I have a 91 Acclaim with a 2.5.

Car runs great. Once in a while it acts as if you turned the key off and back on for a split second. You can feel the motor jerk.

Does not do it all the time.

I put a new pick up in the distributor. No help.

TPS maybe? Looking for ideas??

Thanks

i dont know what the problem was but i sold a 92 that did the exact same thing, i had problems with the main electrical connector behind the dash coming loose before. It made the car do some crazy stuff, might wanna check that, i just didn't wanna rip mine apart again, keep me posted in what you find

I have had an acclaim and a spirit and both would randomly shut off like that. I had to clean or replace both of there fuel pump connectors. They would get corroded and the fuel pump would shut off intermediately.

On another car it was the logic controller under the dash, behind the passenger kickpanel.

Good luck. I hate electrical gremlins.

Thanks for the replies.

I will check those things out. It does seem electrical.

I had a 1990 Omni 2.2 that did that. It got progressively worse. It would act like you shut off the key. Sometimes you could turn the key on and off several times, and when you saw the tach needle jump it would fire. Whenever I did a diagnostic on it, it would say that the ac cutout relay was faulty. Which was odd because it never came with ac. Broke my heart to get rid of it because it ran great otherwise.

Check the wiring between the valve cover and t/body. the valve cover has a sharp edge and sometimes cuts the harness. also ck all ground esp one on the head straight up from the starter.near the cam plug.

Update...

Probably jinxing myself but the car has not did this again.

SALEM1912 may have hit it on the head.

I redid a the ground wire he was talking about and it has been good. I may have spoke to soon we will see.

Thank you

Let us know if that was the problem. I had a 91 Daytona 2.5 NON turbo that did the same thing. I replaced the pick-up in the distributor twice while owning it because the car would shut off while driving. This other problem was different though. It was just as if you shut the key off for a split second and then it would come right back. This problem was aggrivated by the fact that the car was a 5-speed. Man that car would buck if it shut off right after a gear change. The computer went out after it started doing that.(lost injector pulse) I thought it would be fixed with the new computer but it still did the same thing.

Try unplugging the engine computer under the hood and body computer beside passenger side kick panel and clean the connectors. I've had a couple where the connectors looked to have gotten oxidized enough to prevent a good connection. Cleaned them good and bent the pins a little so they(pins) would connect very firmly with the wiring connector. That alone can make a world of difference. After that start checking things like the engine/body grounds and like said, fuel pump connector.

Also my buddy's 99 honda accord does the same thing, shuts off while driving - due to a dying ignition switch. Wiggle the key and it fires right back up!

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Whenever I did a diagnostic on it, it would say that the ac cutout relay was faulty. Which was odd because it never came with ac.

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FWIW all non-a/c mopars of that era give the a/c code when you do the check on them. A/C and non-a/c cars used the same wiring harness so that code naturally pops up, nothing to worry about.

Make sure the reluctor trigger under the pickup is still tight I had a 2.5 that drove me nuts for a week and thats what it was JB weld and good to go

I had one that the p/u plate was loose, bought a rebuilt NAPA unit, and it straightened right out. Mine idled rough though.

I'm pretty sure this is somthing different. I had to replace my p/u twice. Once the car wouldn't start...the other time it started to die while driving but I would have to restart it. It wouldn't restart on its own. I also remember putting a different distributor on the car too.

When it shuts off, it is only for a split second and starts right up again on its own. If that happens to you on a stick car...it'll scare the crap out of you it jerks so hard.

So far so good.

Has not happened again.