I was driving home from The Block (of Orange, CA) at about 80mph. All of a sudden..CLANK!....I stepped on the gas and nothing happened. The engine was still on, but it wasn't reving or anything. I looked at my RPMs and it was at 0. So I turn on my hazard lights and pull to the side of the freeway. I was pretty scared because the 57 freeway is not a good place to be in the middle of the night. Good thing my friend was with me. When I pulled over, my car just died out. I tried starting it a couple of times but it would only crank. It sounded as if it were not getting spark or something. So I turned off the car completely. Took out the keys, and retried it one more time. BAM! It started. After that, the car seemed fine, but I don't know what could of caused it.

I recently changed my distributor O-Ring because it was leaking some oil, and I'm guessing THAT might be the case. The distributor sounds like there's a grind or something. I hope I can figure what is causing it. I think it might be the bearings.

Also another problem. I have a major exhaust leak. I don't know if that had anything to do with the stall on the freeway or not. The welds where the piping meets the muffler is totally messed up. So the muffler moves around and the only thing that's keeping it up is the exhaust pipe that's going into the muffler.

Anyway, what could of caused that to happen? My distributor? I hope someone can help so I can get this problem fixed ASAP.

-Thanks.

 

Certainly could have been because of your distributor, it's happened to me before. If you're hearing a grinding noise, it could in fact be the bearings, but I'd guess the ignitor, since they fail often. Your exhaust leak has nothing to do with the stall.

 

pull the cap off the dist, and see if anything is broken, or really worn

 

Thanks, I appreciate the answers. Is there any other posibilities that anyone can think of? I'm gonna try to open up the disitributor and see if everything is okay.

-Thanks once again.

 

open the oil cap. get someone to crank (by hand) motor if you see movement good, if no, broken timing belt and lotsa bent valves

EDIT read again....methinks your Dist dook a ****. leaking oil is a sign thet the bering is dead and the oil seal is worn. when that happens the inside of the distributors magnetic trigger wobbles and starts crashing into the sensors. Grinding is also a bad sign.

see if there is fine metallic shavings all over the inside.

 

Wow. Thanks for the information. I'll be sure to try everything out. As far as I'm concerned, I'm pretty sure it's the bearings. But we'll see...Thanks once again.

 

happened to me also on the freeway doing 90mph, car dies off, had to get the trailer and get it pulled home...

it wasnt the coil, ignitor, but the housing of the distributor itself, cost me $180 for a new one at advanced auto with lifetime warrenty, it even included a new ignitor and coil, only thing i reused was the cap, rotor.

 

same thing happened to me in my old 89 si hatch i was on highway doing 70 or maybe a lil more and the same thing happened but after that happpened to me the car would run fine but if i would give it too much gas it wouldnt respond right.....it ended up being the bearing inside the ditributor and after that the car ran fine and sold it new owner still has no problems

 

Well, it's Sunday. I took a look at everything. The O-ring "seems" fine but it's still leaking oil. I'm sure it was the distributor causing all my problems.

I was driving today and it happened again. this time, over and over and over. When it dies out, I'm more aware of what's happening. And what's happening is this...

-RPM's die down to 0 but somehow the engine is still on.
-If I gas it to try to make the rpms jump, it won't. Nothing happens.
-It sounds as if it's running on 1 cylinder..Literally.
-Sounds like the car is gargling (spelling?) something..Sounds like oil.

Those are just some of the symptoms that I can think of right now. From what you guys know, would that sound like a shot/bad distributor? If so, do I have to replace the whole thing, or just the bearings if possible?

-Thanks

 

Ok, from what you're saying, it does in fact sound like a distrib problem. Although, it could also be a fuel problem, are you running an aftermarket pump? Reason I ask, recently my car left me stranded, it was sputtering and died all the way home, found out it was the brand new fuel pump I just put in. Stole my roommates, dropped it in the tank, and it's been perfect ever since.

 

-RPM's die down to 0 but somehow the engine is still on.
-If I gas it to try to make the rpms jump, it won't. Nothing happens.
-It sounds as if it's running on 1 cylinder..Literally.
-Sounds like the car is gargling (spelling?) something..Sounds like oil.

I dont think the engine is actually still running, I think having the clutch pedal out combined with the forward momentum of the car will force the engine to turn over. which makes it sound like its running.

This probably doesnt help much.....

 

Is it posible to just replace the bearings? The distributor is leaking lots of oil and it's making a clicking sound as if my valves needed an adjustment really bad...click click click rapidly. Anyways, I was wondering if the bearings itself can just be replaced. And if so, where can I get them, how much, and how to I change it?

-Thanks once again.

 

Last time I heard a CLANK from my engine, I opened it up and it looked like this:

 

Well, as far as I'm concerned, mine still runs right now. But I'm scared that it's gonna die again. That's the last thing I want. When it runs, it runs normal, but when it acts up, then I'm screwed. Anyone know how much a distributor is from a junk yard? THanks.

 

PLS. BUY A NEW ONE!!! Don't take any chances on a junkyard deal.....

 

You can have yours rebuilt, or trade it plus money for a rebulit one (core charge). I would try to find someone that has the same distributor, and borrow it for a bit to test it in your car

 

i dunno this probly is wrong but i my last car, it had a thing like that, and it turned out that the fuel system was messed up, a bottle of Fuel injector cleaner would stop it from doing that for about a week or so, but eventually i got the a full air and fuel clean out at the dealership and it worked alot better. so i dunno if that helps but i would deff check the distributer first.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by miataguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Last time I heard a CLANK from my engine, I opened it up and it looked like this:
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Man please don't post pictures like that, your gonna give me nightmares!!!

 

the clanking noise your talking about, does it sound like ice being chopped in a blender?? kind of a crushing sound almost.. If so its a bad bearing.
The simplist way to tell is to jut start the car, lean over the engine, and just listen for where the noise is coming from. Or You can get automotive stephiscopes from parts stores CHEAP and they are invaluale peices of diagnostic equipment.. But from the way it sounds, id be willing to bet its your distributer. Consider your self lucky that its given you this much warning, they usually just go and leave you stranded..

 

YES, it pretty much sounds like ice in a blender, but not blending. Just clanking around in there.

 

Update people! I bought a rebuilt distributor for $140. I know I could of gotten a better price, but desperate times call for desperate measures and it's the only car I have so I NEED it to be working.

Anyways, the change was a success. Set it at the stock spec timing and it sounds so "normal" which is music to my ears. There's also no oil leak so I'm presuming the leak was definately coming from the bearings.

I want to thank everyone who has participated in this thread in order to help me out. Thank You everyone.

 

I did that before when my knee hit the key. (I'm a tall dude).

 

Right on, glad it worked out for you