Engine dies when....

[srwilson]

Did you check for voltage on the battery side of the coil?

[AirForceFiat]

Yes I have 12.6 volts on the terminals with the key turned on and on the wire terminal going to distributor

[srwilson]

Just checking, did you have the problem before you replaced all the parts or only after? I'm thinking you replaced the parts to address this problem, but you never know.

Is it possible that one of the items you've replaced is faulty too?

It seems if you are not getting any spark at the plugs, and you have power at the coil, then it seems the problem is between the two.

Check block ground. Ohm out from engine to frame.

[AirForceFiat]

Yes thank you well do you think it could be the pickup? It looks ok but it's really all that's left...

[AirForceFiat]

Now new update again now it's back to dying when I hit the brakes or turn on the lights it restarts right away and runs again for a few mins then dies again, it's getting really annoying how the cause of the dying keeps jumping....

[srwilson]

Did you check the engine ground? I've added a ground running from the coil bracket to one of the nuts on the cam cover at the backend of the camhousing cover.

[AirForceFiat]

And now the last time it died the engine went really hot and the radiator was steaming and bubbling....

[AirForceFiat]

Ok cleaned the grounds and now it doesn't die right away when the brakes or headlights are turned on it slowly drops the RPMs until it dies. And 30 mins running no matter if your foots on the gas or not the engine dies

[rlux4]

Do you have any manuals for your car yet? If not, you should. Also, if you haven't done so yet you should also download Brad Artigue's FI section in this maintenance manual;
http://www.artigue.com/wp-content/uploa ... 124_MM.pdf
You will find in it the info you need to set your engine up to specs. The car dying could be from any number of causes, but if you haven't checked the ignition timing, the valve timing, and set the idle speed you're shooting in the dark.
We can't really tell what you've checked of the suggestions so far.
Ron

[AirForceFiat]

Ok I've checked most of the stuff in the tuning manual, but another problem has now popped up, I changed the fuel filter and the distributor pickup and now it runs like crap and I'm getting premature detonations in the cylinders (hollow popping from the engine while running) and the timing seems to be completely wrong, and when u try to set the timing with a light and turning the distributor when I get close to the marks the engine can barely run and dies....

[srwilson]

Changing the fuel filter and pickup shouldn't create the new symptoms that you describe.

Wished I could be of more help here but I'm not sure what you've checked and cleared. Double check your Plug wires. Are they properly placed? Have you checked the valve timing? Could be you've slipped a couple notches on the timing belt. Remove the timing belt cover or remove the inspection rubber plugs on the back of metal plate and check that your cam pulleys are in the proper position when # 4 is TDC.

Need to go through each system one at a time checking and clearing it as you go.

A shotgun approach of replacing parts can sometimes fix a problem but it's hard to tell exactly what problem you had and what the real fix was. It can be quite costly as well.

You had said earlier you didn't see that the plugs were firing. What did you do to correct that? If it just started firing again the problem still exist.

Good luck! I hope you are able to find the real issue here.

[rlux4]

Did you set the air gap at the dist. PU? If so, hopefully you used a brass feeler gauge, you don't want to use steel. It's a magnetic PU. I may be telling you something you already know, but we shouldn't assume.
Ron

[chuckcloutier]

Also check your ignition switch. These go bad and cause stalling. Coil is on the accessory circuit.

[RattleTrap]

I had a very similar problem where any lights turned on (like headlights or brakelights) the fuel pump lost about half its voltage, killing the car. The solution I found was I sanded off the paint at the rear left ground; the one that both the brake light system and the fuel pump ground to. Try really cleaning that up.

[MikeR]

On F.I. Spiders the fuel pump shares its ground with the left rear light cluster and with a poor connection there applying the brake (lights) can affect the electric fuel pump. A common fix it is to add an extra separate ground to the chassis for the fuel pump. Many F.I Spiders will already have this fix.