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15 Minutes of Running and then no start for hours

Posted: January 6th, 2011, 8:44 am
by korpit
Yesterday I drove my 96 MX-3 home at lunch, about 15 minutes running time. It would not start after. I got home after work and it started, ran for about 15 minutes and died again. It is cold and my tank was not full so I thought maybe the fuel line was frozen. Dumped gasline antifreeze in and waited overnight. It started fine and ran for 15 minutes. It seems fuel starved or something is telling not to run. Maybe a pick up coil if this has one? Looking for suggestions.....

Re: 15 Minutes of Running and then no start for hours

Posted: January 6th, 2011, 10:45 am
by Daninski
I know people will suggest coil but it's not an issue with the 96 disty so I'm going with fuel possibly the pump. When the car quits check and see if the pump is working or simply pull the fuel line off the engine, place a clear bag over it to catch the fuel and have some one crank the car to see if fuel is indeed flowing.

Re: 15 Minutes of Running and then no start for hours

Posted: January 6th, 2011, 12:47 pm
by ninjajim4
even if you don't think it's the ditsy, take the 30 seconds and check for spark first..!

Re: 15 Minutes of Running and then no start for hours

Posted: January 6th, 2011, 3:28 pm
by hppwdn
Warm start problems with these cars are often related to the stock ignitor beginning to fail. Research the HEI mod on probetalk for a much cheaper fix than replacing distributors. I can't explain why the car is just shutting off for no reason, but the ignitor is certainly something worth looking into as it's known to fail.

Re: 15 Minutes of Running and then no start for hours

Posted: January 7th, 2011, 11:51 am
by korpit
OK the auto shut off was related to my remote starter. This has been diasabled and the car runs from the first start until shut off. It needs about 4 hours of cool down to restart after shut off. I wish to thank everyone for the suggestions. I will have access to a garage tomorrow and be able to trouble shoot in warmth. My distributor has a little coil on the exterior of it. I am leaning towards this. Is this the culprit on the 96 and has anyone taken one apart and fixed it themselves? Not many 96 distributors around here and my parts cars are 92 and 93.

Re: 15 Minutes of Running and then no start for hours

Posted: January 7th, 2011, 2:22 pm
by Daninski
I gave tmac4t4 a spare 96 disty and since he's selling the car in the [FS] section he may sell it to you.