I have had this car for 6 years car has 57k miles, replaced the tensioners and timing chain water pump and thermostat housing right after I bought it based on the help from this group. I have only put 3500 miles in 6 years so yes the car sit's a lot.

Last week I let a friend take it home since the weather got too cold for him to ride his motorcycle home. The car had not run for about 2 months but was connected to battery charger the whole time. He drove the car home 50 miles with no problem, the next morning when he started it it ran fine until it warmed up then it would die at at idle. The gas gauge showed 1/4 tank so he put about 6 gallons of premium fuel and started back to my place and the car would want to die every time he took his foot off the pedal. When the car would die he had wait about 3 minutes before it would start again.

We scanned the car, key on engine off cold, throttle position sensor read from 5 to 100 but there was a TPS and some misfire codes thrown. after starting and warming up for a few minutes the TPS stopped reading and the engine died but no codes thrown. The throttle body was removed and inspected electrical connections cleaned and checked. After reassembly the car would start but die in about 30 seconds. Rechecking the TPS engine off the TPS went to 100% and stayed there no matter where the pedal was. At this point the car won't run long enough to throw any codes. Not sure what to do next, I sure hope you all can help.

The scanner used is a Autel maxi diag elite

 

You say the battery is charged but is it GOOD? Did you load test it after charge?
Being a 97 your issues could pointing to a ECM issue.
One you get this sorted out DRIVER IT. Many here will agree that letting these sit is NOT a good thing.

 

When I had my 97 I had TB issues, we put on two diff known good used ones, would never run worth a ****. So after reading here that it may be the ECM I told my shop to stop changing out the TB's and get my old one back. I sent the ECM to ASI and they benched tested it and it failed. They fixed it for like 250 I seen to recall, got it back plugged it in with my orig TB back on the car and had run fine since (I know the current owner).

 

Thanks brgjag that makes sense.

 

The battery is 6 months old always been on a battery tender I agree I need to drive it more.

 

Is there any thing to check or just go for the ECM? Is a junk yard ECM worth trying?

 

If you find a junk yard ECM with matching numbers, it would still probably be necessary to configure the other modules to it.

ASI charges about $55 for testing and if it does need repair it will still be cheaper than a used one, which may also need repair since it's a common problem on early models.

 

I'd go ahead and fix it. When the ECM starts going it can make the car do more silly **** then what yours is. 3600 miles in 6 years. Dude DRIVE IT. We all will be dead before these cars are worth anything, ha ha h

 

Ok I got it. Thanks for your help.

 

Thank you all very much. I had the ECM rebuilt by Foreign Auto Computer, in Big Sandy, TX for $250 with 5yr warranty, and the car runs better than ever.


When I searched for places that repair these, I found prices from $550 to $160. I went with these guys since they were just 150 miles away.

Such a great group this is.

 

Charlie, you're doing even less mileage than I do! Glad you got her sorted.

Mike