rvega022

I just finished tunning my 1986 IROC-Z 305 TPI engine. Every thing appeared to be running fine, so I went for a drive today (by the way I live north of Miami and it was about 95F today). After about 20 or 30 minutes driving in traffic, I was at a traffic light I accelerated and all of a sudden the motor stumbled and turned off.

I was not able to restart the car unit the motor cooled down. When trying to start the car I noticed it sounded like when no spark is being sent by the distributer. I know that the fuel pressure was OK because I could hear the fuel pump activate.

Does anyone know what I should check 1st?

Could it be a distributer problem?

KNBlazer

your ignition module could be going out... check for spark next time you have this problem along with checking for pulse...

matt1970pon

the starter may be to blame.It should crank reguardless if spark is present or not. I just changed mine out because it was doing the same thing.

KNBlazer

did you read his post... like the line where it says, "it sounds like it's not getting any spark" ... ..

KNBlazer

To OP...

Your engine does turn over, right? it just doesn't fire up...

bradsgtz

had the same problem on an 86 tpi. started fine ran great till it got warmed up. cut the car off when warmed up and couldnt start it untill it cooled off or had somebody jump me off ( battery was fine and alt. was fine) the extra boost seemed to help. but i replaced the module like KNBlazer said and never had anyother issues with it. hope that helps

matt1970pon

sorry KNblazer..I thought we were all here to help each other.Isn't that what this hobby is about keeping the cars we all love on the road? I've had the same experience and ya know what..the starter fixed it.If my opinion bothers you so much well....don't read it. As for the orginal poster...if you need anymore help let me know.

KNBlazer

your reply will simply confuse the OP... if a car doesn't turn over, then the starter's solenoid would be suspect, due to heat soak... and yes it is a hobby... replies that are not consistent with the symptoms that are present have not much to offer to the initial cause of the post...

BTW, don't apologize no need for it...

rvega022

Guys thanks for all the great info

And yes it does sound like it could be the ignition module, since the Distributor is so old and the connector to the module are all broken from the plastic being so old; can someone recommend where I should by one?

I saw a refurbished distributor on the autozone web site, comes with module but no rotor or cap, for $125.

KNBlazer

well if you're running the original distributor, couldn't hurt to replace it, since the pickup coil could also be the culprit... is the distributor a lifetime warranty? is it made by a1 cordone? personally though, when I buy my distributor sometime this year I am going with MSD... my current distributor that's on the car is the original one, it had the pick up coil, gear, replaced at the same time about 7 years ago... hasn't seen much run time though.. but still, having a quality distributor can't hurt...

rvega022

Just to give an update, I decided replaced my distributor with a reconditioned on since my suspected that the one on the car was the original one. After install and tunning the call (tining, IAC and TPS) the cars working perfect. I was also experiencing a surge when the engine got to normal operating temp. when idling at a traffic light, but its all been resolved by replacing the distributor.

Thanks for you help!