Engine just dies, for no reason.

[crushnut]

The last couple days when driving my car it just decides to die on me. This has never happened for, so it has me thinking it has something to do with the snow and rapid change in temp. outside in the last few days. Does this seem a likely cause, if not what else could it be. This has happened twice on me, the first time it was starting off from a stop sign and it just died, and the second time it was slowing down while coming up to a stop sign. The first time i tried to start it back up and it didnt want to, it eventually started back up after about a 1/2 hour, and the second time it started back up within less than a minute.

Any ideas on what may be causing this to happen

Thanks

 

[D.Hearne]

Do you have a tach added on? My 67 fastback did this long ago ( in a galaxie far far away LOL) suddenly without warning. At the time , I was still young and learning to wire 12 volt vehicles ( mostly log trucks and trailers, they tend to eat wiring & lights faster than most) and hadn't really mastered the craft yet. Anyway I had had run the green tach wire thru a convienient hole in the firewall without the benefit of any extra insulation. Well to make a long story short, that wire got the insulation rubbed off and it shorted against the firewall and this killed the motor. Took hours to figure why it died like that.

 

[pabear89]

DH, those are trade secrets that are supposed to be kept
under wraps.

Bet you learned not to forget the rubber grommets after that.

Any ideas on what may be causing this to happen

If you have the old point dist, replace your condenser.

PB

 

[68GEETEE]

have you changed your fuel filter lately?

 

[1970 slantroof]

I have run across a couple of cars that acted that way and fixed it by swapping the coil. If you have a spare, it won't cost anything to try.
Howard

 

[D.Hearne]

DH, those are trade secrets that are supposed to be kept
under wraps.

Bet you learned not to forget the rubber grommets after that.

Any ideas on what may be causing this to happen

If you have the old point dist, replace your condenser.

PB

Hey, I ain't afraid to tell my secrets Thats the most important reason I hang around here. I enjoy sharing what I learned the hard way with my 67 Stang 20 years ago. Still learnin a few things today.

 

[crushnut]

Thanks for your replies,

D.Hearne- I do not have a tach.

pabear89- I no longer have points and condenser, installed a Pertronix unit when i first got it.

68GEETEE- Brand new fuel filter.

1970 slantroof- Changed old coil to a Flamethrower when i did the Pertronix.

Any other ideas?

 

[D.Hearne]

Thanks for your replies,

D.Hearne- I do not have a tach.

pabear89- I no longer have points and condenser, installed a Pertronix unit when i first got it.

68GEETEE- Brand new fuel filter.

1970 slantroof- Changed old coil to a Flamethrower when i did the Pertronix.

Any other ideas?

OK, that rules out those things How bout the radiator cap?

 

[D.Hearne]

OK, sorry Had to lighten things up a bit How about all your wire connections? They tight? Next time it does it, try hot wiring it. Run a direct wire from the battery to the + terminal on the coil. see if that cures it. If so then you may have a bad wire somewhere in the ignition/starting circuit.

 

[crushnut]

I just recently replaced the rad cap also

 

[D.Hearne]

Damn, we're batting a thousand here. Sounds like an electrical problem to me though, could possibly be fuel related though too. Vapor lock?

 

[D.Hearne]

Just be glad, your motor ain't got what the 5.0 in my Ranger's got!!!! Blew a head gasket back in Thanksgiving weekend, replaced the right , then the left. The right side blew out the combustion ring on the gasket between #'s 2-3. But then after replacing it, It developed the old milkshake in the oilpan. Replaced the left side, but still got the same results. Pulled the motor yesterday, stuck in the spare 5.0 tonite.

 

[crushnut]

Damn, we're batting a thousand here. Sounds like an electrical problem to me though, could possibly be fuel related though too. Vapor lock?

Tell me about it I figured it was either electrical or fuel. Although i didnt think that vapor lock was that common in freezing weather, i assumed it was more common in the hot summer months, but i could be all wet about this too

 

[crushnut]

Just be glad, your motor ain't got what the 5.0 in my Ranger's got!!!! Blew a head gasket back in Thanksgiving weekend, replaced the right , then the left. The right side blew out the combustion ring on the gasket between #'s 2-3. But then after replacing it, It developed the old milkshake in the oilpan. Replaced the left side, but still got the same results. Pulled the motor yesterday, stuck in the spare 5.0 tonite.

Thats too bad, sorry to hear that. I know how you feel, ive gotten the old milkshake before too

 

[D.Hearne]

Well the spare 5.0 ain't gonna have 400 horses, but should be a little spunky. It's a 30 over roller 5.0 out of a 93 E150. Bolted on the ported E7's that were on the 5.0 in the Ranger before the Canfields replaced them. The cam is an F4TE high torque, improved by 1.7 Cobra roller rockers. Intake is a Ford A321 and the Holley 650DP. I'm anxious to see how the F4TE roller works , being fed by a carb instead of the EFI the Explorer/Mountaineers have.

 

[crushnut]

Well the spare 5.0 ain't gonna have 400 horses, but should be a little spunky. It's a 30 over roller 5.0 out of a 93 E150. Bolted on the ported E7's that were on the 5.0 in the Ranger before the Canfields replaced them. The cam is an F4TE high torque, improved by 1.7 Cobra roller rockers. Intake is a Ford A321 and the Holley 650DP. I'm anxious to see how the F4TE roller works , being fed by a carb instead of the EFI the Explorer/Mountaineers have.

Sounds sweet

 

[ddonaca351]

This is a real long-shot, but do you run a NON-egr manifold?
The reason I ask is the motor in my dads T would do that sometimes, the carbs would ice up, after a few min of sitting with the heat of the motor rising up past them, they were ok again, for awhile.....
Its a 1 in 1000 but I thought I would throw it out there just in case.

Dave-

 

[BigDaddyCee]

How is your distributor? Check for cracks. I live in a very cold climate Too! The land of ice and snow - Canada. Quite often what will happen is frost will form on everthing in your engine and when it heats up may melt or turn into steam and cause havoc. Perhaps moisture is getting under your distributor cap and screwing things up. Stay away from puddles too. There are products that you can buy to spray under your distributor too dry everthing up. Just can't think of there names off hand? Good Luck.

 

[WORTH]

Guys, your shooting in the dark. can we get a bit more info Crush?

1) is the car warmed up when it stalls, or still cold?

2) where is the temp guage?100,200?

3) when it dies have you pulled the air cleaner and looked at the choke? is it open,closed,partially open?

4) if you look down the carb and pump the gas, does it squirt?

 

[crushnut]

ddonaca351- I have a stock manifold on it.

BigDaddyCee - Dont know for sure how good my distributor is, but it seems to be fine, i just recently changed the dist. cap and it has a tight fit.

WORTH - It does it the most when the engine is warmed up, but it has done it once when it wasnt fully warmed up yet. The temp is approx. 180 or so when it does it, and no i havent pulled the air cleaner to check the choke, so i cant answer that question. Last time i checked when i pumped the gas it did squirt gas out of both jets, but i'll have to check that too when it happens next.

Keep em' coming With your help i will eventually figure it out.