adr3naline

So, last fall I was waiting in line for a car wash (about 20 minutes). My mustang started to sputter, and then it just died. All the cars slowly crept around me as I popped my hood to check it out. I couldn't figure it out, but after a while it started back up and I raced home. I hadn't exprerienced that same problem for a while, so I went back to get it washed. Waited about 10 minutes, and the same thing happened, except this time I was able to pump the gas and it took about 30 seconds to get out of the sputtering... I raced home.

I read up on this and found others that had had the same problem. They're running, everything's fine, then they die... They aren't able to start back up again until the engine has cooled off though, same as mine. Their solution was to replace the ignition system, so I did just that. I got a new Pertronix ignitor, coil, and plug wires, then replaced the plugs. It ran fantastic for a couple days! It started up even in the cold mornings on the first crank!

Today I was driving on the freeway, stop and go traffic, and the car wash experience happened all over again! Luckily I had some momentum so I could pull over to the side. I waited a while for it to cool down, a Cobra, a Camaro, and a Highway Patrol all stopped to see if I needed help... nice huh. Anyway, after it was cool, I cranked, and cranked, and my battery died. I kept cranking because it was starting to fire, it just wasn't maintaining it when I let go.

My wife came out, towed me off the freeway, and we jumped it and it worked fine again. We drove home.

So, I'm horrible with electricity (I'm studying up on it though)... what should I look at? Could it be something else? Fuel/carb related? I just don't know!

Thanks in advance!

groho

Coil breakdown i believe is the term. I recall having that odd prob with my old Torino during the civil war era. The ign coil either over heats or has a degraded winding. The good news, it's an inexpensive fix. Next option would be to double check all your grounds =engine to firewall,battery to block, etc.

fast66

I was thinking perhaps a fuel issue. Vapour lock? A phenolic carby spacer will insulate your carby from heat coming up throught he manifold.
Something like this.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1-PHE...spagenameZWDVW
Cheap, and good to have anyway because it improves air flow.

Gun Jam

It could be fuel/carb or ignition.

You have to make some very simple and basic tests to find the problem children.

based on what we know when your car dies we:
1) pull the boot off the coil and test for spark you can place a wrench next to the top of the coil. does a spark jump from the coil to the wrench...If yes we can rule out ignition for now.
2) is the carb flooding? remove air filter and look into venturies is there a puddle of fuel in there? is fuel leaking onto the intake manfold? if yes then we have stuck floats. You can crank engine with air cleaner off then run up and look into the carb to see if fuel is pouring into the venturies if yes then its flooding. at this point look for fuel filter and not find one. If not flooding then on to 3)
3) Use a screw driver to remove the fuel line from the carb place the fuel line in a cup and crank the engine for for about 3 seconds... there should be a very noticable amount of fuel in the cup. If very little less than an oz or no fuel then we have a fuel delevery problem.

Okay we just tested a bunch of major problems with 3 tools ( a wrench, screw driver, a cup) take these with you.

if everything still checks out then its a slightly harder problem to find.....

happy hunting

-Gun

65Coupester

Since you replaced the ignition, sounds like fuel.

I agree that the phenolic carb spacer will help in general, even if it doesn't solve this particular problem.

TexasAxMan

Be careful with #1, you can get the $hit shocked out of you. Take along a rubber glove or rag or something to insulate you from the wrench, or just use a screwdriver with an insulated handle.

Gun Jam

haha we dont hold onto the wrench its placed on something under the hood. while you watch from the drivers seat by looing under the gap of the hood and the firewall then crank the engine using the key.

"hey hold this right here for a second i gotta test something"

JMD

Some very good advice above!

Intermittentissues are certainly the most difficult problems to diagnose. They can wreak havoc with professional mechanics and do it yourselfers alike.

As stated, you need to be in a position to attempt diagnosis while the car is on the fritz... I say you should carry a Phillips screwdriver, an electrical test light, and a can of starting fluid...

The next time the car quits running these three things should help you to narrow the issue to either the ignition system or the fuel system.

You can use the Phillips screwdriver to check for spark at one of the spark plugs. Remove a plug wire from a plug, insert the screwdriver into the boot and place the metal shaft about 1/4" from a metal Item under the hood, and turn the engine over. (Ok, it would be good to have a helper here... instead you can use a remote starter switch, remember key must be on ..)

If you don't have spark, use your electrical test light to see ifyou have power to the positive side of the coil, (key on)

If either of these tests fail, the problem is in the ignition side.

If the car passes these tests, give it a small squirt of starting fluid on the air filter element and see if the engine fires, with a helper, you should be able to keep the car running by giving it small shots of fluid just before the engine stalls out. Ifyou can do this, look toward fuel as being your issue.

I think that you should follow this procedure or a similar one the next time the car gives you problems. This will help to get you going in the right direction with regard to finding out just what is wrong.

My opinion is that the issue is ignition... but this is just a guess... Some coils will go out even when they are new.. and I have to ask if you removed the resistor from the ignition circuit when you installed the electronic ignition setup.

Stock, your Mustang had two ignition circuits, one that is active only when you crank the engine which supplied a full 12 volts to the coil only when cranking, and a second keyed circuit that supplied reduced voltage (about 8 volts) to the ignition circuit when the key isin the "on" position.

Your new electronic ignition should have a full 12 volts. If the resistor is still in place then you are not getting the required juice.This might explain why the car tries to start until you let the key return to the run position.(When the key is turned to start, ignition is getting 12 volts, when the key returns to run you are getting 8 volts...)

Perhaps you did remove the resistor, but it may be possible that the run circuithas an intermittent issue, thus causing the above described problem but for a different reason.

By the very nature and udder simplicity of the systems in your car Ican say with confidence that the problemwith your car, and the solution for this problem is very simple, we just have to methodically find the problem....

crey

If it quits when it's hot and idling or in slow traffic, I would say it might be vapor lock. Check the routing of your fuel line to make sure it's away from the exhaust pipe or anything else that might be hot. And make sure there aren't any kinks or sharp bends.

Those Highway Patrol and State Trooper guys are pretty helpful when you break down. I had three of them stop to check up on meafter my pickup blew a rear main oil seal while pulling a loaded horse trailer.

JapanGT

Sounds like a fuel/carb issue. This can happen on any car/bike ( happened on my Harley and GSXR1000 ).
Same situation, stop and wait a bit them starts and runs fine. Also happened on one of my oldFords
when I stupidly used some siliconeon the inletpipe to the tank. The fuel melted the silicone and it clogged
the lines an jets in the carb. Would run fine then die, took me a week to work out what had happened.

I think the waiting in a cue or in traffic going slow are the key to your issue. This is when cooling is at it's
weakestso temps can rise. Sounds like a vapor lock as some have suggested. Check lines are awayfrom
heat sources, check the carb and maybe give it a clean especially the jets/bowls. Carb spacer as suggested,
just make sure its not an aluminum type.Also consider adding an electric fan tothe radiator to keep temps down when
in traffic, check the fan belt is not loose etc etc. If that all fails to fix it, sell it to me cheap......................

Jav