I have been having this really odd problem that I can't figure out. I'm hoping someone might have had a similar experience.
It started a few weeks ago, car was running fine. Went into a store, came out and the car wouldn't start. After a few minutes of trying to start it and tinkering with it, it finally just started. It would crank, just not start. The whole time I seemed to have plenty of battery power, all electronics were fine. I had fuel pressure, I released the pressure, primed the pump, and checked for pressure again. So I know it's not a fuel problem. While looking under the hood I checked for any bad/missing grounds. I looked under the dizzy cap and found the tip of the rotor was slightly worn and there was some black scarring on the contacts under the cap. I checked to see if I had power to the coil and to the dizzy, which I did. After a while it just started up again. On the way back to work it died on me while driving. No loss of radio or electrical components, it just died...no sputtering, the motor just stopped running. I rolled into a parking spot, waited a second and tried to start it, started up just fine. For the next few weeks the car has been running with no issues.
Today I ran up to Home Depot, driving down the road it just died again. Again, no electrical loss, the motor just, quickly, died. I rolled into a parking lot and tried starting it again....it would just crank but not start. So I started tinkering with all the same things I did the last time, everything seemed fine...just like the last time. I used some sand paper and cleaned off each contact under the dizzy cap, and the tip of the rotor. Put it back on and the car started up just fine. Started down the street again and it died again. Rolled into another parking lot, went ahead and cleaned off the contacts again, making sure they were perfectly clean. Tried to start it with no avail. So I just sat there, giving the key a turn every 30 seconds or so. Each time same thing, it would just crank but not start. Sometimes I let it crank for a few seconds, others I just gave it a normal, short crank. After a while, it just started back up again and made it home.
I figure it has to be spark related...somehow. Either the dizzy itself, maybe TFI, or possibly coil....maybe cap and rotor. Not sure where exactly to look at this point. The problem is this is a very erratic problem, so it's not like I will have a "Yup, that was it" moment. So simply swapping out parts won't give me an answer. I will just have to try it and hope it doesn't fail me. Even if I try one part at a time, it could take months to narrow it down.
I forget what I have in my signature as far as mods go, as I have changed a few things. Right now I have a rebuilt Motorcraft dizzy (Pep Boys), an MSD cap, Motorcraft rotor. Excel coil, and I have removed my MDS 6AL. I have been running that setup for almost a year.
It started a few weeks ago, car was running fine. Went into a store, came out and the car wouldn't start. After a few minutes of trying to start it and tinkering with it, it finally just started. It would crank, just not start. The whole time I seemed to have plenty of battery power, all electronics were fine. I had fuel pressure, I released the pressure, primed the pump, and checked for pressure again. So I know it's not a fuel problem. While looking under the hood I checked for any bad/missing grounds. I looked under the dizzy cap and found the tip of the rotor was slightly worn and there was some black scarring on the contacts under the cap. I checked to see if I had power to the coil and to the dizzy, which I did. After a while it just started up again. On the way back to work it died on me while driving. No loss of radio or electrical components, it just died...no sputtering, the motor just stopped running. I rolled into a parking spot, waited a second and tried to start it, started up just fine. For the next few weeks the car has been running with no issues.
Today I ran up to Home Depot, driving down the road it just died again. Again, no electrical loss, the motor just, quickly, died. I rolled into a parking lot and tried starting it again....it would just crank but not start. So I started tinkering with all the same things I did the last time, everything seemed fine...just like the last time. I used some sand paper and cleaned off each contact under the dizzy cap, and the tip of the rotor. Put it back on and the car started up just fine. Started down the street again and it died again. Rolled into another parking lot, went ahead and cleaned off the contacts again, making sure they were perfectly clean. Tried to start it with no avail. So I just sat there, giving the key a turn every 30 seconds or so. Each time same thing, it would just crank but not start. Sometimes I let it crank for a few seconds, others I just gave it a normal, short crank. After a while, it just started back up again and made it home.
I figure it has to be spark related...somehow. Either the dizzy itself, maybe TFI, or possibly coil....maybe cap and rotor. Not sure where exactly to look at this point. The problem is this is a very erratic problem, so it's not like I will have a "Yup, that was it" moment. So simply swapping out parts won't give me an answer. I will just have to try it and hope it doesn't fail me. Even if I try one part at a time, it could take months to narrow it down.
I forget what I have in my signature as far as mods go, as I have changed a few things. Right now I have a rebuilt Motorcraft dizzy (Pep Boys), an MSD cap, Motorcraft rotor. Excel coil, and I have removed my MDS 6AL. I have been running that setup for almost a year.