hey whats up sorry if this isnt the right forum for this but I have a 1990 4 dr ex and today my car just died on me right in the middle of the road, i thought i tmight be out of gas yet when i put gas in it it still won't start, it is firing and turning over and there is gas in it but it just won't start, also my brakes and steering had no power when i tried to tow it home so pressing the brakes was very difficult. could this be an electric problem? or possibly a fuel pump? please post your comments or even better email me at Rosehills19@aol.com thanks a lot

 

if the motor isnt on then all the pulleys and pumps are not functioning and things wont work, ie your steering wheel, you have power steerin if im correct, need the pulleys to rotating to be working, so thats why that wasnt working, and the brakes, believe me if you had no pump helping you out im sure your leg would be 10 times bigger tryin to make it stop. As for the motor not turning over it could be a number of things. Check Fuel Pump, fuel Filter,fuel injectors, Battery, it may have enough to turn it but may not have the correct voltage.anything under 12.6 is low. oh yea check your grounds. Other than that I dont know what to say cuz its a broad statment
hope it helps

 

There's a number of thigs it could be, such as fuel pump, but being a 4th gen and the symptom you describe, my first guess for the culprit would be the distributor gone bad. 4th gens had quite a few problems with those new style distributors they started using with the internal coils, and when they went bad the car would just shut off out of the blue and not restart.

Fuel should be easy to check since you can usually hear the fuel pump humming for a few seconds when you first turn the key on. If it is, pull a spark plug out, connect the plug to the wire, and crank the engine or have someone crank it while you watch the plug (lay the plug down where it won't touch anything, and don't touch it yourself!!). See if it's sparking or not... if not, there's your problem!

 

Sounds like it's not getting spark. A bad fuel pump would cause the engine to sputter before dying. A bad main relay usually presents itself upon trying to start a car that's been sitting.

My 1990 LX did the same thing a couple years ago at the top of an off ramp on I-95 in CT. Took a couple days of replacing stuff (and a $60 tow bill) before I figured it out. Turned out to be the little center electrode on the distributor's rotor had a carbon dust build up on it. The spark towers weren't getting spark. I just wiped it off, then polished it with a pencil eraser. Been good ever since.

 

when was the last time your timing belt was replaced?