Thread: HELP engine dead!

ok so I had to borrow my gf's 1993 dodge shadow ES with 103,000 miles today because the GP wasnt running and i took it to the movies, left the lights on while in there... came out had to jump it with my friend took a couple of tries to get the engine to turn over .. made it not even a 1/4 of a mile before the tachy started to jump aroun 1k rpm, then died down to 0 and the engine just shut off and just before this happened the oil light came on (car has a couple big oil leaks and has to have oil put into it like once a week) tried to check the dipstick but it was real dark and seemed like there was almost no oil in it so im not sure. does anyone have any idea what coule be wrong with it? i tried jumping it twice more after that and it did the same thing and i made it about a 1/2 mile down the road in total and ended up having to leave it there .. tomorow im gonna go back and try and put some more oil in it and see if that helps ... any advice would be great

Well, this cold weather is really hard on vehicles so it is hard to say, especially since you would seem to have multiple issues. IMHO top it off with 5W-30, and take the battery out and fully charge it. Then go back during the day so it is warmer and you can see. Anyway, I have a feeling your alternator might be going bad. I’d be breaking out a voltmeter if I were you. And if your losing a quart (or more) a week, I’d try to address that soon as well. Assuming it is not to late already.

ok so got it home today but whenever i did anything more than feather the brakes the rpms would die down to 0 and the engine would shut down ... also it idles really rough with the tachy under 1k and bouncing around ... the whole ride it would bounce a bunch too ... also my gf told me that the day before when she would let off the gas it would buck a little checked her parking spot from yesterday at my house too and their was oil on the ground and today right after i parked it i found a couple fist size globs of oil under the car .. could a massive oil leak be causing the tachy to bounce like that though?

no oil wont cause your tach to bounce around, if the engine has no oil it will just stop and thats no good. Almost sounds like a failed mass air flow sensor. should set a dtc. When the maf stops working the car uses the speed density tables for airflow calculation. These tables arent even close to what they should be for stock and are only used when the maf fails. This will cause the tach to bounce up and down alot and in some cases the car will shut off. First see if it has any codes, if its for the maf you can try cleaning it off. use electronic cleaner and Not brake/carburetor cleaner! You will destroy the sensor!!.... if that doesnt work proly have to replace the sensor.

Good luck
Chris