I Got A 1974 Complete Frame Off Restore Job. Have About 1200 Miles On It Now And After You Drive About 10 Minutes The Motor Just Stops, Radio Stays On. If You Turn The Key Back To Start, Still In Gear, The Motor Starts Running Again. Now, Remeber It Is Still In Gear So The Starter Is Not Turning The Motor Over. Its A 302 With Electronic Module On The Fender. I Have Had Fords With The Module Problems But They Would Not Start Until Module Cooled Down. Thanks For Any Help.

 

You kind of lost me with the "its still in gear" and then turn key to start, but the starter isn't what starts the engine??? Are you still rolling with the clutch out and gears engaged? If that's the case, it almost sounds like the ignition switch is the problem?? Starting right away eliminates the coil heating up and shorting out because it's like the black box ... needs to cool off. But when the black box goes out, it just goes. My 73 bronco did that to me. Drove it to the store, shut it off. Came out and nada....crankety crank...no start. New black box and it ran perfectly.

The only logical thing I can think of is the ignition switch shorting out in the on position. By turning it to start..I'd think that it's still engaging the starter but it's also opening the starting circuit again. Am curious as to what you find. There's not too many things it can be...at least in my feeble mind. I guess, I"ll have to check back in later to see if you get it. Got my curiosity going now.

 

Bronco74, when you say "Motor Just Stops, Radio Stays On. If You Turn The Key Back To Start, Still In Gear, The Motor Starts Running Again". are you refering to starter motor or engine?

I've had those ignition modules knock off and on a few times until it just knocked off and never came back on. On a few I've even seen the epoxy on the back of the module bubble and melt away.

 

ONLY WHEN I AM DRIVING ,Its Auto Trans, So The Starter Will Only Work In Park Or Nuetral. THE IGNITION SWITCH IS STILL IN THE ON POSTION,AND ALL I DO IS TURN IT BACK TO THE START POSTION AND THE MOTOR STARTS RUNNING .

 

Well if it's a c4 it might have the safety switch bypassed. That would account for being able to start it in gear. For the shutting off part it might be the ignition switch.

 

I CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW THE STARTER IS NOT OPERATING IN THE DRIVE POSITION.

 

Has Brand New Wiring System, New Ignition. Only Thing Not New Is Electronic Module On Fender, Also Put Another Ignition Switch In Just To Make Sure New One Was Not Bad.

 

I'm sure we all understand your frustration, diagnosing an electrical problem, which this apparently appears to be. But, before I bought a brand new black box, I think I'd go to a junk yard and pick a used one up there and try it out. Might be a little cheaper and last as long as a new one. Never know about them electronic things. Seems you are convinced that's what the problem may be.

Have you checked with anyone in the electrical forum? There's some pretty knowledgeable folks in there also.

In your first post you never stated it was an automatic..only in gear. Sorry we all mistook it for a stick. So... couple questions I have then. If it dies while you are sitting still, what happens? Can you restart it with the starter and it'll run for another X amount of time or miles, then die again? When rolling down the road, you are apparently going fast enough for the torque converter to pump enough to turn the engine over fast enough to restart it without the starter. So ... I guess I'd have to think that your problem is apparently in the black box, or ignition module if you prefer, as you state. It'll eventually go all the way out if it is..that's a certainty. Usually the starting circuits are a tad different than the "running" circuits.

Please... let us all know what you find ...but also maybe check in to the electrical forum..or maybe a moderator can move this thread for you. Good luck.

 

Only Noticed It When Driving So I Ran It Until It Acted Up And Got Home And Let It Idle For About 10 Min. And It Did It. It Acts Like You Just Cut The Switch Off. Motor Starts Right Back Up Like Nothing Wrong. Also Took Voltage Reading At (+) Post At Coil And Never Lost Power To Coil.

 

That is a wierd situation. Those little resistors in the module could possibly heat up and cool down faster than they heat up.. but this also sounds like a possible fuel issue. The dying and instant restart is the tricky part here.

Sticking float possibly?..sticks at top and doesn't allow fuel until engine jiggles a bit & shakes it loose..as in when it's restarting. I guess what you could do to eliminate this is start her up and let it idle. As it starts to die, whack the float housings and see if you can keep it running that way. Process of elimination, ya know. Is it a two barrel or 4 barrel? In any case, I'd whack the primary side, becuse that's what it generally runs on. Does it INSTANTLY die, or stutter a bit first, then die? A stuck float, I'd think would cause it to die in a bit of a stutter, but I could be wrong. Try the tapping on it while sitting and see if that helps.

I'll check back in later and see what ya came up with. Seems, still, like something is bocking fuel briefly. Not that it still couldn't be an electrical issue.

 

Motor Just Stop Like Turning Key Off. This Is Mind Blowing, My Part House Man Is Going To Let Me Try The Module, If That Don't Work I Will Replace Module In Distributor, Thats The Only Thing Not New On The Whole Bronco.

 

Does the coil have a GOOD ground? I would double check that. New paint maybe needs cleaned off connection.

 

forgot to write back and say i replaced elect. module on fender and that fixed problem.

 

I havn't been able to sleep for weeks, thanks for letting us know!

 

By golly... I was right! ****faints*****