This issue used to occur every once in a blue moon after I'd go out and start the car if it's been sitting in the sun for a few hours. The issue would resolve itself just by simply restarting the car, however, today it happened in the middle of a drive.
While driving, I noticed my tachometer jumping around and becoming "sticky" before quitting all together (within a span of a couple seconds) as if it was no longer receiving a signal. Immediately, the car had no power during acceleration and would stumble when given gas. I shut the car down and attempted to start it up again. Normally the tach would reset itself with the key in the "on" position, but this time it would not wake up, even after several on and off attempts and bumping the binnacle. I also observed that I wasn't getting an oil or battery light in the "on" position. My alt gauge was also bizarrely low. I had no issue restarting the car. It would run fine at idle, but it would not take any acceleration,
Another strange observation: When I turned my headlights on, there'd be a loud and repetitive "clunk" from the engine bay. I was not able to pin-point it exact, but it sounded like it was coming from the ignition distributor or thereabout.
After several attempts of key "on and off" and messing with the ignition ECU connector, and touching other various connectors, the tach went back to normal. The "clunking" noise with the headlights on in the engine bay also disappeared. Now I have no idea what that was all about and I can't reproduce it.
Everything ignition related on my car is stock, except for the alternator.
Any ideas?
Thanks!