Help with engine stalling out of no where

[K.C.90gt]

last night I drove my car to Mickey D's and while I was in the drive thru out of no where my car just died out. My lights and everything stayed on and when I tried to restart it right away it just would crank over and not start. I popped the hood and checked everything out, pushed on the connection to the coil and msd and everything looked fined. So I went back to start it and it started right up. So I leave and its running fine but about a 1/4 mile away it dies again out of no where. Same thing, I tried to start right away but it didnt start, so i waited a minute or two and then tried and it started right up. I drove another 1/2 mile or so fine and then all of the sudden it started to die again except this time it backfired really loud before it died. I pulled into my sub and waited a few minutes, started again running fine, drove a few streets and then again out of no where it started to run really bad and wanting to die so i put it in neutral real quick and it barely stayed running but ran like crap and when I goto put in gear it just starts to die and want to backfire. I waited AGAIN and then tried and it started and ran fine. Well i made it back to my house and left it there. It was late so I didnt look at anything yet but I wanted to know if anyone has ever run into this before, what should I look at first to see whats going wrong? Only thing I can think of that might be doing this is either like the MSD 6AL, superchips chip, or module or something. Oh and I had plenty of fuel pressure so I dont think its anything related to fuel. I will check timing too but I dont see how that could do it because I have the spout out and it locked and it runs fine for a bit then instantly out of no where runs like crap to the point of dying. PLEASE HELP! sorry for long post...

 

[K.C.90gt]

I still have not had time to look at this... No one has any ideas of what it could be? any help is appreciated!

 

[crunchie12268]

Maybe there is too much fuel going to the cylinders, because isn't a backfire 'timing' related? But if it was timing, wouldn't it do it all the time? So that is why I thought maybe you are overloading on fuel somewhere. Or maybe the MSD ignition is getting hot, and shutting down?

 

[jrichker]

Don't get panicy and throw parts at an unknown problem. Stop and think about what happened and what the engine needs to run. You need air, fuel & spark.

If you had fuel pressure, start looking at spark problems.

Here's the link to dump the computer codes with only a jumper wire or paper clip and the check engine light, or test light or voltmeter. I’ve used it for years, and it works great.

See http://www.troublecodes.net/Ford/
OR
See http://www.dalidesign.com/hbook/eectest.html for more descriptive help
OR
See http://www.mustangworks.com/article...c-iv_codes.html

IF your car is an 88 stang, you'll have to use the test lamp or voltmeter method. There is no functional check engine light on the 88's except possibly the Cali Mass Air cars.

Codes have different answers if the engine is running from the answers that it has when the engine isn't running. It helps a lot to know if you had the engine running when you ran the test.

Trouble codes are either 2 digit or 3 digit, there are no cars that use both 2 digit codes and 3 digit codes.

For those who are intimidated by all the wires & connections, see http://www.actron.com/product_detail.php?pid=16153 for what a typical hand scanner looks like. Normal retail price is about $30 or so at Walmart.

This can help eliminate the air metering as a problem. To check for any problems with the MAF, MAP, TPS and other computer related problems, look at the codes & post them.