My Squire stalled today.

Thanks for all the great leads to follow on this. I jumped into the Squire last night when I got home and hit the starter and it just cranks over but no start. I can hear the fuel pump running when I turn the key on, so I am sure the pump is working. I am guessing it is ignition related, as I have been reading online how instant fail (like turning the ignition off) is a tell tale sign. If it was fuel related it would have felt starved, and acted quirky before the engine quit. That's not to say I am right, just a feeling I have. Now I have to dig for the Haynes Manual.......

 

Wish I had a helpful suggestion. I just wish you luck. Hope it's not an expensive repair.

 

Did the 1988 Wagons have EFI/Turbo? I know you said you could hear it this morning. Is it electric or mechanical? My old british cars had noisy electric pumps, that's why I ask.

 

Probably a EFI 302 with an eclectic pump Normy.

 

Are they known to be faulty? The brit pumps were notorious back in the late 50's and 60's.

 

It is a EFI 302. The electric fuel pump is mounted in the tank. I have had them fail in other cars before (1995 F150) and they either sound squeely or don't make any sound when they fail.

 

I'm thinking the Rev or Andy are on the right track.

 

Uh Coil first module second . EdShaver

 

SquireDon, I probably shouldn't relate this story to you as I'm sure your problem will get solved, but your situation does bring it to mind.
When I was the sales manager at Island Ford in Staten Island NY, I factory ordered and sold my mom a brand new 1984 silver Thunderbird Elan with almost every option you could get on it back then, including the 5.0 V-8. It even had a little voice that said if you left the door open or the lights on or the keys in the ignition. (My father hated that feature and swore he was going to disable it.)
Anyway, after about 6 months, the car started stalling out at totally unrelated and inexplicable times. The engine could have been cold or warm; it didn't matter. It would happen about once every two months or so and all she had to do was to start it back up and she'd be good to go again. If I brought the stupid car into our service dept for that problem once, I must've done it twenty times, all with the same result--no problem found, stalling could not be verified. My mom got to the point where she didn't trust the car and was glad to finally trade it in on an '89 Continental. I'll bet that car, if it's still around, continues to stall for no apparent reason and has frustrated alot of owners and techs. Never could figure it out.

 

I have a new coil, and a new Ignition Mod being dropped off tomorrow.

& Snooterbuckets, my parents had an '86 Lincoln Town Car that did the same thing. It would stall for no apparent reason. It would always restart, but they had enough when it stalled out in the middle of an intersection one afternoon. Ford garage could never replicate the problem. They loved the car, but it was too much hassle. So they traded it in on a new '90 Lincoln town car....... so they could replace the Transmission twice in 65,000 miles. I thought dad was going to put a bullet in that car to put it out of it's misery. :Blasting_anim:

 

When my folks got the LIncoln in '89, I insisted they get the 100,000 mile warranty. I forget how much it was, but for the next few years, all I heard from my dad was what a waste of money it was. Meanwhile when it had 96,000 miles on it, the 3.8L took a dump and was worthless. They got a brand new one for the $100 deductible. Needless to say, I didn't hear Dad complain anymore about it.

 

I saw a recent GM ad, where the warranties are about as short-lived as their Lithium battery lifespan. They're building throwaway cars again.

 

So I have a the new TFI ignition module. It mounts on the side of the distributor. Do I have to pull the distributor to replace it? Or can I carefully unscrew it and slide it off?

 

I don't have TFI, but here's a couple bits of useful info.
http://www.niehoff.com/techtips/ford.html

http://www.coolcats.net/tech/troubleshooting/tfi.html

For future reference (or with your morning coffee):
http://www.epinions.com/auto-review-2771-1DEC7FB7-39E554B7-prod4

 

im down to 18...