1992 Tempo Dies Intermittently

We have a 1992 Ford Tempo with about 80,000 miles (yes, 80k, not 180k). It has lately shown tendencies to suddenly die, even within traffic, and take some coercing to recrank. Sometimes when it recranks it can die again within a couple of minutes, or it can recrank and then carry on as if nothing's wrong.

It isn't running hot, the battery is fine, the alternator is fine, oil is fine. So I don't know what else this could be--except maybe the control module, as I once had a Mercury Grand Marquis that did much the same behavior and that was the problem. There was one difference--once the Grand Marquis exhibited that, it would studder home every mile, it wouldn't "resume as normal" unless you gave it a good ½ hour or more to "cool off," whereas this Tempo only needed 5 minutes, and then it would pick up 100%.

Tips?

LRH

Reply to
Larry R Harrison Jr
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Ign control modules dont all fail the same way. I had three fail at various times, all when parked hot. I suspect that being the eighties version, they changed it some and thus ended up getting sued for cars failing on the freeway in the 90's.

Take it off, you'll probably see the heat sink grease is caky. Almost never heard of an original failing without the grease drying out.

Dont reuse it.. once it starts failing it's unreliable, Suggest you get replacement at NAPA or other parts jobber where shops buy. Make sure to use heat sink grease, clean all the old stuff off.

Cranking is when the starter turns the engine.

Reply to
Backyard Mechanic

i would check the crankshaft position sensor that will cause it to die

Reply to
jimmyh

That car was probably in "limp" mode dictated by the computer due to some fault code thrown. Did 1992 used the TFI module? You need a special wrench to get them off the distributors, available at a pep boys, etc. Remove, clean and apply some dielectric grease to it and reinstall, might be suffering from heat issues. Probably worth replacing if you don't mind throwing parts at the car.

Reply to
sleepdog

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