I took it out earlier to do some quick repairs to some of the underbonnet badges, and while I was at it I reseated the connector for the air sensor on the air box. All was well and she seemed to be running fine.

Until now. Just went to move them around and the engine was running terribly, coughing and spluttering and eventually stalling. I thought maybe the sensor cable was loose or corroded so I unplugged it, cleaned it and reconnected. STILL no go.

I noticed the smell of petrol is very strong, it's running very rich and so I haven't had it running for long as to prevent any damage. Now, some things to consider:

- The engine was started at least once with the sensor off, only for a short time most likely a few seconds, by accident.
- The plug was disconnected about 3 times, and started numerous times after, but not after it was reconnected the last time.
- The engine is in otherwise working condition.
- It does it when parked but 90% worse when in drive, as if the revs are way too low.

Any ideas? I've got a feeling it's computer/ECU related in regards to mixtures, so i've disconnected the battery overnight and will work on it again tomorrow. I figured i'd get an opinion anyway, sounds like something simple and most likely incredibly obvious, but in the tired state I am I just haven't worked it out yet.

ECU reset did nothing, for the record. Car seems to run fine when my foot is on the accelerator, classic symptoms of a faulty ISC?

EDIT: Sorry guys, my most pointless post ever, but it's fixed. Took off the intakes and cleaned it all out, cleaned the points of ISC, TPS and air sensors (I think this was the key) and refitted it all. Idles and runs perfectly, better than before even due to no longer having 15 years of lime green corrosion. Will run some injector cleaner through it to top it all off. :)

Will post back if anything else comes up, hopefully it should be alright now though.

Cheers

Not a pointless post. It's a good example how important maintaining your electrical connections is. Glad you got a good result.

I think I'll clean all my connections this weekend.

Ah, true. I can only say that spending 5-10 minutes cleaning your electrical contacts now can save you a lot of frustration later on.

Pointless as in "worked it out myself", but useful in reference.

Just keeping an update, it's been 3 days since that incident but after a good run the motor is running noticeably better and response seems to have improved. Now that isn't bad at all considering it hasn't been serviced in a year and is still running mostly factory parts. lol