ludesrv

My car died on me this morning. This problem is one I've never encountered before. Here is the history of the problem.

My car was running great. No problems whatsoever then all of a sudden my ignitor starts acting up. Eventually (within 30 kms of the ignitor first acting up) it died. When it died, I tried to start it. The engine turned, but the main relay was just clicking back and forth at a high rate, and while it's doing so, the CEL flashes at the same rate. All the other lights would not blink. This would happen as soon as I would put the key in the on position. Figuring it was just a ignitor issue I replaced the dizzy with a known good one. The car started up and drove away.

Now, when I was driving, usually when the engine was warming up, this relay clicking business would intermetently happen on the new dizzy, causing it to die out. Normally, this issue would only last 1-2 seconds and the engine would recover on it's on without stalling. It all went away on its on for about 2 weeks.

Today, all of a sudden, I was going thru a drive thru for a coffee and the thing just quit. As it quit, the clicking business came back. I managed to get it started long enough to park it. Then it died for good.

I have no idea where to start with this other then replacing the dizzy again. What else should I look into? The main relay has never been an issue and works fine under normal operation. I'm just wondering what would cause the system to act up like this.

Cars a 91 wagon, OBD1, D15B7 all stock. CEL is on for TPS (drove 4 weeks without issue).

CW-ITR

iTrader: (11)

I could be way off on this. Any time before the car "die for good", does the battery light come on and off during driving? If it does, check your alternator. If it is the original alternator, the bushing probably is gone and need to be replace.

ludesrv

Yes actually. The battery did flicker, and recently it has gotten worse and sporadic when compared to the RPMs (usually when its high its off but I've seen it on at 3500rpm). Why would this not allow the car to start tho? The battery is fine. It has always started.

schock3

exactly what popped into my head first, change your alternator

CW-ITR

iTrader: (11)

The alternator job is to keep your battery at a constant 12Volts. When the bushing goes bad, it stop charging your battery and your battery slowly loosing it voltage every time you crank the ignition. At the point when the alternator fail, your battery will still reading 12V. So, don't let it fool you. Now, do this. Take your DC volt meter and monitor the battery voltage. Have someone else cranking the engine. If I'm right, the battery's voltage reading should drop below 12Volts. It's time for a new alternator or new replacement bushing. New ebay bushing will run you about $15 bucks. Remanufactered alternator will run you anywhere from $60 to over a hundred. Don't even think about pick a used one up at the junkyards unless you are lucky to find an EF that already has a replacement one.

ludesrv

It started up just fine once I got the car out of the fridgid cold. I'm gonna replace the main relay with a known good one as well as the alternator. Hopefully these replacement parts will allow the car to start without issue long enough for me to sell this thing. Thanks all.