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Question -
I have a 89 chrysler new yorker, that was running fine until a couple of days ago. I put gas in at some off the wall gas station, the car started shimming when the speed reached 45 mph.After speeding up the shimming would stop.This morning the shimming got worse and the car acted like it wasn't getting enough gas. It then died and would not start up again. I changed the fuel filter and checked the fuel pump was working.
I got it to start up, after which it started spuddering and backfireing which inturn blew black soot out of the tailpipe. it died again and is back to doing the same thing.it has a 3 liter V6. l
AnswerHi Terry,
Did you try to get the fault codes as I described in my first answer? It appears that you are getting some spark but the spark is either not being delivered at the proper time (a spark timing problem), or its a weak spark, or there is a serious fuel mixture issue. Do you have or could you borrow a timing light? And again, please get the fault codes and let me know what they are. And do the spark intensity tests I described.
If the timing appears to be off by a siginificant amount, then it might be the distributor retaining bolt is loose (try turning the body of the distributor by hand to make sure that is not the case) or as an alternative the timing belt has slipped a "tooth" or so which can happen if the belt is wearing out (do you know how many miles it has gove since the belt was changed?) So try to determine the answers to these questions so we can narrow down on the possibilities here. Correcting "no starts" requires doing these tests, or you spend your time and money chasing after imaginary possibilities.
Roland
You might on the outside chance that the problem was with the fuel, call or go back to the gas station and inquire if they have had any complaints from other custormers about the fuel they were selling on the day you were there, and ask whether you might have mistakenly put diesel fuel in the tank (do they sell diesel there, and from which pump, and does the pump have a green plastic shield on the handle?) How much fuel did you buy, and is there enough empty space in the tank now to possibly fill it the rest of the way with known fuel so as to dilute the bad gas, assuming that were the problem? How soon after you put in the gas did the car run badly? If you put in a lot of bad gas, it may be necessary to drain and dispose of it properly, but that would mean getting to a shop which has the ability to recycle the fuel. I'm just surmising now, with no basis for knowing the fuel was bad other than coincidence.
