Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

For the very first time that i can think of, one of these cars left me stranded. I've blow transmissions, serpentine belts, tires, hoses and even a wheel bearing. Each time i was able to fix it on the side of the road or milk it to an auto parts store.

Today i broke down on the interstate 45 mins from home. Car just shut off, dash and radio stayed on, but the engine shut off like you flipped the key off. I had spark at the coil and a good battery.

I tried pulling the fuel filter line off to make sure i had some pressure, that's all i could think to do with no tools on hand. Popped the distributor cap off to make sure it spun, then i ran the battery dead with the multiple attempted starts and leaving the flashers on during the tow home.

I was not able to pull the driveshaft. Im hoping the aod is still good, if not i still have my t-5 that could go in.

I through the battery on the charger for an hour and ran down to my storage unit and grabbed my new distributor and tfi off my new motor I've had stored forever.

Got home and battery was only up to 11v's, i threw it in anyway. Tried to run codes but of course only got 11's with the cleared memory. Started running through the efi no start thread and left the ignition on for too long. By the time i thought to use starting fluid it would barely turn over.

Battery is on the charger, gonna sit overnight and get around to playing with wires. So far i am fairly certain i have spark, but couldn't finish the testing with too low of a battery.

If it is the tfi, this will be the first time in 12 years I've had one fail on me. Good times.

I've always kept a good spare dist with module in my Bird, luckily I've never needed it...  Of course didn't help when the 1½ year Carter FP failed over 90 mi from home, only time I had to have it dragged home... Made it home twice with blown head gasket...First time it was pushing coolant into the recovery bottle, babied it 25 mi without it running hot(that was gonna just about it though, radiator was all but dry)... Second time it blew between cylinders with no coolant loss, came home almost 50 mi with no issue... Once had to fix a tranny cooling line that let go at drag strip on end of run(I'd won)... Was g on exhaust making huge cloud of smoke, everyone thought I'd blown it up, was back for next round... Would have been the perfect story if I'd won the night, wound up loosing in final round... Still not a bad night...

I also keep a spare module mounted on the heat sink for my F-150, those rarely fail but at almost 20 years old could happen any day... Cool thing with those is all you have to do is plug it in and go, isn't necessary to mount heat sink...

Look into the TFI and fuel pressure. Most everything else can be quickly ruled out with 12+.

If nothing else pans out, how's the ignition switch?

Sounds like the TFI....

I had one die in my 92 Topaz 2 blocks from a part store.  Walked up the street, bought a new one, and swapped it out right on the side of the road.  Even with the walk I was done in about 25 minutes...  THat reminds me, I cleaned out the car over the winter.....Gotta throw the spare TFI back in the glove box....

does sound like the TFI, had almost exactly the same thing happen to me about 6-7 years ago in my 85 cougar

The heat kills them.

Well, i did something stupid i started thinking about how its the heat that kills them, and how the car would sometimes stumble and shut off on a warm restart, so i decided i was just going to swap the dist with my other new one. Swapped it in, pulled the battery off of the charger sure it was just gonna fire up, and nothing. So i got some starting fluid, still nothing. Sat through and ran every test short of the resistance test for the tfi and module, and it passes every spark test.

I have not done any of the fuel tests, but i figure it should fire up with starting fluid of its fuel related.

Car passes every test on spark, ran it twice.

I am wondering if my timing skipped a tooth or not. It would explain why it was running not so well, and it could make the car shut off if it did. Car has 316k miles. When i replaced the timing chain gasket on my old 87, i could almost touch the chain together between the gears, and that was at only 180k miles.

You mentioned this just a couple days ago, maybe ought not make thoughts like that public??? Appears to have bitten you...

Assuming you haven't moved the dist, easy enough to bring it up to TDC and see where the rotor is pointing... If you have, you probably know the approximate position of dist, put it back and check as above... If you've already pulled it, well you're SOL, though you can check to see if valves on #1 are closed at approx 90* before TDC and remain so for another 90 ATDC... If there is a valve open at/near TDC that's your problem...

