+1 on this. Seen it several times.

 

has nothing to do with it. I replaced the damper this April with an ATI unit. The old damper was in perfect condition.

 

Very mysterious. Have you figured it out yet?

 

Like I posted earlier - it only happened on long mountain road grades when the engine is under consistently high loads. Limping up the same road behind a slow camper (Eisenhower Tunnel from Frisco in CO, for example) did not cause it to happen. That road is 1000 miles from where I live and I have not had a reason or chance to return to the mountains. I really don't know if it is fixed. The car runs like clockwork around here where the longest grade gets me 250 elevation feet.


I have replaced since then:


- fuel filter
- fuel pump
- fuel tank breather valve
- ignition coil
- ignition wires
- spark plugs
- ATE engine damper
- belt, tensioner, pulley
- crank position sensor
- new engine mounts
and many other things that are clearly not related to how well the engine runs. I drive with an Android device attached to the OBD2 port all the time, and since that summer, the car has thrown only one code, and that was a misfire most likely due to bad gas.




It never threw any codes when it exhibited the problem last summer in the mountains, so I am just throwing new parts at the car that seem to make sense and are known to fail after 10 years or 90k miles.






The car runs better than it ever did, but I have no idea how it will climb those mountains until I dare to take it back there.

 

I've got to ask...how often have you used a hose on the engine? The way it reads seems incredulous to me :EEK!:

Not saying you are crazy at all, but it sounds weird to me.

 

once, and the way it reads is not the way it was done. But whatever.


The way I use the hose is more like a spanking motion, not what you may think, like running water and all that. I was just mad at the car and whipped it with the hose in anger. Teach it some obedience and such. None of that disgusting water drizzle, something that would never ever get near an engine even in a rain storm.

 

Ok, I'm getting the exact symptoms with a 2003 R53. Except on this car, the check engine light illuminates briefly - only 5 seconds or less, then goes back off.

I was able to pull two codes when it did it:
P0336 (crankshaft position sensor)
P0341 (camshaft position sensor)



I SERIOUSLY doubt both of these are bad...

This car needed some TLC - it had bad plug wires and dirty plugs as well as a blown head gasket. Those have all been fixed but the power loss problem is still there. It seems to be totally random, but when it happens, it comes in bunches.

Anyone!? Fuel delivery? What tank internals are there other than pump and filter? I replace the pump but it made no difference. I guess I'll replace the filter next...

 

I had a problem like this on an old Honda. After sitting by the side of the road for about 15 minutes it would clear enough to drive, but then plug again if I drove it for a bit. I was chasing things like clogged fuel filters, vapor lock, bad carb, etc. for a while with no luck.

I described the problem to a tech at the dealer and he suggested disconnecting the exhaust one joint at a time starting from the back to see if the problem went away. It turned out the muffler was building up so much back pressure the engine couldn't breathe. Letting the car sit by the side of the road would drop the pressure and allow the engine to run again. This could be mistaken for the problem happening when the engine is hot and letting it cool down.

Check your air filter, cat, or muffler, maybe they need replacing.

 

Closest Dealer is in Sacramento 5 hrs from Bishop. Could be Altitude and heat Bishop is 4500 ft, 100f make for thin air ask any Pilot. Maybe not getting enough O2 Just a thought.

Tom

 

UPDATE: After a year of arguing with the local dealership, they agreed to replace my fuel pump as I've requested several times. And... she runs beautifully again. A faulty pump will not trip a code... it's only detectible if their equipment is connected when the pump is acting up. Or, they could act like mechanics and figure it out or listen to their customers from time to time.