engine just dies

goldsberry1 · Post by **goldsberry1** » May 26th, 2005, 12:45 pm

ok with the msd and the 3055 mod done. now when the car gets hot it starts running badly and stumbleing. then it will randomly die. i checked the grounds and everything is good. the only thing i can think of is the ignition box or coil is bad. anyone have any ideas on what i can do? i have to have it done by the 13th of june.

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » May 26th, 2005, 1:20 pm

sounds like dist cap to me

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » May 26th, 2005, 1:46 pm

yeah i second that..did you replace rotor and cap? maybe its worn out. did you seal everything up right?cracked cap can cause problems.

babyblueMX3 · Post by **babyblueMX3** » May 26th, 2005, 1:48 pm

he's running an external coil with a msd box guys...don't think the disty is in fault here

goldsberry1 · Post by **goldsberry1** » May 26th, 2005, 3:43 pm

cap and rotor are both new. i was thniking that it could be a faluty coil. i'm running a msd blaster ss. msd 6A box and 3055 mod.

wyldside · Post by **wyldside** » May 26th, 2005, 3:55 pm

Where did you locate the Transistor? It could possibly be getting too much heat from the block. My setup is a bit different and has a few more electronics involved but I located it further away from the block to insure it does not receive any heat damaging effects. It could be a coil but MSD tests their stuff quite well. My only other guess would be a faulty solder joint or connection somewhere that begins to short out or loose connection from thermal expansion. I don't think the MSD module would be responsible either since it is thermal tested as well and has a good layer of conformal-coat over it's internal electronics. Check your connections and locations of items to make sure they are not faulty or next to major heat sources.

goldsberry1 · Post by **goldsberry1** » May 26th, 2005, 5:52 pm

well all the msd stuff i have is out of my old car, its about 2 1/2 years old i think. i put it all in the same way in the old mx3 and it ran fine the whole time. the transistor is located right where the three wire pluge goes into the distributor. oh and after the wreack my wife left the whole wireing system outside for 2 months.

wyldside · Post by **wyldside** » May 27th, 2005, 8:27 pm

Ah... Seems as though some of your components may have moisture damage. I would try replacing the Transistor and Resistor before moving to anything expensive. I would also recommend moving the componenets farther away from that 3 Pin Connector since it gets quite hot there. Maybe somewhere closer to the battery would be better. The heat in the distributor area is the main reason the distributor dies out in the first place. Especially with OEM Mitsubishi replacement distys. But yeah, change the transistor first since it's pretty cheap.

goldsberry1 · Post by **goldsberry1** » May 27th, 2005, 8:50 pm

well, i replaced the transister twice. i hasnt died on me yet. but it still stumbles when it get hot. i will extend the wires tonight and see how that works. do you think it might have something to do with the 6a box not being secured? i did that a little bit ago. i had it tucked in too the frame railwhere the factory airbox would go.

wyldside · Post by **wyldside** » May 27th, 2005, 11:36 pm

It might be a good idea to secure the 6A box eventually but it should be okay short term. Long term vibrations can cause the wires to weaken and possibly more issues. Extending the wires should help a lot. Like I said, try to extend it to some place cooler (like close to your battery).

goldsberry1 · Post by **goldsberry1** » May 27th, 2005, 11:42 pm

well i secured it useing a piece of aluminum, as well as the tach adapter. then i took it for another drive. it didnt die, but it still stumbles alot. on the first i'll get new plugs, even though the ones i have are still snow white. tommorrow morning i'll move the transister. this cars problems are really makeing me mad. i just dont get why its still doing this.every thing seems to be checking ok. i called msd and got the test procedures for the coil, and box. both of them checked fine. all thats left would be the tach adapter. but i dont see how that would affect it. should i try and remove it? to see what happens? thanks for your help with this.

wyldside · Post by **wyldside** » May 27th, 2005, 11:48 pm

Well after you do that, and it still has a slight stuble to it. Try getting some starter spray or WD40 and spray it around your intake manifold and vacuum lines. That could also be a possible vacuum leak. I would have to be driving your car to identify it a little more. Sorry I can't be of any further help. What kind of 3055 Transistor did you use?

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » May 28th, 2005, 12:51 pm

wyldside wrote:Well after you do that, and it still has a slight stuble to it. Try getting some starter spray or WD40 and spray it around your intake manifold and vacuum lines. That could also be a possible vacuum leak.

Saw the Rotary guys use butane refill bottle instead of WD40. Leaves no residue and the response is immediate if there's a leak, probably because it's atomized better than WD40. That butane stuff really works for finding vaccum leaks!!

goldsberry1 · Post by **goldsberry1** » May 28th, 2005, 4:47 pm

well i extended the wires today. its still doing it. after i drove it i touched the transister and it was really hot. nothing around it was as hot as it was. i'm useing a 3055 npn transister. i used another one taht i had of the same kind and it didnt correct it. i went back and redid the connections to the msd box after i saw they were not the greatest soldering jobs. now they look good. but it didnt help either. all thats left to check is the tach adapter. the tach works, so i dont know what else to do. do you think water could have gotten into the msd box, coil, or tach adpater? and would that cause this? how about low compression or a burnt piston? this engine only has almost 700 miles on it (693). it doesnt use oil, doesnt tick. when the engine starts stumbleing it looses power i mean it still runs but it just doesnt run a good as it does when its not.