Hi folks,
I have been beating on this one for over 2 months now and still no luck. I have a 95 GT Conv 5.0 all stock. The problem started one day randomly where the car was cranking, but it didn't start for 5-10 minutes. I didn't take it quite seriously. This is a long message, but its the only way I can describe the problem.
This happened about a couple more times during a span of 2 weeks. Finally, one day it just wouldn't start. I tried it for 2 hours until my battery gave up. At the same time I made sure some really basic stuff was fine, such as having enough gas. I tried to jump start, but it still wouldn't start (This is when the battery was still good). So, I was stuck 200 miles from home and had to take the next day off. After I towed it to the shop, the mechanic said that the distributor cap was bad and the battery was dead. Like I explained to him that it wasn't the problem. But, he still fixed that stuff and cleaned up my battery. Apparently it started after he did that.
So I thought, he knows better. Drove back home and it wouldn't start the next day while I was heading to work. This time a buddy of mine took a look at it. He said I had a battery grounding problem. He cleaned up the terminals further and the car started. Hence, that was the problem. I was excited.
Later, I went on vacation for a month and when I came back the car started just fine. However, a day later it died on my way to work. This time I had to get it towed. The guy said that there was no problem since the car started the moment it got there. But I told him that I have experienced this before so please take a look around. At that point he said the problem probably lied around the coil. So we replaced the Ignition Coil, spark plug wires, cleaned up the distributor, and the air pump (it was noisy). At this point he mentioned that my fuel pressure wasn't right. I knew I needed a new fuel pump at some point due to the 122k mileage on the car. That was a little loud too. However, I headed home.
The next day at lunch time the car wouldn't start again. I had the same guy tow it back. This time he tried to reproduce the problem for 5 days and couldn't find anything since the car would start just fine. So he concluded that I needed a new fuel pump. Alas! I had my new fuel pump installed. I thought this is a good thing. At the very least I got new parts and the car is not getting any worse.
To my surprise it died again. The same friend who looked at it the previously came to the rescue. One night while it wasn't starting he identified that I had no spark. All this while the engine would crank just fine, but the car wouldn't start. He played with the cable coming out of the engine going into the ignition coil on the lower left and cleaned the distributor cap, etc. It started fine.
When it died again, I called him and was pissed off. I waited until evening and tried to start the car. It started and I headed straight to the mechanic. At this point we tested the ignition module. It seemed fine. However, the mechanic was embarrassed and gave me a spark tester to see if I had spark whenever the problem recurred. And if it didn't, we would try a new ignition module. Initially the car would not start. Now, sometimes it wont start as well as die while in motion.
So, yesterday it died on the way again. I tested for spark and voila! there was no spark. The car started in about 15 minutes. I headed to the mechanic and he bought me a new ignition module. I thought, if this is really the problem I will pay for it. But, he insisted that I try it out. Now, this mechanic is really good and takes good pride in finding the problem. However, my car has been driving him nuts as it starts whenever he takes a look at it.
Finally, this morning it died on the way and I found that there was no spark. I called the same tow truck. But, the car started in about 20 minutes. I am not sure if it was because I played with the cables going into the coil and the distributor cap and rotor.
At this point, I have no clue. Someone suggested I should check the grounding all over. The mechanic wants to keep it longer.
All I know at this point is that there is no spark going into the distributor when the car isn't starting or stops while in motion.
So far I have the following new components: Air Pump Fuel Pump Water Pump Distributor cap and rotor Spark plug wires Ignition Coil Ignition Module
The battery has tested fine.
Can any of you pros out there help me out here ? I am so frustrated. This is my primary car and I have just moved into this area 200 miles away from where I used to be. I can't afford to buy another car and at the same time keep spending on this one. Please advise!
Thanks, Nik.