Problem: Looking for solutions Engine cuts out while driving. Thought it was the old spark plug wires as when doing a spark check they weren't producing spark. Replaced wires with new ones. Ran fine for 5 or 6 miles then cut out. Like it has a short in it or isn't grounded. Tomorrow: I'll go through and replace the rotor, the cap and the coil and double check the wires. Other then that nothing else has been touched. Any thoughts on what it could be? BTW, this is on a Poncho 400 motor if that means anything.
Hmmmm... I had a problem like that. turned out that one of the wires in my distributor wasn't properly grounded. Fixed the wire and now my merc runs like a champ. Anywho; just my two sense
Sounds like a Hot & Cold coil ! When the coil is cold the engine runs fine then when it gets hot it shuts down . Try another coil . If electronic then maybe the module . Retro Jim
I had a problem like that on a points distributor. The point gap was too small. It ran fine when cold, but when it heated up the points would expand enough to quit opening. Also had the loose ground wire another time.
When it cuts out its like a stall that won't restart. I get spark from the coil when it doesn't want to restart. So maybe after all it isn't the Ignition end of things. Which leaves me to think that maybe it might be a vapor lock? Does that seem about right? Things cool down the gas bin the line becomes liquid again and the engine starts back up. How shall I (in best approach) Correct this?
Check your wire connections to the coil and elsewhere. A loose terminal bad connection will haunt you. Or leave you scratching your head beside the road.
When it cuts out, does it still run, but poorly, or is it like someone turned the key off? I'm guessing coil or loose wire to the coil.
Are you running a ballast resister? Mine was wired 30 years ago and engine would quit then start and run for awhile and quit. Turns out the old ballast resister was broken internaly. When it heated up the contact broke stalling the engine. Cool it off abit and it would contact again enough for it to start. Bought a new one and runs fine all the time.
if you think its a gas prob then the next time it stops try pouring a little gas down the carb, i have only seen one dist cap cause a car not to run, it had the center ****on burned right off, they may not run top notch but they usely run, messed up points or not getting gas is where i would start. check your dwell.
Next time it quits, walk around and open the gas cap and listen and see if you can hear the sides of the tank pop back out. My old 51 Merc did exactly what you describe and I even walked a couple of miles to get a can of gas once thinking it was out of gas. It turned out that my brand new "vented" cap wasn't vented. If there is only a couple of gallons of gas in the tank it will run three or four miles before it creates enough vacuum in the tank so that it won't run until it sits a while and ****s air back into the tank through the fuel line. It will do that because the float is low due to running the fuel bowl out of gas. Otherwise check the connections and check the coil.
wild *** guess.....maybe the fuel line is collapsing and cutting off fuel. Then after it sits a bit, the vacuum lets up and the hose opens. Good luck finding the problem.
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