here is what i need a answer on

65 mustang 289 2 barrel elderbrock carb on it brand new july 17 2010 and has been changed over to electric ign. so has a coil

1 i just bought this car so im trying to get everything work wise
2. heat gauge read 167 degrees
3. volts was at 12.2 (has a big electric fan when unplugged volts are 14.4
4. changed the alternator and the voltage regulator lastnight (peace of mind) for us

tonight took wife and kids for a cruise in it went thru a drive thru and sat in drive thru and car died 2 times just like all electrical went out and the digtial dash and all went out and had a hard time starting it back up like it flooded out or loaded the carb up and made it die

1.would the coil be going out that would cause it to die out and have a hard time starting up when the coil gets warm ect.

2. fuel pump be going out?? looks brand new also but have bought many fuel pumps that are bad right from the get go.


3. or could it be a ground wire loose somewhere?
4. or is there a electric issue, im gonna trace down electric starter switch wires and look under dash, so of the stuff looks rigged maybe from just eyeballing it

 

A few thoughts first. Your temp seems a bit cool, also, 12.2 v with the fan running? That seems like a big load or a weak alternator.

Now, your problem could be a few things. Could it be the coil? Maybe, but I don't think so. Once coils quit because the get hot, they usually have to cool before they'll work again. The fuel pump, I doubt it. They either work or they don't. You could have a bad ground which may cause they low volts with the fan, but I don't think that will cause it to die either.

When it dies, you'll have to look at a few things. Do you have to hold the pedal on the floor for it to start? Look at the carb and see if it looks like gas puddling on the throttle plate. Make sure the choke plate is opening. If that looks ok, then I'd pull the coil wire and see if it is getting spark.

(if the fuel isn't puddling, pump the throttle and make sure it squirts)

 

If you have enough power to crank th engine and restart it after it dies then you don't have a problem with the alternator or battery. You may have a bad ground or broken wire some place. I would think it would be between the switch and the coil but you should test before replacing anything.
With the engine idling wiggle the harness under the dash near the ignition switch and then out under the hood. If it cuts out when you move the harness then it is likely a broken wire that makes contact most of the time.
You can test the fuel pump with a pressure gauge - it should be close to 6 psi.
With older cars rust in the tank is always a possibility and that rust and debris can plug the "filter sock" that is on the end of the pick-up tube inthe tank. As soon as the engine stops the suction holding junk to the sock is gone and the stuff falls back to the bottom of the tank. If your car is equipped with a drain on the fuel tank you can drain 1/2 quart into a glass jar to see if any junk comes out. It will also show if you have water in the fuel or if the gas and alcohol has separated due to moisture. This can cause problems as you describe as well.
Happy hunting!

 

Ummmmm Neither power to the coil nor a fuel supply issue could be causing his problems.

That said, there are a number of places to start looking.

1) If your loosing all power (as indicated in your message) we know its not power to the coil, but power in general. 90% of the time its a bad ground. Check Battery and Engine grounds.

2) Once she shuts down and you "lose all power to electrical" what happens? Turn the key off and on and it turns over??? Only the starter will function, no dash/lights? Wait 5 mins and whamo its all back to life? Stand on the hood and cluck like a chicken and all's well?

3) Does this only happen at idle?

4) Happen often?

You really need to give specifics. Electrical issues are by far the hardest problems to "internet diagnose".

 

k guys i think i found out the problem ( i hope ) i changed some parts some for peace of mind and others looked old and could of been the problem, which all the parts was to be replaced anyways,

i changed the coil, when i pulled it out and looked the center of the coil was all screwed up like someone tried to clean it with a flat blade screw driver to get better connection for coil wire

plugs that i pulled out 3 of the 8 was fuel fouled most likely from lastnight since i was only 4 blocks from my house when it died i put factory motorcraft plugs in it, it had platium ar15 plugs (autolite) whiched looked okay but prolly need changed within the next 10,000 miles in my eyes

changed cap and rotor rotor and cap showed signs of wear prolly from coil being messed up

changed the started soleniod was all rusted (looked bad from my eyes ) i hate seeing rust on anything im just like that wife hates it when i look and just change stuff lol

the only thing im gonna change which from what ive read its prolly still good since they dont go out unless they break is the ballast resistor on the fire wall but then its all been painted black and looks bad

i drove the car all over today and it drove fine after changing the parts over

as for the fan it draws a ton of volts 2.8 to be exact if we unplug it volts are at 14.3

alternator and voltage regulator is brand new i just bought all that wedsday night


the dash panel i have in this is the dokata digital dash which i know it has a ground wire issue because going over a bump it flickers off then back on thats a easy fix i hope lol i know some of the wires are jimmy crimped together which we will be fixing very soon gonna take it in to prolly arizona hot rods or somewhere and have a painless wire harness installed and start fresh with wiring, thru the years im sure there are wires that dont need to be there since some of the stuff has changed and vintage air and heater installed ect.

whats your guys thinking on the ballast resistor going out do they go out or are always good unless they break? just trying to get everything fixed the right way the first time i dont like cutting corners as that has always cost people trouble in the end and cost more money to keep redoing it time after time

i dont have alot of info on this car since i just bought it 3 days ago all i know is the motor was a brand new motor that some monkey dont know how to install gaskets ect since the mains are leaking and pan gasket leaking ect i know it will take several years for us to make it just the way we want it im new to the classic car era but im happy to be part of it tho i can say that we own a peice of american history

 

we was in a drive thru waiting for food for 6 mins when it died, and it was idleing for 6 mins when it died i had to hold pedal to floor to get it going again, which in my years of racing tells me that its a carb issue its running to rich and loaded up and killed motor but that therory kinda went out the window because it lost all electric to dash but had headlights kinda weird but dash does have a ground issue which is a easy fix and me and wife will tear into that in a few weeks

 

have not tried that therory i will have to try that one out, tried to find the fuse panel and couldnt find it on the fire wall it has prolly been junked out and hard wired in i will dig more into the dash in the next few weeks to start looking at all the wires since we are super busy the next month i will slip ou tto the garage a few hours here and there