkyard and get a couple of OEM ones to test whether or not it is the quality of the sensor or some other underlying problem.