I have no clue what the ^%#% happened!

A few hours ago, I was driving down the road about a mile or two from my house, going 35. Suddenly the car just up and died on me. Wouldn't crank back over. I pulled the air-cleaner off and sprayed Gumout down the carb and it kicked over. It's done this a couple times in the past, but only in the winter, when I had gotten in the habit of pumping it many times before starting and then did it if I had say stopped at the gas station and it was already warm, flooding it. Any Ideas?

The only thing I was doing out of the ordinary was talking about an older wagon I was looking at as a summer cruiser. Hopefully I didn't upset my baby so much that she had to threaten me....

 

I'm thinking alternator.

 

Fuel line filter? Water in the tank?

 

It sounds ignition related. Like suddenly your spark plugs aren't getting a spark.
Years ago I started experiencing that sort of thing intermitently with my old 88 Dodge Dakota pickup. I could be driving down middle lane of the Washington DC beltway going 65 miles per hour during rush hour...wait, no, not during rush hour if I was able to go 65,... and suddenly it would stall. There I would be coasting two lanes away from the shoulder,completely surrounded by heavy traffic, and it wouldn't re-start. Since it would happen intermittently, and at any time, no mechanic could pinpoint the problem. It would re-start eventually, possibly after a cool down period of some length. A friend had similar experience a year earlier with a Dodge Shadow and it had turned out to be the "pickup plate in the distributor". I told my mechanic to replace the pickup plate and it solved the problem. Your car's issue is likely very different since its not a Mopar, but if the symptoms are basically the same, then its likely still ignition related (distributor, coil, voltage regulator, ballist resistor, or whatever electronic parts your particular model wagon may have).
Disclaimer: I am not a mechanic and I don't play one on TV, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

Meanwhile, if you think you're getting a spark, and feel like its fuel related, but don't think its the fuel pump or carburator or fuel injectors, consider that possibility that somewhere between the gas tank and the carburator there may be an ancient rubber hose as part of the gas line, which after decades of use has dry rotted and cracked allowing air to get sucked into the fuel line. A friend with a restored 68 Fury convertible that would stall on long drives and not re start, traced his stalling problem to an original 5" long rubber hose underneath the car that looked fine but apparently wasn't and had started sucking air.

 

See, I was thinking alternator too, because this happened almost like this with my Crown Vic after driving down my road during a flood. But I had to think Fuel due to the fact that some Gumout down the carb got her going again. I just put spark plugs in the other day. And I replaced the fuel lines from The engine to the tank a month or two ago. Dad thinks its the carb.

I took Dad's car to work today, but when I got home, I fired up the wagon, went and got changed out of uniform, got the laundry going, and came back and it was still idling, so I dunno if maybe it was a fluke? That was Dad's second guess.

 

If the carb had a sticking float or needle valve that could cause a fuel cutoff.

 

CapriceEstate, I think it might be the talking of another car that you mentioned , lol. I once owned a '94 Chrysler LHS that seemed to do the same thing. Whenever I talked of trading it in, bam, another repair bill. I'm not superstitious, but it was pretty weird. :16suspect1:

 

When you say it wouldn't crank back over, do you mean it truly did not crank, as-in turn the key and nothing or it drags?

 

It would turn, but I found out I wasn't getting proper spark. When you all mentioned ignition problems, I figured I'd check my plug wires and sure enough the rear passenger one was not 'clicked' all the way on. I clicked it in it seems to be okay. But I have only driven it around the neighborhood.

Now, another problem. I was putting new rims/tires on my car today and for those familiar with these Caprices, they have a 'T' tool to take the hubcaps off. Well, one of those special bolts is stripped off, so I only was able to swap 3 out of four after finally giving up. It was the last thing I needed considering it was 7pm, I had to work at 4am this morning, got in a big fight with my pop, but enough about my personal life. Anybody have a suggestion how to fix this problem?

 

I delt with those alot when I worked in a tire and lube shop. Pry on the outter edge of hubcap with a screwdriver or tire iron while spinning the locking nut. That always did the trick for me.

Then, like I have said to you in the past many times. Toss them damn things in the dumpster and get some real wheels for it, lol. Seriously, do the pry and unscrew trick. Your plastic locking nut is stripped, it either got hot or over tightened and stripped it out.
Look for a replacment nut or hubcap if you plan to keep them on the car. They will get loose and rattle like a SOB or even fall off. You know how heavy they are and just imagine the damage one of them would do to a person or another car when it comes sailing off going down the road. Lawsuit, insurance claims or funeral services could possibly be in the future.

 

Find a new job, get your own place.

 

A single bad/disconnected plug won't cause it to die and then not start. Run rough? Sure. Die? No.

Could be as simple as a bad battery cable connection. The winter thing is what kinda throws a wrench into things.... Perhaps a carb issue....

You only need 4 things to start & run: Juice to turn over - air to ignite - fuel to ignite - spark to ignite.

If you're running down the road and it dies, but has plenty of battery to turn over, it's not juice.

I'll assume you don't have an air filter that looks like a burlap bag and you're getting air.

Spark is so simple to check. You can buy a spark gauge at any parts store for a few bucks. Next time this happens, hop out, clamp the spark gauge to a good ground, throw one of the plug wires on it and crank. (granted it helps if you have someone else to crank, or can put the gauge where it can be seen from driver's seat/door)

Fuel can sometimes be an issue to check. Which are are you talking about? Fuel injection or carb?

 

The real reason it died is that you were talking about another wagon in it's presence. That's bad. You hurt it's feelings.

Apologize and it will run just fine.

 

The guys are right, cars have a conscience, and they don't like us having too many lovers. They let you know, one repair, after another. TLC.

 

Ignition module in the distributor if it is HEI ignition?