Intermintent no start!!!

OK guys (and gals),

I've got an '89 bird with 150K. A while back she started giving me an occasional no-start. Turned over just fine but wouldn't fire. Also seems like it would sometimes hick-up while driving. Recently the no-start problem was getting more frequent. Wouldn't start, then 20 minutes later it would crank right up like nothing was wrong. No error codes on the computer. I started looking through the posts and saw a bunch of stuff about bad crank sensor. Next time it wouldn't start we watched for the "upshift" arrow and sure enough, there it was. Changed out the crank sensor and hoped that would be the end of it. Well, a couple of weeks later and my wife was stranded at the store for 20 minutes because it wouldn't start again, same symptoms. After a while, started right up. Any ideas? I've read a few things on the life of the fuel pump. Still has the original. Is there any easy way to test it? If it is the fuel pump, would it fail like this? Let me know if any other info would be useful.

If you're seeing the upshift arrow still, and presuming you replaced it correctly and that your crank bolt hasn't broken off, then the problem could be a loose connection or broken wire. Next time it happens, open the hood; grab a handful of wires around the crank/cam sensors and DIS/ICM and wiggle. Also try the wire bundles going into the firewall.

Id recomend replacing the fuel filter. I had crank bolt/sensor problems last year and the car died pretty quick after having problems, less than 24hrs after it first stalled it would not restart at all. This year I had similar symptoms as yours, it would stall out and not start for awhile then start right up other times. A simple fuel filter change fixed it, its worth a shot at least in your case, its easy and cheap.

TbirdSCfan hit the nail on the head! I looks like the wiring harness at the top of the motor has loose connection somewhere. I haven't tracked it down yet, but this weekend when it wouldn't start I wiggle the harness on the right side of the DIS module and she started right up. Once it was running, I wiggled some more and the engine tried to die. I guess I'll be checking all the connectors the first chance I get, but at least my wife won't get stranded anymore!

Thanks!