Can anyone give me some signs of a bad distributor? My problem is under WOT at times the check engine light flashes on for a second, and the car loses all power, as if it stalled but is still running. I'm pretty sure it just stopped firing for that second or two.

 

check your ignitor

most likely it is that. take your cap off and check for a reddish/brownish colored 'dust' inside.. if that is present, then your distributor bearing is shot and you will have to get a new distributor chassis.

look at your coil and check the hole. if it looks whitish or crusty, it might be bad also, but an intermittant problem is most likely your ignitor (silver square box inside the distributor with 5 wires connected to it)

OH yeah, it could be your rotor too, it might have come loose or something like that

 

Would any of those fit in with it happening very rarely. I actually don't think it has anything to do with WOT, it just happens when I shift hard from first to second. I went over a speed bump a little too fast today and it happened. I'm starting to think it is happening due to being jolted around.

 

Check all of your ground points. Dont forget the one on the thermostat housing. If its caused by jolting, somthing is loose. You can do the wiggle test. Actually part of fords diagnosis is to shake each plug until you find a fault. Sometimes battery grounds get loose.

 

when your car keeps cutting off on you during use, and it is hard to start. It will eventually give out leaving you stranded. I know from experience

 

You are getting misfire codes when it flashes like that. Check your wires, spark plugs

 

Is mirfire the only code that goes away? It isn't possibile to check the code since it goes right away.