351W shuts down

[lujandj]

I bought this stang out of state from an used car dealership. When I first test drove the car it was great. It all started on the drive home. The car just shuts down, I ended up having to tow the car 900 miles to make it back to AZ from TX. It turned out the alternator was bad. I replaced the alternator and battery (since it was over 5yrs old). All was well for a couple of days of normal driving. Then one day it just died while going 35 mph. It cranked backup immediately and I was able to drive home without incident. A couple of days go by and no problems. Then yesterday after letting my brother drive it, and he got on it a little, it starting shutting down again. This time about every 3-7 minutes of driving. The car has no problems starting back up; that's what's wierd. It does this while driving or just sitting there idle. Here is the cars config: 95 GT 351W sportsman block AFR 185 heads with spring upgrade 1.6 roller rockers JE forged Pistons Cat 4340 forged rods forged push rods Cat 4340 forged crank 383 stroker kit Cam with 112 degree lobe separation 228/233 @ .050 duration 560/575 lift 9.7:1 compression Canton 7quart oil pan Melling High volume oil pump Oil cooler, fluidyne radiator electric fan SVO 1 5/8 ceramic shorty headers Complete Aeromotive fuel system with sumped tank A1000 pump & Adj regulator, SB lines, Aeromotive fuel lines. TrickFlow upper & lower intakes 50 lb Holley injectors Anderson Ford Power Pipe Vortech V2 S Trim 8 lbs boost (2.95") pulley Pro-m 75mm Mass air meter Mac 70mm TB EGR spacer MSD 6 AL ignition with MSD boost retard, MSD coil Stock Ford distributor with Accel 8.8 wires D&D performance T56 Pro 5.0 shifter with tri-ax handle FRPP aluminum DS Billet Steel flywheel McCloud Dual Disc clutch 373 gears Aluminum upper & lwer control arms SubFrame connectors (welded in) Steeda CC plates BBK lowering springs KYB adjustable shocks & struts Cobra brakes on all fours Bassani X pipe w/hi flo cats Borla cat back Autometer, volt, fuel pressure gauge, VAC/Boost gauge & AFR gauge. Autometer pillar dual gauge pod Saleen Dash Dual gauge Pod Saleen 200 MPH gauges Saleen Pedals Saleen full body kit Saleen S351 wing Saleen Heat extractor hood FR500 Steering wheel Cobra 6sp leather shifter knob 18X9 & 18X10 American racing rebel wheels Nitto NT555 265 35 18 (FR) & 285 35 18 (RR) Things I've noticed before and after this issue happens fuel pressure at 40 psi at idle and increases porportionally with pedal input Vaccum at 10 in Hg doing 35 mph decreases with pedal input water temp at 165 degrees when initial shutdown happens smell of fuel when sitting in garage overnight appears to be real strong from passenger side engine compartment Voltage at 14.5 when engine running (new alternator only 3 days old) Battery Voltage 12 volts static (new battery only 5 days old) Oil level good and clean coolant level good No check eng light on shut down, but I do get check eng light on occassion after driving it a few miles but not shut down (this was prior to the shut down issue starting) and the car appears to be OK 20K on motor 75K on chassis Let me know if you need anymore info, this all I can think of at the moment. When I test drove the car before I bought it, it was fine and damn awesome. Right now it is my worse nightmare...having a unreliable Stang in my garage. I'm new to the 5.X motors, I came off the 4.6 bandwagon. I suspect something in the ignition system. Fuel system appears to be OK when running. It seems to shutdown consistenly at approximately 3-7 mins running cold or hot. Help!!!!!! Thanks. Dave

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[AdderMk2]

take the distributor cap off and look inside the dist. look for small metal shavings.

the PIP and TFI were problems in the 5.0 stangs, and they caused similar issues as what your having

[lujandj]

Thanks I'll take a look at that today, I also read a forum post on MSD's site and the MSD tech suggested replacing the distributor. Thanks. It's a start in the right direction.

Dave

[lujandj]

I also plan on replacing the spark plugs. On this type of setup what do you all think the gapping should be? and what spark plug do you recommend? Iridium or platinum? Brand? Thanks.

[knep]

When my 86 did the same thing it was a bad ignition switch. It was only a $20 part for me so it might be worth checking.

[lujandj]

For $20 bucks, it'll be worth a try. I checked Autozone and they are $19.99 for my application. Thanks.

[AdderMk2]

Originally Posted by lujandj

I also plan on replacing the spark plugs. On this type of setup what do you all think the gapping should be? and what spark plug do you recommend? Iridium or platinum? Brand? Thanks.

NGK or autolite... and dont run iridium OR platnum

[lujandj]

Why not iridium or platiunm? Too hot? or just not worth the extra cash?

[AdderMk2]

Originally Posted by lujandj

Why not iridium or platiunm? Too hot? or just not worth the extra cash?

the ignition system in your car is not designed to run with them, and for the money, will give you lack luster results. Stick to a normal resistor or copper core plug

[lujandj]

Well, I went ahead and ordered a new MSD distributor, coil and wires direct from MSD. I'll be picking up plugs today from Autozone and an ignition switch. I've had this car for 2 weeks now and really want to start driving the thing. MSD is out of El Paso, TX so I should have the stuff by Friday. I'll post the results after I swap out the parts. Wish me luck. Thanks for all the input.