About 3 years ago my 97 concorde lxi began having an issue where it would sputter after it ran for a while and warmed up. I would pop the gas pedal to the floor real quick and the check engine light would come on, the engine would stop sputtering and drive normal. Except for the fact that I could no longer go over 3K rpm. From what I read it's some sort of fail safe mode that is intended to keep you from damaging the engine any worse. Once that condition is set the car would run fine albeit below 3K rpm. I did receive a code indicating a camshaft position sensor error. The sensor was replaced with an OEM part however the condition still existed. The only other clue at the time was that it seemed to happen when the car got to a certain operating temp. So when I drove it to work it would do it on the way, then if I shut it off for a few hours and cranked it again before it completely cooled down then it would happen again only earlier than before.

Fast forward 3 years. Now the issue has gotten worse. It no longer does the same issue from before. Now I'm having trouble getting it to start at all. It will turn over for at least 30 seconds in the morning before seeming to catch spark and crank. Once it does I'm immediately in the same fail safe mode and can't go over 3k rpm. Depending on how long I drive it determines how hard it is to crank again once I stop somewhere. If I go on a long drive for say an hour or so then it is very difficult to get it to start again and requires feathering the gas pedal (maybe that's just what makes me feel like it's helping). Currently the codes I get are the same P0340 I always got but now I'm getting in addition a P0352 for ignition coil B malfunction, P0354 for coil D, P0356 for coil F and P1391 for manufacturer control ignition system or misfire. Also, my oil pressure indicator is lighting up after a long drive almost in harmony with the engine sputtering if I'm just sitting at a traffic light or a drive thru window. Lastly, it seems to be running a little warm as the temp gauge sits a little over halfway once I've traveled about an hour and sit in traffic. If I start driving again it goes back down.

I can't really give any other clues except that the problems began the day I had a mechanic replace the left inner tie rod end 3 years ago. At first I thought they might have done something to try and get some repeat business out of me but couldn't find anything that might have just been disconnected or snipped and I didn't have time to go back so I just lived with it. But the new problem of not wanting to start is more troublesome and can't be avoided. What can I look at to start with? I can't imagine 3 coils going bad at the same time the issue of the car going into that fail over mode goes away. I really feel like there is some other electrical issue at work that would be over all those. If it was mechanical then I'd think it would happen the entire time the engine is running but that's not the case. If you leave it in park I can rev the engine up to 3k rpm without any hesitation.

 

No ideas? I think I might just get a new car....lol

 

Ok, I ended up having a mechanic look at the car because of an unrelated issue with the tie rods. They hooked it up to the computer and did some troubleshooting. They said that because of a large amount of oil seepage getting past one of the seals that the engine has been coated in enough oil for long enough that it's seeped into several of the sensors and deteriorated the wiring. They said that this is causing a short in the ASD relay and the sensors like the camshaft and crankshaft position sensors which in turn shorted out the computer. Basically the car is not getting the signal to start. The first thing he said to me on the phone when he called is that "I might want to let this car go". Changing the computer would start at $600 and that's only if they can get the wiring and connectors for that car considering it's 15 years old.

Does that sound plausible to you guys? I can verify a large amount of oil on the engine. But maybe I could just clean the connectors and fix the leak? I'm not sure at this point what the best direction to go is. I don't mind working on cars when I know what to replace but I'm not a troubleshooter by any means and I'm on the road so much I really have to drive something reliable. I"m starting to feel like the mechanic is right and I've gotten my money's worth out of this vehicle.