I have a 1996 Chrysler cirrus
while driving engine lost power so much it will not pull anymore
the engine will not rev anymore than about 300 rpm with full throttle.
engine will still start every time but with no rpm only 300.
after car sets for a while it starts ok and runs like there was never anything wrong. Should I check fuel filter or coil pack? this has happen 2 times this week. the car has 150,000 miles on it 2.5 liter engine.

 

Usually a dirty fuel filter would not let the engine idle smoothly. Your problem beats me, though.

 

First you should check the codes, or have them checked

 

[QUOTE=OKIE2;1226909engine will still start every time but with no rpm only 300.
after car sets for a while it starts ok and runs like there was never anything wrong.[/QUOTE]

Two sentences above are contradictory.

Could you explain more about the details surrounding this? - length of driving needed for this to happen and also if when it occurs it always does it after the same amount of miles or only when engine gets warm/hot, etc.? Need to know all vital information.

Off hand it sounds like it could be fuel pump related, injector or pressure regulator issue, something floating around in gas tank traveling to the pickup and starving out the gas, a collapsing rubber fuel line somewhere starving out the gas, a cannister/vent issue?(if it does this again, go to gas cap and open it and see if you hear a woosh sound of air trying to get in), MAF sensor?, jammed EGR?, something loose in the cat that is periodically blocking off the exhaust.

I can't imagine what electrical spark issue would allow it to run and cause this lack of power other than extreme retarded timing that is so retarded it is on verge of not running. Possibly extreme weak spark due to some shorting condition diverting a lot of coil energy away from wires (maybe you could check under hood at night to make sure no spark is visible around coil/wires)

As suggested, codes, first. It is just fun to try to guess, like in my paragraph above. Others here say Autozone and other auto parts places will do this for free. Also, with this Dodge, do you know if you have that built in feature to learn the code yourself, say by turning on and off the key a given number of times and counting the number of engine light flashes on the dashboard (sort of like a Morse Code thing where you may get like 4 steady flashes, then a pause, then 3 more steady flashes = code #43, so you look up code #43 either in perhaps your owners manual, if they now might list those?, or at least for sure in a Haynes manual has these codes for your car listed in the chapter under Emission controls. You also may have several stored codes so you want to have pen and paper and keep watching the flashes, counting and writing these all down. The codes, to my knowledge are all with just 2 numbers each, like 19, 37, 43, etc.

 

The first time it did it I had drove about 4 miles and without letting the car cool off it started running again ok and I drove it 45 miles and let it set for 4 hours and drove home 45 miles. the second time I drove it 30 miles to store
and back within a mile of my house and it quit again after 1 hout of setting I had to be pushed home 2 hours later it started like nothing was ever wrong with it. yesterday I drove 4 miles to store 3 miles back and had to be pushed home again then after 2 hours it started like nothing was ever wrong again.

 

In your first couple of sentences it sounded like the first time you were able to start the car immediately right back up after this happened? But then on your 2 subsequent trips you had to wait between 1 and 2 hours for the engine to start? Am I right on this?

So your problem goes beyond low idle? Does the engine also up and quit?

When fuel pumps start going out, I know first hand, unfortuantely for me, that you can drive several miles and then the car quits. You let it sit for like 20 minutes and it goes again, and you can continue on your merry way 20 miles no problem. Shut off car at destination. Come back out, car starts right up no problem, then stalls out 3 miles down the road. Stuff like that.

 

hook up a fuel pressure guage and drive it around until it acts up and see if it loses pressure sounds like a fuel pump problem if it loses power and wont go above 3000 rpm.

 

300 rpm
not 3000 rpm
if it looses power it could still be filter not pump

 

That is exactly how it is doing but it don't completly die just low idle

 

Filter? well, if I had your situation and it came down to say replacing the pump, I'd sure try the filter first, that's for sure. Even if one thinks the symptom seems strange. Who knows. Never know for sure if some junk loose in the line, moving about, choking something off, and then not.

Good suggestion about the gauge.

 

Sure sounds like fuel pump. Had one that acted up on hot days, and cooler weather hit & it ran better , until hot weather again. Hooked up an fuel pressure tester,which indicated good pressure at first start up, (pump was cool) then when weather got hot, (so did pump) and while driving a certain distance, it started to die again. Shut it off, jumped out & hooked up pressure gauge, restarted engine, to observe about 15 psi (when 45 psi required) slowly drop to zero & engine stalled out. Made sure I pullled over in a shady place, waited for it to cool, (1/2 hr or so) fired it up made it home. Changed pump next day & trouble was over. Always go the filter route first, just in case, & besides, you'll want a new filter on with new pump anyway.
Be sure to check for trouble codes first, just to be sure. If you have low fuel pressure when it acts up, and filter has been changed, then you've obviously found your problem.
p.s. have heard of hitiing the bottom of the tank with a rubber mallet in emergency situations, just to get home works, but never tried it personally.

 

Thanks guys for the help
I think I will go with the filter first it's only $24.95 opposed to the $188.00 fuel pump.

 

Even if it runs OK after changing the filter be sure to check the fuel pressure because a dirty filter and weak pump can go hand in hand.