Its been running a bit rough on a warm start for about 6 months now id say. I never bothered with it because i had just repaired a vac line and assumed it just needed an idle reset. Freeway speeds it cruises fine and gets between 25-27mpg, plus about 10% because of my over sized tires and the car thinking it is driving slower then it really is. At the time i was driving 50+ miles each way to work, working 8-16 hr days, then driving straight home, so a warm idle problem really didn't effect me unless i hit the drive thru and shut the car off.

Driving a 30 year old $500 car, you operate on a law of averages, and sooner or later it catches up with you.

Playing with starting fluid, i got it to run for a second or two, and then a back fire through the throttle body. Looks like i am looking at a gas issue. Dist was loose from me playing with the spark trouble shooting, so i am not worried about the backfire. I have a fuel pressure tester, but oddly, this car has no shaider valve for testing. I am gonna see if i can rig something up at the fuel filter to see if it gets any real pressure built up before and after the filter.if it doesn't i will drop the gas tank and cross my fingers that it might be the 3" piece of hose by the fuel pump.

Either way, progress. After i got it to run for a second, i ran it dead trying to start it, so battery will go back on the charger. I will probably run my jump box under the hood and start trouble shooting fuel pump wiring and priming just in case.

I can hear the fuel pump relay, but not the pump itself.

Yup, hooked up the gauge to the fuel filter, when i un did the line almost no fuel came out, hooked the gauge up anyways to the output, turned the key over a few times, gauge never even moved. Unplugged the rear of the filter gives me a bit more flow, but still zero pressure. Gonna go find a 86 evmt and see if i can locate the inertia switch (not on the tail light panel in the trunk like my 87 was) and check wiring for the relay. I am sure i can hear the relay pop open, but no fuel pump. .

I found and tested the inertia switch, and all seems to be good with it. I tried jumping the pump by removing the relay and jumping it from power to the pump and i still don't get any fuel or a pump sound. The relay clicks fine.

Pretty much i think i am gonna try to get the car inside the garage and start working on dropping the tank. Once the tank is out i can test the pump with 12v's and see if it even works, verify power to the pump, then probably a fuel pump.

Im betting fuel pump.  Its the only time mine left me stranded also.

You still rocking a Topaz ??????

We will find out tomorrow.i had to wait till my dad to come by and help e push the car up the driveway. Its really steep. I managed to push the car all the way to the top of my street and got it rolling down hill as quick as i could run, jumped in the car and only got the back tires to the sidewalk.

My dad was sure we could get it moving faster and the result was about the same. Ended up sticking a tire against the bumper and pushing it in with my dads 91 460 econoline. I am terrified of that thing pushing against my car. When i pulled my front end radiator support out on my thundercat. I locked my tires and we wrapped the tow rope around the radiator support and it just drug my car around at idle. I actually ended up tying my car to another car to get it to stay in place well enough to pull the radiator support out, and we pulled it too far. Then i ended up beating it back in with a hammer.

Its the fuel pump. With 12v applied directly it doesn't even make noise.

Great trouble-shooting story.  I was reading with great interest.  I'm glad you found your issue.  Did you really say 318K miles on that car?  Holy cow.

316ish, yes. Another guy on here has me beat at 328 or so i think,but ill probably catch up quick ;).

Just got the fuel pump, nobody had it in stock, i ended up at 5 different stores two counties over. Really with i would have just dropped the extra $25 and got the mustang one that was in stock.

Hoping to have it running and maybe even all put back together tonight.

No dice.i got the new pump wired it all up, and the strainer they sold me for it doesn't work, and neither does the stock one.i am going to return the pump. It came with no hardware and does not fit in the stock rubber thingy.

Autozone has one for the same price that comes with everything including a strainer,but the website doesn't show availability and special order in store only on the website. Driving 45 miles each way for a pump that doesn't fit has gotten me a bit pissed off. Even the hose that did come with the pump didn't fit the nipple of the pump outlet.

Ill see if i can get someone on the phone tomorrow and see if they have any in stock, even if its the slightly more expensive mustang one. If they have anything that will work and comes with a strainer, then ill go that route.

The only strainer available through orileys doesn't fit, and i don't want to pre pay or wait 2-3 days to test fit. I am really sick of not having a ride and really want it done tomorrow so i can drive my own car Monday.

