Hi there folks,
My '90 8v digifant is mainly driven by my wife. So I will describe what she has told me over the last couple of weeks and then say what I have experienced today. She has complained about it - on the 6 mile commute to work 'just losing power' then stalling (normally about 5 miles in). Previously we had had a similar thing, which turned out to be the rubber grommet of the breather being broken; so she would pop the hood fiddle with the breather and restart. However I have examined the breather and it is fine, so it would appear that isn't the cause.
Now the oil light has started flashing occasionally, as has the temp light. So today I checked the coolant level (a little under the min) and topped it up. I checked the oil and that was spot on (about two thirds of the way up the hatched part). So we took it for a spin. It started fine (little rattle that goes after it warms up, I believe that is normal) about half a mile down the road it coughed/spluttered/hiccuped - lost power and jumped for 2 seconds; perhaps kangaroo petrol? But after that it seemed fine. Because of the hiccup we went to an Esso station (on the first bar of fuel) and put 35 litres (50 quid thanks) of 97 octane esso supreme in. Again driving round the block she felt fine, in fact with a little more grunt. On one road went through the gears going to about 5.5k rpm and it felt great. Then in stop start London traffic - according to the MFA the oil temp didn't get higher than 100 degrees. The coolant didn't go past half way.
An hour later, the wife jumps in to drive to work and it won't start. Turn the ignition and the battery, temp and oil light flash, after a couple of seconds the temp light goes out but the battery and oil light stay on. (New battery - Silver grade Bosch from Halfords 2 months ago). When you go to start - with or without gas, it starts, low revs (gas pedal has no effect) and then stalls. Stays on a maximum of 3 seconds.
I'm sure I've left important bits out, but that's why I'm here. Any ideas?
Is it ISV, spark plugs, fuel filter, I dunno? It has 100K on the clock, but had a rebuild with new tappets and springs as well as a polish at 85k (3 years ago). Booked for a service and MOT on Wednesday, be nice to get it there without a tow.
