n2deep

The engine simply quits suddenly without choking and no smoke. It has been a while since I drove the car on a regular basis and I honestly cant remember the last time I checked the coolant. When I opened it up yesterday it looked like just water, no anti freeze. Maybe it slowly evaporated overtime? Do you have any suggestions for test 2?

It was running hot because it was low on coolant. Somehow the heat at 225 shut the engine off. I added coolant and the temp stays normal and the car did not die for 15+ minutes idling. Go figure.

Update. Test 1. I started it up and put it in the driveway idling. It ran for 11 minutes and the temp got to 225 so I tapped the thermostat housing to unstick the thermostat and it died. It died the second I tapped it. Weird? Coincidence? What do you think?

OK thanks. I'll time it in the morning and then replace the coil. Then report back.

Hi FastWoman, IdahoKidd said you would probably chime in. I suspect it's electrical too from my truck experience above. Here are the conditions when it fails. 1. A drive to work, about a 12 minute trip with a few mild hills. It died halfway there about 5 min. from the house without any heavy WOT action. No start. Wait a few minutes and it starts. 2. Start it up and back it into the driveway. Let it set there and idle and it dies in 5-10 minutes. No start. Wait a few minutes and it starts. Repeat and it dies 5 min. later. Repeat and take a test drive and it dies and comes back while moving at WOT 2 blocks from the house. 3. Last Spring when it started I drove it to a meeting about an hour away. Very fast very fun. 2 days later after the meeting, about five minutes on the road toward the freeway I was at WOT going up a slight hill (overpass) and it died and came back a second or two later. I thought I blew the engine. Does that help the diagnosis? There is one other thing I noticed lately. The thermostat is getting a little sticky. It will go up to 220 before it opens.

OK there is no debris at the inlet screen. So I assume I should install a fuel pressue gauge and confiirm its not fuel? Regarding electrical/ground testing... I have a volt meter and test light but I'm not sure where/how to begin. Key on start position? Test while it's running? after it dies? and what circuits should I test?

Thanks. The coil was not hot when I retightened its connections. I'm checking the screen inside the fuel pump now and I'll get back to you.

Hi, thanks for the welcome. I'll try to address your questions without too much rhetoric. How long has this been a problem? It just started last spring the last time i drove it. From first time out after restoration or did it work for a while? The car has worked great for many years. Have you changed the fuel filter? No. Did you clean out the tank during the restoration? No. This car was and is amazingly clean. Imported from CA. These cars build a lot of gunk in the tank. Do you have a fuel pressure gauge so that you can see if you loose pressure during the fail? No added fuel pressure gauge. Does it fail faster during WOT? I have to say not really. I can start it up. Let it idle in the driveway and it will die 5 min. later. It won't restart immediately but will 5 min. later. At WOT the engine stops for a second or two and comes back in. Yeah I'm thinking fuel supply as well. But I thought the same thing with my truck believing it was the fuel pump, then the distributor, after $600+ it turned out to be a loose power block. So I'm a little gun shy. One interesting sympton that pushes me toward fuel supply is that rpm's went up and down while idling. Does that help?

Hi Guys, I rebuilt/restored my 77 in 2002. The car will start easily but will die 5 minutes later. It dies idling, driving, or even full out. At full out it can bog out and come back. The car will start again a few minutes later. Searching suggests there may be rust from the tank temporarily blocking fuel or the coil is dying. My truck had a similar problem and turned out the power supply to the computer was loose. Can someone tell me where to start testing based on these conditions? Thanks.