hi, a friend has an el fairmont i6 auto (done 240,000kms) which i service/maintain. problem happens intermitantly, 3 times in last 5 weeks - when driving at around 60kph, the engine revs increase to 2500-3000 (without touching the pedal) when you push on the accellerator there is no power though the revs then drops off to 300-500rpm and basically dies.
pull over and restart the car runs fine again.....

i have changed the plugs, leads, dizzy cap, spacer, rotor and coil, new fuel filter, air filter. reset timing. earths all good.

hasnt actually played up for me when ive taken it out, so its hard to diagnose.

any ideas?
thanks, craig

Hi

When you say the revs increase on its own, does the car get faster?

If it doesn't it might be auto related somehow.

BenJ

i might give them my ex taxi for a few days and see if it plays up for me. they are a bit confused to what it does. i was thinking maybe fuel pump or auto could be getting low on fluid, probably needs a trans service.

limp home mode on the auto, dropping gear back too 3rd??

Does the economy light on dash every flash on/off(This means the auto box is overheating)

no flashing lights etc. doesnt go into limp home mode, has no drive at all (missus saw the owner this arvo). ill take it up for a trans service tomorrow i think

Try swapping the Throttle Positioning Sensor, these are known to fail on the AU's & BA's whilst driving and as you said, there's no power whatsoever until you restart it. Maybe it's the same for the EL's. You don't have to stop to restart, just put the lever into neutral, wait till the taco shows zero revs (almost immediately) and hit the key and it should restart straight away.

I suggest a swap first and if everything goes ok without any problems, then you can buy either a new or second hand TPS, depending on your financial situation. If, on the other hand, the problem still exists, then you haven't outlaid any money on a part that wasn't needed.