Help me get my car running again?

[OrangeMustangGt]

Alright guys, i need your help. I cant get this car to run.

It all started when my car sat out in the heavy rain for a day or so with no hood....its been getting worse since then....

My car would idle like crap, and randomly when driving it would just shut off........like i turned the key off.

Now today, i took it out and tried to see if i had fixed the problem with a new battery(which i needed anyway, it was shot)....whell it started the random dieing crap, but then it got worse....it just all out died!

I was just out messing with it, and i finally got it to fire, i had to go WOT, and it would fire right up, but it wouldent run below 4,000 rpm! and it runs very bad, like its missing real bad.

I think fuel is ruled out, because i just tried adding 4 gallons, and it seems to have fuel pressure(dont know how much, its dark and the car is down on the circle)

This leads me to think its something ignition related.....Has anyone ever had a problem like this? Oh, btw it has a new distributor, so i dont think that is the problem...please help? i cant get the damn thing back into the garage to finish painting it!

 

[CManT1914]

It's gotta be electrical I'd say. I don't supposed you've pulled the codes since it won't run huh? Did you check for water in the distributor? They have vent holes on them, maybe some water ran down in there.

 

[RIO5.0]

Yank the cap and shoot some WD40 in there to push the water out....the stuff will start wet engines like that...WD..."Water Dispersal"
I would spray down all the elec plugs, coil, anything like that...

 

[WhiteDevil]

Yeah driving with no hood in the rain is definitly a bad idea. I would take the distribuor cap off and check it out in there, cause water can do bad stuff.

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

nope there is no water in there, also the car has had about a week to dry off!!! i dont know whats up....

 

[mo_dingo]

You need to remove all electrical connections, and check/clean as necessary.
Scott

 

[SeventyMach1]

Got any KOEO codes yet?

I'd check everything ... from electrical to vacuum. Like said before ... spray WD-40 around everything. Just because you don't have water under the dizzy cap now doesn't mean you didn't. Maybe the water screwed with the PIP? TFI module? There's so many possibilities ..... check for codes.

 

[BlackVert]

i know exactly what the problem is. remove the turbo setup and ship it to:

5618 Jordan Road
Bethesda MD

it will run fine then.






seriously, it sounds like an electrical problem to me caused by the water that got on it. can you take like a hair drier or something like that to it? up there in mass it might not get warm and dry for a while.

 

[HISSIN50]

As was said, it is likely that connections became corroded while the hood was off. now it is dry, but the resistance remains. Simply even unconnecting and reconnecting the connectors is enough to get a clean pathway again.

Good luck.

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

Thanks guys. Im leaning tword possibly the TFI....is that the grey heatsinked box in the air filter area?

My buddy had a similar problem, and he said it was something in his distributor on his fox, but i know no water got ib my dist, because i had the plastic boot over it.

This really sucks....i havent been able to drive my car for 2 weeks.

 

[CManT1914]

The TFI is indeed in the heat shrink near the filter. On foxes it's in the distributor, so that may be what your buddy is referring to.

Something to keep in mind, usually when they go out, it's because they overheat, and the car will simply not run at all until they cool down. Different symptoms you're having, it might not be the TFI.

 

[94-302-vert]

I almsot vote mass air meter neds to be looked at. When i first got my car I chedked the intake track and had a leak jsut after the MAF, it would only run at WOT and if I kept giving it gas. So try checking those connections...

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

Thanks for the help guys.
Today before electrical school, i took all the connections apart and sprayed them with electrical cleaner/dryer. Still a no-go

I was thinking about the TFI issue, and it actually would run great in the nebhood, but when i got to the main roads it would start this crap.....sooo

Tommorow ill pull the TFI module off my Black bronco, and plug it in and see......But i checked at the local auto store, and it was 80 somthin bucks....damn, oh whell.....i wont be leaving my hood off again.

also i know its not a fuel issue, because when im cranking it, it reeks of raw fuel, and when i get it to fire (barely) it blows out a cloud of oh-so-rich smoke.

Hope this fixes it!

 

[fawcett]

besides the other things people have said here, what about your coil? do you know if you are getting spark to your dizzy? pull the wire off the dizzy, have someone crank your car over and look for an arch (guess i dont need to tell you to be careful)
good luck man, your car is one of my favorites (besides mine that is) when you get that thing running leave the hood on...
-fawcett

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

whell, i just raped the coil off my bronco, put it on, and nope, still issues. So, at this point, i am assuming its my tfi.....ill tell ya if a new one fixes the issue

 

[CManT1914]

whell, i just raped the coil off my bronco, put it on, and nope, still issues. So, at this point, i am assuming its my tfi.....ill tell ya if a new one fixes the issue

Good luck! I'd hate to do all that work to your stang and then something crap out all of the sudden (wait........ that happened to me! lol)

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

I just went to autozone and spent $60.00 on a new TFI.

Still isnt running right.........
im pissed.

 

[95Vert]

We all agree that it's something electrical but noone has suggested the alternator. It got wet and when those things go all sorts of weird crap happens. They've gone out on me before while I was driving, and the a/c would stop working, the speedometer would go all over the place and the car would buck as if it was running out of gas. Try that and see what happens.

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

I just replaced the cap/rotor, and new wires....Something is wrong here....i am now at $120 in parts i dont need/cant afford!

Let me explain the problem a bit more, maby someone can help, as, right now i cant afford to keep doing this.

Present time, when its cold i can get it to run, just with a noticable miss. As it heats up, it wont maintain an idle below 4,000. Its puffing RICH clouds of smoke out. If i hold the car at 4,000, it will smooth out for a split second, miss badly, almost die, then catch and rev back to 4,000.

This really really sucks.....Also, thanks above for the idea about the alternator, do you know of a way to test it? i cannot afford to get a new one now. Also, why would a bad alternator cause these problems? just wondering. Thanks for any help you could give me.

 

[DFG 5OH]

what about that thing in the bottom of the dizzy? Those cause our cars to mess up real bad...