I am a newbie here. I own a 1993 Legacy station wagon with auto tranmission. I have had two strange events where the motor cut off since I bought the car new.

 

In both cases, I was driving at highway speed and hit the accelerator fairly hard. I heard a loud pop that sounded like it came from the engine bay, and the motor shut down. I pulled to the side of the highway, and the motor restarted both times normally.

 

Is this a safety related shut off of some sort, or maybe an rpm limiter at work?

 

SChief

Check your coil pack, if you dont know how get Auto Zone to check it for you. also check around and see if you can find wires loose.

I am a newbie here. I own a 1993 Legacy station wagon with auto tranmission. I have had two strange events where the motor cut off since I bought the car new.

 

In both cases, I was driving at highway speed and hit the accelerator fairly hard. I heard a loud pop that sounded like it came from the engine bay, and the motor shut down. I pulled to the side of the highway, and the motor restarted both times normally.

 

Is this a safety related shut off of some sort, or maybe an rpm limiter at work?

 

SChief

[...]Is this a safety related shut off of some sort, or maybe an rpm limiter at work?

A rev limiter shouldn't shut the engine down, but the car will feel gutless if you hit the limit and don't/can't upshift. There would be nothing "safe" about an engine shutting down the way described (unless the rev limiter wasn't working, and the alternative was something blowing up).