car died when in neutral and idle?

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ToddJerad

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I was running my bronco for about 15 minutes then parked in neutral to play around with new radio i installed and setting the presets on it. After about 10 minutes the engine shut down and it would not let me start it back up. I thought it may be an alternator but the next day it started up right away and no problem to the battery at all. I am no expert, but could this be a coil? Does the truck shut down when the coil gets too hot? Or am I looking at a different problem, radio draining too much juice maybe? I have the positive wire from the jvc stereo unit hooked up directly to battery is this a problem? And what is best way so this does not happen again.

 

oleguy74

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connecting sterio direct to batt no problem.make sure it has a fuse in line.if it has not done this before i would not suspect coil nessarily.if that were the case it would fail driving it.just my thought.check ammeter and see if you are charging

 

BroncoJoe19

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Please put some info about your truck, year, engine, EFI or not, type of ignition duraspark, or points etc, so that we can better help you.

Goto MyControls, personal info, signature file

IF it is an early electronic ignition, it may be the pickup coil inside the distributor. If it happens again after she gets hot, and then starts after she cools down, that may be it.

When she won't start, check for spark.

joe

 

Bully Bob

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What Joe said...... "....won't start, check for spark."

I've seen coils drop dead ...& come to life aft. cooling.

Long idle like that may cause eng. overheat (don't know where you are..?)

May have vaporlocked it.

Fill in your signature...!

 
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ToddJerad

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Thanks guys, I put in the signature. I am in LA so it wasn't too hot. To be honest I have been working on the truck for a while (7 months) and never drove it more than 20min. at a time. I put it in idle for maybe 15 minutes and it almost died like no gas was in the truck but there was. I will try and replace coil, but is there others i should replace and maybe replace alternator as well? Maybe replace radiator core? I am not sure the exact details of the ignition and just put a small signature like you guys stated, what else would be important to know?

 

Bully Bob

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Could also be the fuel pump...if a veh. won't start, a quick check is; shoot'n some starting fluid in carb. throat. If it lites up.... there's a fuel starvation prob.

".....maybe replace alternator as well?"

No.....Go to auto Z & they will test all your elect. for you, ...for FREE....

Maybe replace radiator core?

No...., not unless there's a n over heat prob. (runn'n over 180 deg.)

 

BroncoJoe19

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ToddJerad,

Thanks for putting your info in the sig file. That helps a LOT!

Usually when one has an older truck like yours, a good tuneup that includes a fuel filter, points condensor, distributor cap, and air filter will usually straighten out starting problems.

Sometimes it is carburetor related which can be a little more challenging for the mechanically illinclined.

If you don't know how to give it a tune up, BullyBob and I can pretty much walk you through it.

 

Bully Bob

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Joe said;

ToddJerad,

Thanks for putting your info in the sig file. That helps a LOT!

YES.., Now we know what we're work'n with.

"....just put a small signature like you guys stated, what else would be important to know?"

Anything you know about the veh. .....between stock & rock/race ready...(just kidding about race) ;) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

"Not to mention mounting debt :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />"

Now that's funny.............. :lol:

 
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ToddJerad

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Thanks guys. I have a little knowledge of cars and did a tuneup including all hardware on the drums, trans fluid, oil, cleaned aftermarket air filter, new battery, voltage box and probably a lot more. I may just replace the coil just to know it is not that. Another thing I was thinking was that because I was idling for 10 minutes maybe the carb got flooded and that is why I couldn't start it up right away after. Does this happen in idle a lot with the edelbrock carbs and on the EB's, anyone else flood easily. Thanks.

 

BroncoJoe19

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ToddJerad,

On one hand you think it is getting too much fuel (flooding), and OTOH you think that is sounds like it is out of fuel but there is fuel in the tank.

Has it done it again?

IF it did, did you check for spark when it wouldn't let you start it again?

Did you change the fuel filter when you did the tuneup?

Are there two filters? I don't know. sometimes there is an inline filter, and one at the carburetor fuel inlet.

When it won't start, take a look down the throat and depress the accellerator, you should see a squirt of gas, if not the problem may be a lack of fuel. (clogged filters, bad pump, a leaky fuel line, (I once had a car that had a rubber hose connection between the tank and the fuel line. It dry rotted out, and the fuel pump sucked air instead of fuel.))

And like BullyBob said, coils can malfunction when they get hot.

 
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ToddJerad

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I did replace the fuel filter with a metal one from napa which seemed to be fine. I just changed the one that went to the carb will check other fuel filter if there is one. Will replace points and distributor cap and coil to make sure. When i said it died it was almost like not enough fuel because it slowly shut down similarly, but my guess was either I flooded the carb by leaving the car in idle too long or the coil shut it down. The reason I thought flooded was the same reason i thought it could be coil, because I tried to start it 5 minutes after and no luck so pushed it in garage, next day started first try when it was cool. I have never had this happen before but then again i have never had it idle for 10 minutes.

 

BroncoJoe19

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I did replace the fuel filter with a metal one from napa which seemed to be fine. I just changed the one that went to the carb will check other fuel filter if there is one. Will replace points and distributor cap and coil to make sure. When i said it died it was almost like not enough fuel because it slowly shut down similarly, but my guess was either I flooded the carb by leaving the car in idle too long or the coil shut it down. The reason I thought flooded was the same reason i thought it could be coil, because I tried to start it 5 minutes after and no luck so pushed it in garage, next day started first try when it was cool. I have never had this happen before but then again i have never had it idle for 10 minutes.
Todd,

If you only had it for 7 months, and gave it a tuneup in the meantime, it is pretty unlikely that you need to change points cap and rotor, however, perhaps a flaky condensor when it gets hot, so you may want to consider that.

So after you swap out those parts, let her run for a bit and see if she dies. IF she does die, look for spark and fuel to narrow down where the issue is coming from.

joe

 

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