Motor quit while driving

[jake]

I went to go get my hair cut today and on the way to the barber the motor quit going 35 mph. I pulled it over and put it in neutral, she fired right up and have had no problems the rest of the trip. She is getting a little hard to start. Battery is good and the starter is find, possible fuel pump? Or do you think electrical? Any help appreciated before I tear into her.

 

[tallhair]

Is the bulkhead connector in good shape? Could be some corrosion in there and flex / heat expansion etc causing loss of contact or a loose wire somewhere in the electrical circuit.

Any symptoms like bucking, run on, knocking, surging like running out of gas etc or just quit running like you shut off the ignition?

 

[jake]

Quit running like you shut off the ignition.

 

[1978 NYB]

Check your coil.

 

[tallhair]

another thing to check/replace would be the electronic control module which can fail intermittently but it could be a several things but it definitely points to electrical if it just powers down immediately. Have you done any work on the car lately and how new / old are your electrical system components? First check would be for loose wire especially if you've done / had any work done. Sorry I'm not familiar with whatever you may have been doing to your car since I've only been here a short time.

 

[jake]

Thanks for all the help everyone, I m heading out for a week of relaxing so when I get back I will start checking. Ill keep ya informed

 

[mdh157]

I had a prob with one of my polaras where the bulkhead connector had a loose wire, it would just stop running. Once I reset the connection it was gtg

 

[Stormer]

If it ran out of fuel it wouldn't have started right back up. Gotta be spark.

 

[Fratzog]

My Monaco did the same thing. Trial and error eventually identified a bad connection between the fusible link and the bulk head. Old wiring is a *****.

 

[Skwerly]

i had that issue once and it was my blue/orange elec.ignition box losing ground. if i wiggled it, the car would start again. of course, i was young, so i didn't re-ground it. i just kept wiggling it.

 

[Wildaugust]

i had that issue once and it was my blue/orange elec.ignition box losing ground. if i wiggled it, the car would start again. of course, i was young, so i didn't re-ground it. i just kept wiggling it.

:icon_lol: One of my cars did this. It was running fine. I stopped at a stop sign and the engine just up and quit. I tried to start it but it wouldn't even fire. I had another car do this many years ago, so I thought it might be the same thing causing it. I opened my hood, popped off the distributor cap and rotor then held the points open while I pulled a folded paper towel through the gap. I put the cap and rotor back on, turned the key and she fired right up. That was four or five thousand miles ago and she's been fine ever since.
I don't know what was in the gap, a speck of dirt or grease, but something was preventing contact. So, if your car has points, it could be as simple as cleaning or replacing them.