For days I've been so confused about this situation with my Mustang. One day I tried to start my car and it didn't start. I opened the hood and the first thing I did was look around to make sure everything was intact. I tried again, and nothing. For the hell of it, I pushed in the Ignition cable tighter into the ignition coil because why not. It wasn't loose, I was just doing things. Well it started. I was shocked. From then on the car ran normally. But then yesterday when I started my car, I let it idle for 5 minutes and then it cut out. I tried starting it and it ran for 1 second before it cut out again. I tried again and I pumped the gas and then it stayed running and idled normally and never cut out. Today I tried to start it and it didn't start. I tried the same thing again where I push in the ignition cable and It started. Im very confused on whats wrong. Is my Ignition coil going bad? Is my Ignition cable/ spark plug wires bad? I'd like to fix this so I'm not worried of breaking down on the road.
Weird Situation With My 95 5.0
- Thread starter Snazzysaucedude
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If the spark plug wires are of unknown age replace them, may be a good idea to start with a full tuneup
jozsefsz
15 Year Member
Do the cap & rotor too while you're at it. It might be that the springy button atop the rotor isn't making good contact with the cap any longer. Pushing down on the cap might be allowing it to work.
I think you figured it out. Willing to bet if you cut the boot off that cable the contactor is corroded from arcing, and that's your problem.
Kurt
Kurt
I just ordered a new MSD Ignition coil, MSD Cap and rotor along with new ford performance spark plug wires and oem motorcraft copper spark plugs. I did notice the cap is all corroded on the contacts, and the wires themselves look corroded on the metal contact plate. The ignition coil looks pretty stock so I bought that new one because might as well. Hopefully when I replace all the parts my car will be back to normal 
Dan_Soprano
Mod Dude
These cars are getting old, so It's good practice to check / clean / replace contacts, as well as verifying all grounds are good.
jozsefsz
15 Year Member
I hope it all works out for you. In my experience, MSD parts suck. If you get rough-running, cross-firing, misfiring, etc., suspect the MSD. An easy test is to put your hand on top of the distributor while the car is running, with all wires attached. If you get a nasty shock, it's MSD. :-( Some people like their parts, but my experiences have been poor (mostly with wires so glad you got those elsewhere). Motorcraft cap & rotor, Accel coil are better bets. If you have any problems post-swap - hopefully not - keep the packaging for a return if needed.
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