car left me stranded today May 28, 2015, 12:49:57 AM 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. Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #1 – May 28, 2015, 06:03:07 AM 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... Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #2 – May 28, 2015, 08:36:34 AM 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? Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #3 – May 28, 2015, 12:35:22 PM 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.... Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #4 – May 28, 2015, 01:26:24 PM does sound like the TFI, had almost exactly the same thing happen to me about 6-7 years ago in my 85 cougar Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #6 – May 28, 2015, 02:35:38 PM 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. Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #7 – May 28, 2015, 02:47:28 PM 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. Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #8 – May 28, 2015, 03:28:19 PM Quote from: Haystack;448399Car 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... Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #9 – May 28, 2015, 04:11:02 PM 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. Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #10 – May 28, 2015, 04:26:46 PM 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. Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #11 – May 28, 2015, 05:34:00 PM 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. . Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #12 – May 28, 2015, 09:31:37 PM 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. Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #13 – May 29, 2015, 10:11:47 PM Im betting fuel pump. Its the only time mine left me stranded also. Quote Selected
car left me stranded today Reply #14 – May 29, 2015, 10:13:13 PM Quote from: V8Demon;448387I had one die in my 92 Topaz You still rocking a Topaz ?????? Quote Selected
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