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[Nascarfan08]

Hey All,

I've been fighting this phantom problem for a while and I was hoping I might get some insight from someone.

It's happened three times to me so far, here is the basic run down:

While driving, the car will shut off. It's happened a couple times at 55-60 mph and today at around 15. While under power and in gear, it just shuts off. The tach drops to 0 each time (even though the car is in gear and moving).

When I pull off to the side and try to restart the car, it will not. It cranks like a champ, but it won't catch. After an indeterminate length of time, the car will magically just start like nothing was wrong and drive for 3-6 months or longer without another issue again.

THE ONLY CLUE I HAVE: Usually when you crank the car, the tach bumps up and down until it catches, right? When this problem occurs, while cranking, the tach does not move. It stays on 0. When it finally does start again, the tach bounces before it catches like normal. All other gauges operate normally during this period.

I am at a complete loss, so any, ANY help is greatly appreciated. I just replaced the roof, and I want the car to run as great as it looks!

[CapriTypeR]

Your distributor is dying. The tach not moving is the proof....I have some extras if you need one.....

--Russ

[Rocketman]

I can confirm this. The ignitor module in the distributor is on it's way out.

[blue93]

I think I had the same thing happen on a Continental Mark VII I used to have as a company car.  180,000 miles on it and the ignitor module was bad.

[Nascarfan08]

Thank you so much guys! It's a huge relief to have this pinpointed.

I'm assuming that this is a problem best solved by replacing the whole distributor? Or is this something where I could potentially get in there and replace the ignitor module on its own?

[Rocketman]

There is a writeup on the Yahoo! board for the N/A distributor, it's not perfect but will get the job done. Should be fundamentally similar to the XR2 dizzy.

If you have minimal tools/experience, replacing the dizzy is your best bet. (two bolts, two plugs, and a vac line or two) I may be interested in your old one to rebuild, if you go that route.

[Nascarfan08]

New Distributor came in from Russ... problem not solved    I got everything set up and went out to test drive it and it shut off on me about 10 minutes into the drive, same exact symptoms.

So... any other suggestions?

[Rocketman]

That's really weird. Have a look at your ECU - is there coolant/water dripping on it? The HVAC system can leak & damage the ECU.

[Chicken]

I dont think its your dist, I think its your ignition coil. Swap it out and see.  Legend has it that sometimes the coil will test good on a meter when it is no longer par.

clubprotege.com has more tech for these motors than this site.  It may help.

[Rocketman]

If his ignition coil was bad, then why would his tach fail to show a signal? That doesn't make sense.

Clubprotege has some good info on it but I would not say "more" especially for the B6T

[Nascarfan08]

Okay, I pulled the computer and something has definitely been dripping on it. I opened up the inside and the board itself looks clean and undamaged (I can load up a pic if you guys want to see).

Could it be possibly that the drips plus the heat just caused it to get humid inside and shut off? Or could the board still be bad even if it looks good?

Any other ideas?

And what should I do to prevent further dripping damage?

Thanks again guys.

[Nascarfan08]

Bump/update:

Computer has been bagged, still having the problem. Even just sitting. I tested it today in my driveway: car comes up to temp, fan comes on four or five times no problem as it idles, then about 30 minutes or so in, it just shuts off.

Any help? Ideas? This car is useless in this condition  

[luvit]

hey, i just bought my 2nd capri n/a.
i may have a problem similar to this, and hope to verify my trouble.. i have another good n/a for me to swap parts between for troubleshooting..

[luvit]

MM K!

• capri starts ok.
• capri would warm-up
• capri would lose power on acceleration by greatly hesitating or stalling.
• if capri would stall, it could take several minutes or more before i could restart it.

have your car re-learn idle. (i don't know the steps for the year of your car). -- i didn't do re-learn idle on my capri, but it would have been a free solution if it would have resolved my problem.

my solution was to replace the Air Intake Controller (also listed as ISC/BPA Selinoid).

this device has 1 blue electrical connection, 2 medium coolant hoses, and 2 tiny coolant hoses (1 is hidden behind and underneath).

if you do this, replace the lower hidden hose at the same time. they tend to fail with age.

i hope this helps you !
i found this is actually a common failure and solution.
20minute task if you've never done it before.

   
       

[Chicken]

Nascarfan08 anything changed??