So my car just died on me today, had to be towed!!

[OrangeMustangGt]

I need some help here. Car drove fine to work, on the way home it just died.....no sputtering or anything...like I turned off the key. So, while I was on the side of the road, I verified no spark, constant power to the coil, but no pulsing ground. I could smell fuel, so i figured the injectors were working and had good fuel pressure. I figured PIP or TFI module.

So I get it home and hook up a test light to the ground side of the coil wire to check again and the sonofabitch fires right up....

So, Im caught here, obviously an intermittant problem...which I have no way now to diagnose!

A few things that might help. It was raining on the way in...when the car died, I had only been driving 5 mins......I also had a code last week, something refering to the P.I.P

SO, Im kinda caught here on what to replace, TFI or PIP, does anyone have any way I can for sure test and verify which one? Thanks I dont trust the car now, and cant drive it untill I find what the problem was

 

[revhead347]

My car did that one time. Once the Ignition Control Module cooled back down, it fired right up. I put a new ignition control module in, and the problem went away.

Kurt

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

I thought of that, but I had only been driving for 5 mins. I hate to replace my distributor and have it the TFI, or vice versa

I wish I had tried unplugging the spout...that would have bypassed the tfi module correct?

 

[Chythar]

I had an issue like that on my old 94 V6. In my case, it happened while driving - engine just shut off. It would crank, but wouldn't fire up. After waiting for some number of seconds, it would start up like nothing was wrong. In that case, it was the CCRM. On my GT, I had an issue where the engine wouldn't crank properly, it would just click. After cooling off, it fired right up without problems. In that case, it was corrosion under the cap.

Couldn't you tell the difference if you checked for power between the coil and dizzy when the issue pops up again? If there's power going from the coil to dizzy, it's the PIP. If there's no power, it's the TFI module. Can anyone confirm that this would be the case? I'm not as knowledgeable on the ignition and electrical as others here.

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

HUH! I had no idea the ccrm had anything to do with the ignition system of the car. Yeah, it just shut off while driving..no warning at all.

I thought the signal went from the dizzy/pip to the computer then to the TFI then to the coil.

On the side of the road, it was cranking fast, and getting fuel ( I could smell fuel very strongly). SO, if it was getting fuel into the cylinders than it must NOT be the PIP correct? Because then it wouldent open the injectors.

Now, Im thinking TFI....Maby I should just replace it to be 100% sure?

Thing is, after it initially died, I left it for about 3 hours, and came back it it would still not run, something during the tow truck ride or something fixed it....man this is the worst kind of problem

 

[Chythar]

All power for the engine passes through a relay in the CCRM; the fuel pump and fan relays are in there as well. That's pretty much the CCRM in its entirety. Maybe my thinking is wrong on the PIP, been a while since I poked my head into how the dizzy works.