This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Topic: This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves (Read 3311 times) previous topic - next topic

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

April 10, 2007, 10:48:53 AM

It's the only issue I've never been able to solve with this car. It rains, car goes

It idles roughly and stalls at lights. It did this before the rebuild and still does it now. I mean rebuilt engine, new carburetor, new fuel pump, new HEI distributor which I've already changed the cap on twice trying to put a stop to this. Wires are MSD. What logical reason could be left for this to happen between old and new parts? I've also tried putting water dryer in the gas tank. No effect. And actually the weather conditions have to be pretty specific for this to happen. Has to be cool but not really freezing. LIGHT rain or snow(I've had the car out in monsoons with no trouble). Basically cool and humid. And here's the other thing: more than once while this is happening I've stopped at a light and the car is idling like a mechanical bull and then suddenly, like someone flipped a switch, it stops and smooths out. And you know my boss who has a 94 3.8 Mustang just told me that it used to to do that too before his engine rebuild. Anybody have ANY far out theory as to why this happens?

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #1 – April 10, 2007, 11:29:29 AM

My old '90 2.3L Mustang ran like total dog doo in the rain for the last couple years I had it, I never did figure it out. I had a hunch it was the TFI going out but I never got around to trying another one before I got rid of the car.

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #2 – April 10, 2007, 11:40:27 AM

Change you're ignition coil?

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #3 – April 10, 2007, 11:40:53 AM

Happened to me as well one time, i treid many things but it was probably icing. once the engine got some heat it ran fine and ever since

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #4 – April 10, 2007, 11:56:31 AM

Well the distributor came with a new coil, I haven't replaced it since then. I've replaced its cover though. I'm not sure how moisture could affect it.

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #5 – April 10, 2007, 12:15:32 PM

wow, that’s strange. My first thought would be something getting wet.

“cool but not really freezing “ (Ice sealing the leak)
But
“(I've had the car out in monsoons with no trouble)”
kind of rules that out.

“like someone flipped a switch, it stops and smooths out”
the drop of water shorting something out got shaken off?

I think I would suggest looking at what in the operation of the motor hasn’t been replaced?
For a motor to run requires Air, Fuel, and spark.
AIR I would think could be ruled out as the only thing between the motor and the atmosphere is an air filter and I can’t see there being any sudden change (“flipped a switch”) to an air filter. Unless it’s in bad repair and has a tear or something?

FUEL, Filter, lines, ?

SPARK. Coil, Something shorting.. but why not in a monsoon?

Got me man.. hopefully my thought’s here can trigger somebody else

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #6 – April 10, 2007, 12:43:43 PM

Well I currently have a K&N filter and it's in good repair. Regardless I was using a paper filter when this started happening. Fuel filter has been replaced numerous times and with varying styles as I've continued modifying the car, I think I can rule it out. I haven't really touched the lines back of the fuel pump. Maybe I can check that. As far as spark goes, the HEI is a self-contained system except for the relay that turns it on. The relay routes power direct from the battery and is triggered by the factory coil wire. Could there be enough of a fluctuation in the factory harness to screw up a relay that bad?

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #7 – April 10, 2007, 01:16:36 PM

Granted my harness was pretty hacked before I owned the car (I think the last owner knew just enough about cars to be dangerous). One of these weekends maybe I should weed out the dead connections and run new wire, atleast within the engine bay.

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #8 – April 20, 2007, 11:46:01 AM

Little update. Turns out the car IS affected by heavy rain, atleast if I'm moving fast enough. I drove from Lethbridge to Medicine Hat yesterday in a rain/snow april blizzard thing and by the end of the trip the car was struggling to maintain speed and shuddering if I dropped below 100 kph. When I pulled over to the side to check things it stalled. It started to run right again once I got into town, probably because there wasn't a constant stream of water blowing through the grill. Was still rough when I got to the hotel, and the exhaust was turning the ground black. That says to me unburnt fuel and that points at weak spark. Electrical it is then I suppose. Though it's still weird. The ignition system is almost completely separate from the harness except for the one relay. How could that one relay go so screwy and there not be some other weird electrical gremlins? Radio, wipers, lights all tend to work fine. I replaced the engine ground strap a while back....

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #9 – April 20, 2007, 05:04:50 PM

Look under the hood in the dark and see if there are any sparks jumping around.

Get a spray bottle (Windex bottle) and spray water on the various components and see if you can find the touchy one.

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #10 – April 20, 2007, 08:04:20 PM

I've tried the spray bottle thing before with no result. I can always try again I suppose. Another weird thing just occurred to me. The car doesn't go straight to stall when I start it. It starts up. After a minute or two I kick it off the fast idle. It'll idle for a bit after that and get progressively worse until it finally stalls. The interval can be up to like 5 minutes or more. If the problem was electrical wouldn't it be evident right off the bat?

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #11 – April 20, 2007, 09:43:31 PM

Distributor stator? Mine would fail after the engine heated up and then the car wouldn't start again for up to 45 minutes (basically until it cooled down again)

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #12 – April 20, 2007, 09:55:44 PM

Not sure what a stator is but keep in mind I have a GM style distributor.

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #13 – April 21, 2007, 01:52:04 PM

Boy this is turning out to be the business trip from hell. I tried to drive from Medicine Hat home to Calgary (it's still raining). Within an hour the car was having trouble maintaining speed, it would shudder if I didn't massage the peddle just right. Eventually speed dropped to 70 kph and I couldn't get it back up even with the peddle floored. Went like that maybe 5 minutes and the speed was dropping slowly but surely until it finally stalled as I was pulling to the side of the road. I almost whipped out the old AMA card but I decided to spray some WD40 here and there and then I gave it 5 minutes for some heat to build up under the hood. Sure enough it roared to life again and ran like nothing happened. Atleast for the 10 minutes it took me to get to the next town and for another 20 minutes or so while I found a hotel to wait out the storm. It was still idling smooth when I shut it down. Now I only sprayed the WD40 on that wiring panel on the firewall (car's left), the alternator connections, and the starter relay. If I had the means right now I'd take some pictures to show you but off the bat, any tips for sealing up those areas? I don't consider WD40 a solution.

This stall problem is seriously getting on my nerves

Reply #14 – April 21, 2007, 02:19:40 PM

i had that same problem, its related to the EGR vavle and the TPI along with the thermostat.

see i had the same problem, starts, calms down, dead. i have a switch under my dash that turns on and off the thermostat. (it was a fix with what i had in the garage and i needed to get to work) if i turned power off tot he thermostat, it'd crank up just like it was warm. now this isnt something good, its not a good idea, but it works for a short time till you can replace the thermostat and EGR. im pretty much sure its the thermostat and egr compounded. after replacing that and the tpi i havnt had the problem. btw, you can also try by tweaking the tpi to keep the car idling up near 850 rpm and you wont have the car dieing, but you might run into the car wanting to go UP HILL from a dead stop with no gas...