Ran fine and died after normal start..wont start 1990 soveriegn

has been starting as always strong and quick. went to leave work and made it about 50 ft. and it died like it just lost power…wouldn’t start back up.

Do you have ignition lights on the panel?

Do you have fuel?

Do you have a spark at the HT lead from the coil to ground during cranking?

Does the engine crank when you turn the key to the ‘start’ position?

If so, does the tachometer register 200 - 300 RPM while cranking on a ‘dead’ engine?

If not, suspect the crankshaft position sensor (CPS) or its connector (mounted on the front of the engine above the crank pulley).

Bryan…

If you do the troubleshooting that Bryan suggested and still haven’t found the cause ,

… then try a new rotor and distributor cap. I know it sounds too simple but believe it or not that is a very common cause of the car to just STOP running. Normally happens when you come to a stop and
the engine drops back to idle.

I have fire to the cap from the coil and that’s where it stops. Last year I replaced the cap plugs plug wires and cps

If you have sparks from the coil HT lead to ground during cranking and hence to the distributor cap but no sparks from any of the plug leads to ground then the fault has to be the rotor arm or a cracked distributor cap going to ground OR, every spark plug lead is ‘open circuit’. Of those options, I would bet on the rotor arm. Did you replace the original last year with a new item?

You are definitely getting a tachometer reading around 200 - 300 rpm during cranking?

I did replace it with a new rotor arm my tach is reading 100 rpm

Is your battery fully charged? If the battery is in poor condition / low on charge, the current drain during cranking often persuades the EMS ECU to prevent engine start.

I have it on a charger so I don’t run it down. Imy going nuts on this.

ybdoc …

If you are absolutely sure that you have a good strong spark from the coil wire that goes to the distributor cap but you don’t have a spark at any of the plug wires…

Well it could be that the distributor itself isn’t turning but you can quickly determine that by removing the
cap and watching it while someone cranks the engine. Barring that…

Even though you changed them it is either the distributor cap or rotor that’s at fault. That’s all it can be.

Bought another rotor arm…on the thought that I might have received a bad part…boo yah. Fired right up

Delighted it was that simple! :slight_smile: I was about to post another thought dredged from my failing memory of such events before I read your last post. I recall that with similar symptoms someone once discovered that the little spring-loaded carbon brush which transfers the spark from the coil lead in the top of the distributor cap to the top of the rotor arm was stuck up in its recess in the cap and so not making contact - hence no sparks at the plugs.

Of course, it has been known for that carbon brush to be missing from the distributor cap before the cap is refitted with a similar result. Don’t ask me how I know that! :slight_smile:

I’ve said it before … and I’ll say it AGAIN

In the 23 years that I’ve owned and used my car daily it has only broken down twice while driving …

Both times it was the ROTOR / DISTRIBUTOR CAP (not sure which since each time I replaced them both with new spares I always carry).