Fords4Us
Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2012
- Messages
- 51
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 8
- Location
- Snohomish, WA
- Vehicle Year
- 1983
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Engine Size
- 2.8L
- Transmission
- Manual
I have an occasional but maddening problem with a manual transmission, Duraspark-converted '83. We did the conversion back in 2015, and for the most part it's been running well since then. We replaced the worn-out carb over the winter, and that fixed most of the rest of the problems. However, we still have one newish issue (for about the last 4 months) which has been difficult to nail down.
The truck will be driving along smoothly, and I'll go to put in the clutch. As soon as the clutch goes in, the engine stalls. Here's the weird part. Since I'm still rolling, I try to restart it by letting out the clutch slowly at whatever gear is appropriate. But it won't restart. I have to pull over and wait for a moment before restarting the engine, at which point it fires right up and I drive away. Given that when the engine stalls I lose my power steering, "pulling over" can become its own challenge as I have to really arm-wrestle with the steering wheel to get it to turn. Not fun.
It's happening now about every 100 miles, give or take. Lots and lots of gear shifts during that 100 miles without problems, and then for whatever reason it happens again. Our best guess is that I've got a sub-optimal electrical connection somewhere. Most of the time it's a good enough connection that everything works. But then every once in awhile that connection is momentarily broken by the engine rocking slightly when the clutch goes in. When that movement is enough to create a brief electrical short, I then lose current to the coil and subsequently the spark plugs, which is why I can't restart it while still rolling.
With that theory in mind I have checked and rechecked all the electrical connections all along the ignition circuit. Everything from the distributor back to the coil, back to the ignition module, all the way back to the alternator and even to both battery posts and the battery ground. I have found a few suspect connections, which I clean up and re-tighten, but then it happens again.
I've been fortunate so far that each time it happens, I've been able to safely pull over and restart. But I can imagine a number of scenarios where a stalled engine AND no power steering could really put me in a bad place. And it happens so infrequently, we've not been able to duplicate it when checking this-n-that. Any ideas on what else it might be? I have to say, this is frustrating enough that for first time ever, I've started to really seriously think about retiring the old truck and going with some other ride. Thanks all; I sure hope we can get this solved.
The truck will be driving along smoothly, and I'll go to put in the clutch. As soon as the clutch goes in, the engine stalls. Here's the weird part. Since I'm still rolling, I try to restart it by letting out the clutch slowly at whatever gear is appropriate. But it won't restart. I have to pull over and wait for a moment before restarting the engine, at which point it fires right up and I drive away. Given that when the engine stalls I lose my power steering, "pulling over" can become its own challenge as I have to really arm-wrestle with the steering wheel to get it to turn. Not fun.
It's happening now about every 100 miles, give or take. Lots and lots of gear shifts during that 100 miles without problems, and then for whatever reason it happens again. Our best guess is that I've got a sub-optimal electrical connection somewhere. Most of the time it's a good enough connection that everything works. But then every once in awhile that connection is momentarily broken by the engine rocking slightly when the clutch goes in. When that movement is enough to create a brief electrical short, I then lose current to the coil and subsequently the spark plugs, which is why I can't restart it while still rolling.
With that theory in mind I have checked and rechecked all the electrical connections all along the ignition circuit. Everything from the distributor back to the coil, back to the ignition module, all the way back to the alternator and even to both battery posts and the battery ground. I have found a few suspect connections, which I clean up and re-tighten, but then it happens again.
I've been fortunate so far that each time it happens, I've been able to safely pull over and restart. But I can imagine a number of scenarios where a stalled engine AND no power steering could really put me in a bad place. And it happens so infrequently, we've not been able to duplicate it when checking this-n-that. Any ideas on what else it might be? I have to say, this is frustrating enough that for first time ever, I've started to really seriously think about retiring the old truck and going with some other ride. Thanks all; I sure hope we can get this solved.