Engine Quits Running

S

SCELLIOTT9

Registered User
I have a 91SC with automatic transmission. My problem occurred when I was driving home from work. The engine would quit running for a second and then it would start running again. The check engine light and the warning chime would come on when this occurred. It continuosly did this for at least 20 to 30 miles to the point that at times it didn't seem like it would resume running. It did finally cut off at a stop sign and was difficult to get recranked. Any help would be appreciated. This problem happened right after I have just spent over $1100.00 on the air conditioner conversion to r134. It is just about to the point where I am ready to sell it.
 
SCELLIOTT9 said:
I have a 91SC with automatic transmission. My problem occurred when I was driving home from work. The engine would quit running for a second and then it would start running again. The check engine light and the warning chime would come on when this occurred. It continuosly did this for at least 20 to 30 miles to the point that at times it didn't seem like it would resume running. It did finally cut off at a stop sign and was difficult to get recranked. Any help would be appreciated. This problem happened right after I have just spent over $1100.00 on the air conditioner conversion to r134. It is just about to the point where I am ready to sell it.
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I have to do that A/C conversion too, please don't tell me that's a correct price!
 
anlo said:
classic dis module symptoms
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Possibly.. however often this is also the sign of a bad crank sensor or a failing harmonic balancer.

Do this first, cause its easy and you need to know about it anyway if you plan to keep the car. Its an issue you will eventually face:
With the engine off, feel around in the center of the crank pulley for the HB main bolt. If its missing, do a search on this forum for Harmonic Balancer and read up. The subject is widely discussed. If the bolt is there, start engine and observe the crank pulley. Look for noticable wobble. If none of those conditions is observed, pull codes or have the codes read for free at Autozone. If the code is loss of PIP, replace the crank sensor. :cool:

Its about 50/50 chance that its DIS mainy because the work involved the A/C and likely the compressor. If the problem happens only after the engine is warmed up, then you should pull the DIS off, clean the surfaces, spread a razor thin layer of heat sink grease on the bracket and reinstall it. You can buy the grease at any Radio shack. Dielectric grease is used a lot but is not the right stuff. You want a compound which facilitates heat transfer.
 
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JStudrawa said:
I have to do that A/C conversion too, please don't tell me that's a correct price!
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Just the conversion isn't anywhere near that much. That price includes significant repair of the A/C and then the r134a conversion. Sounds like a compressor failed. When that happens, on a Ford CCOT system, it suffers what the industry calls "black death". In this situation, you replace everything under the hood. They call it a firewall-forward repair. :)
 
SCELLIOTT9 said:
............. This problem happened right after I have just spent over $1100.00 on the air conditioner conversion to r134.............
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If the problem happened IMMEDIATELY after the AC conversion, then check for damage caused by the AC genius in the vicinity of the AC components.
 
TbirdSCFan said:
Just the conversion isn't anywhere near that much. That price includes significant repair of the A/C and then the r134a conversion. Sounds like a compressor failed. When that happens, on a Ford CCOT system, it suffers what the industry calls "black death". In this situation, you replace everything under the hood. They call it a firewall-forward repair. :)
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You are right. The mechanic did call it black death. He replaced the compressor,pulley, lines, and condensor. He used a r134 conversion kit from Ford.
 
you said it was hard to get recranked???? did you check voltage because if the alternator takes a dump the car will die if the battery is going dead or is slightly charging. :cool:
 
I got it fixed the other week. The shop replaced the cam sensor. I have not driven it enough since then to know if this fixed it
 
Something like this happend to me this morning on my way to work. Just got off the freeway and about to go across two lanes of traffic. I got to push on the gas expecting the slush box to downshift when suddenly it just dies. No downshift just silence. I was mistaken at first and thought to give it more gas and also thought I heard a blower noise like the motor was still running and accelerating but progressively slowing down, but I had no tach. It was still in gear during all this. So I turned off to the side of the road and thats when the warning alarm came on as if the motor just died and then I turned the ignition off and back on and it started right up. I was less than a block from my work so I didn't find out if it would do it again.

I have already have replaced the cam sensor and IAC so I hope it was just an intermitant problem. One of my other instincts was to pop the hood and look at the balancer while it was running. It looked fine with mybe a very faint shake.

Not sure what caused it, but I did see the check engine light come on and stay on right after it happend so I'll be looking foward to pulling the code and seeing what it is.

Shane
 
The cam sensor did not fix the problem. I made it about 20 miles (halfway home from work) when the car started acting up again. This time it cutoff and was very hard to get recranked. When it did crank back up,it would cut right back off again. Should the crank sensor and dis module both be replaced?
 
I originally had the cam sensor replaced to fix this problem but it didn't fix it. I have now replaced both the crankshaft sensor and the dis module. I was able to drive this time for about 300 miles and the car today did the exact same thing again. This is getting really frustrating. Any more suggestions?
 
I had a simular problem, the engine light would come on,no tach,and forget about restarting it up. I replaced the cam sensor,crank sensor,dis module,coil pack,and that whole wiring harness that connects them all together.problem solved.
 
Since you had AC work done have you looked at the DIS to see if the plugs are all the way in and if everthing looks ok you never know.
 
Engine quits running

I've read the posts describing the engine quitting without warning and am having the same problem with increasing frequency (stock '93 SC with 5 speed manual). Made an appointment at a local Ford dealer, but when I described the symptoms and the make and model of vehicle, the service writer groaned, as though this is a real bear of a car to diagnose. Any suggestions? I can live without folks throwing parts and cost at a problem they don't understand. Thanks.
 
SCELLIOTT9 said:
I originally had the cam sensor replaced to fix this problem but it didn't fix it. I have now replaced both the crankshaft sensor and the dis module. I was able to drive this time for about 300 miles and the car today did the exact same thing again. This is getting really frustrating. Any more suggestions?
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The dampener/harmonic balancer is probably wobbling and causing the crank sensor to become damaged or have trouble receiving the signal. Check and see if the head of the bolt that holds the dampener onto the crank is still there (they usually break off when dampener goes bad) and also try moving the crank pulley side to side or up and down. If the bolt head is missing or if there is any movement the dampner needs to be replaced.

BTW, It's a fairly common failure on SCs.

David
 
You guys nailed it!

Before bringing my car in for service, I copied and pasted all of the comments posted here re engine quitting without warning. I gave the dealer's service writer the sheet and he was pretty surprised to get so much info from a customer. Got the call yesterday -- cam sensor and crank sensor. Thanks!
 
Tom Sharpe said:
Before bringing my car in for service, I copied and pasted all of the comments posted here re engine quitting without warning. I gave the dealer's service writer the sheet and he was pretty surprised to get so much info from a customer. Got the call yesterday -- cam sensor and crank sensor. Thanks!
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Tom,

Glad you got your money's worth for joining the club and thanks for letting us know what was done to fix the problem. Most of the time people ask for help fixing something, then never post what ended up fixing the problem.

David
 
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