I believe every pump I've replaced(like half dozen), in Turbo Coupes were using kits for Mustang... The supplied "S" hose(or was it L ?) didn't fit from pump to hanger but otherwise everything was perfect...  Later kits require splicing the connector as they no longer use individual spade connectors...

I did pull one pump that was a Bosch and larger in diameter, but that was from a '87 5.0... Also that one used a "pinky" size strainer vs the thumb size Stang/TC pump...

Yep,id be fine with it if i could match a pump with a strainer.the strainer they sold me was supposed to be for the new pump, and it doesn't fit the old one, or the new one.

Im basically gonna try to return this one to get one that comes with the rubber hanger (the new pump is half the size of the old pump and not offset at all, so the pump doesn't sit flush and can move around) and a strainer. I had to drive 45 miles each way to get this pump, and i bought the only strainer also in stock.

I had a rash of dead fuel pumps around here too. I just did the fuel pump on my turbo dodge van last week. One thing I like about the dodge pump, it has a small reservoir inline between the pump and the top plate. I think this would be a good addition to our pumps to help with starvation on hard cornering.

I believe the pump that died was stock. I had 4" of thick heavy dirt on top of the gas tank.the clamps hangar and walbro pump all had ford stamping and said made in germany.

The car would some times crank a bit before it would catch and now it fires instantly with the key. I ended up getting a random fuel strainer that fit. They let me behind the counter and try every one they had in stock till i got one that fit.

Overall i am happy. Im glad i didn't lose patience or really rush anything.it took me 4 hours to get one of the strap bolts off. I also spent quite a bit of time actually getting the completely full gas tank back on top of the jack and lined up. I figured i spilled at least a gallon, but when i filled up after driving 60 miles it only took 7 gallons and i probably had atleast 50 miles on it before it went out.

Timing is off a bit. I am gonna go visit a buddy tomorrow to borrow his timing light and set it properly. It pulls okay high rpm's but is a bit soggy down low.

Next time i might just cut an access slot. When we did my buddies tbird we had it done start to finish in 2 hours, dropped the tank at least 3 times and had a bad replacement pump and had to switch it out.

Combined with my trouble shooting, the tow and chasing down parts, and of course the actual work, i am probably in this fuel pump and near 30 hours. My t-5 swap only took 40, and i had no idea what i was doing and spent quite a bit of time on parts and research.

I am worn out, but extremely happy to had a car again. Thanks to all those that let me vent my frustrations. It really helped motivate me to stick with it and finish.

NICE!!! It's always good to solve a problem. I can fix about anything, it's the diagnosing that kills me so often.

Guess what? I never made it to my buddies house. The bottom end wasn't soft from timing. As i was coasting down a hill on the highway, the car started pinging and backfiring like crazy. I cut the engine and coasted off the highway into a gravel spot next to the exit. Still had some tools and the fuel pressure sensor. Undid the fuel filter and nothing came out.

Dropped the tank, tested the pump directly and it was putting out 15 psi with the pump jumped to the run position, intermittently.
Bummed a ride downtown for 5 gallons of gas, returned the pump for cash, walked 4 miles with my empty gas can to a pepboys.

They just so happend to have a $40 fuel pump. Bought it with a new strainer, by now my dad was off work and picked me up. A single priming of the key gave me 55psi and burst the hose on the fuel pressure tester.

Swapped it in the gravel and broken glass next to the only freshwater swamp in Utah, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Plus side is i had all the tools and everything i needed and it only took me an hour this time, minus the 8 hours to get the pump and a ride back to the car.

Buttoned everything up right as it got dark, went to hop on the freeway and the car had so much more power it wasn't even funny. Timing is still kinda off.

My next paycheck is going to buy a brand new walbro tin snips and sheet metal screws. I am NOT going to drop this tank again. There also isn't a single fuel pump in the state of Utah to replace this one according to advanced auto parts, orileys, autozone napa or pepboys.

I was so pissed off i couldn't even see straight when the pump died.

Once you make the "door" for the fuel pump, you'll never need to replace it again....

Murphy's shaged Law for you.