I did a search but got lots of threads on cars not starting at all. The problem on this '89 ED3 is that it starts fine when it's engine is cold. Cars drives fine as well, but when you get to your destination and kill the engine, and you try to start it again... it won't start.

Last week we swapped the ignitor and the coil from within the distributor from another (2nd hand) unit because the car simply died *while* driving it... could it be that one of our 'new' parts is bad as well?

 

This is most likely a problem with your main relay. Its under the dash right near the coin pocket on the left of your steering wheel.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SlobberGoat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I did a search but got lots of threads on cars not starting at all. The problem on this '89 ED3 is that it starts fine when it's engine is cold. Cars drives fine as well, but when you get to your destination and kill the engine, and you try to start it again... it won't start.

Last week we swapped the ignitor and the coil from within the distributor from another (2nd hand) unit because the car simply died *while* driving it... could it be that one of our 'new' parts is bad as well?</TD></TR></TABLE>
This problem is typically caused by a bad ignitor.

In some cases it could be caused by the main relay for the fuel pump, but judging by the symptoms you described, this does not sound like your problem.

When was your last ignition tune-up?