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another strange problem

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S

srmorse

Jedi Hopeful
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I love my TR7s EFI system when it works...and then there are the other times...

I've had an intermittent bug the past couple weeks where while driving thr car will just die. I was able to check all connections and all seemed OK. After about five minutes I was able to start up and drive away (last Saturday).

Last night however it died and there was no spark whatsoever. Could hear the relay clicking and tested the inertia switch and both were fine (and they've already been replaced). I didn't have my extra coil with me...so I couldn't try that. I got a ride home and came back about an hour later and it started right back up no problem.

It only seems to happen after the car has been sitting out in the sun for a couple hours...and I suspect the coil may be getting flaky...but they usually just die and never come back. I have an extra one I'll throw in and see if it stops...but anybody with other ideas. Is there anything in the Delco Electronic Inginition under the distributor cap that could be going?
 
I have had two cars exhibit similar symptoms...

My 1970 GT6 had a cracked distributor cap. It would run OK except in the rain, when water would get inside it and short things out. After 5 minutes, the heat would evaporate the water and it would be fine.

My wife's 1990 Accord had a main relay that would open in the Texas summer sun. If we parked the car with the windows up and left it in the sun for an hour, it wouldn't start. Roll the windows down, wait 10 minutes, and it was OK.

Since you mentioned EFI, one other possibility is some sort of obstruction in the fuel line. You may be sucking the line dry and after 5 minutes, enough fuel has trickled back into the line to run the car again.

Good Luck,
Saff
 
Dizzy cap and rotor are new as of last year...and the combination relay was new last July as well. It could be the relay...maybe I got a bad one and it's being finicky...or there is a problem somewhere else in the system. I have another relay so I should throw that in and see what happens as well.

I don't think it's fuel as there is physically no spark when it dies...
 
I put in brand new Lucas coil that would fail so I replaced it with brand new Lucas coil and the symptoms where when it got hot it just quit, same as the other new Lucas one. It would take an hour or more to cool it enough to get it started again. Put in a cheapo NAPA Chevy coil and it has run great ever since. So maybe it is the coil.

As mentioned above about fuel, I had another car that would just stall. It was the fuel filter being clogged. After sitting, as said above, enough fuel would pass that I could atart again.

[ 05-07-2004: Message edited by: Bruce Bowker ]</p>
 
No spark. As mentioned before I would check the coil. It seems to act up once the engine is up to temp. and then it quits.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>It only seems to happen after the car has been sitting out in the sun for a couple hours...and I suspect the coil may be getting flaky...but they usually just die and never come back. I have an extra one I'll throw in and see if it stops...but anybody with other ideas. Is there anything in the Delco Electronic Inginition under the distributor cap that could be going?

<hr></blockquote>
iagree.gif

This is EXACTLY the situation I had when my coil was shorting out on me last summer. Drive the car on a hot day, and anywhere from 20-30 mintues it would die. Let it cool a few minutes, and then it would go another few miles. Was a shorter drive time on hot days than cooler ones.

PS...and you know you and I have the same coil
wink.gif
 
all right...replacement coil goes in tonight and we'll see if that takes care of it! I'll report back with what I find!

It was too beautiful of a day here today not to be able to drive!!!
 
once i had a broken wire inside the low tension wires of my '81 tr7 that would periodically lose connection. inside the insulation where the wiring enters the base of the distributor body.
 
Philman...that sounds exactly like part of the problem I was experiencing before where if I jiggled the wire I *might* get it back! I haven't been able to find a replacement wire from any of the usual parts sources...did you use an alternate type? How did you fix it?
 
I just peeled back the insulation until I found the break then resoldered the connections back on. I was never able to find a satisfactory source for any distributor parts; wedgeparts sells a conversion kit though.
 
Philman...got your post as I was coming inside from doing exactly that...

While I was in there I found exposed wire right where you had it...and I touched it and it broke off in my hand. I also found another small break starting on the coil harness. I fixed both connections and dropped my other coil in and it fired right up. The next test will be to see if it leaves me stranded again...

Believe me...I will be driving around with an extra coil and lots of elctrical connectors for the the next little while.

Thanks to everyone for the help...I hope we're set!
 
I was 2000 miles from home when I started seeing this problem. kind of detracts the adventure when you have to spend three days repairing your car in a parking lot. I drove my tr7 from eugene to OKC twice last year; once in the winter and once in the summer. only had two problems, the distributor wire and the jackshaft pin.
 
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