VIDEO ADDED!-Car won't idle right...can't figure it out..

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

So the other day was nice and I decided I'd get the car out and wash it. After I cleaned it up I drove about a mile down the road to blow the water off. Everything was running perfect. Came back home and put my new headlights in and decided to go down the road one more time before I parked it back in the shop. I drove about half a mile down the road, and when I went to turn into a driveway to turn around the car just randomly died. I fired it right back up and turned around and headed back home. When I turned on my road the car died again, and this time it took several tries to get it to fire and run for more than a second or two. I drove about 100 yards down the street and when I turned into my house it died again. This time it took about 3-4 minutes to get it to fire up and run, and I wound up having to keep it idled up and put it in drive to get in around in my shop. About two days later I fired it up and it ran absolutely fine like nothing had ever been wrong...for about two minutes then it just died all of a sudden. When I tried to fire it back up it wouldn't do anything but click, and acted like it wasn't getting a good connection at the battery...if you moved the cables a little bit, the fan would come on for a sec. I bought a new battery yesterday finally and when I tried to crank it I couldn't get it to fire up and run. My buddy/ford know-it-all came by today to check it out. He got it to fire up and it ran ok for about a minute, then started idling terribly, like it was flooding. We tried unplugging various sensors, taking vacuum lines loose, etc. Nothing seemed to make a difference. The only thing he thought it may be was the fuel pressure regulator. Almost everything under the hood is brand new, the only sensors I haven't replaced are the TPS and IAC. Only mods to the car are smog pump delete and catless exhaust, Fox headers with no EGR bung; The EGR valve is on the intake and the solenoid is plugged in, I just have the tube capped off. Other than that the motor is all stock.

If anyone has any idea what could be causing the madness please lend me some info!
-Elrod

 

[5-oh-MUSTANG]

Possible Distributor. 99% of the time its either the maf, tps or iac. Id clean all 3 first.

 

[CC'S95GT]

I'm thinking dizzy as well.
Have you pulled codes? You can have one set without the CEL coming on.

 

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

I'll get on that possibly tomorrow or the next day and if that helps. Thanks!

 

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

I'm thinking dizzy as well.
Have you pulled codes? You can have one set without the CEL coming on.

Haven't yet. I'm gonna try to find out if a friend still has a code reader. I don't have it registered yet so I can't drive it uptown to O Reilly's or anything. When I got ready to put the distributor in I took it apart and cleaned it the best I could with electrical contact cleaner, and it has a brand new MSD cap and rotor and street fighter coil. What could be going on with the distributor that makes it act up like that?

 

[SLOW95GTS]

The Mass air might be dirty and then I would check the distributor. Water could of got to your distributor cap and test the ignition module.

 

[CC'S95GT]

Haven't yet. I'm gonna try to find out if a friend still has a code reader. I don't have it registered yet so I can't drive it uptown to O Reilly's or anything. When I got ready to put the distributor in I took it apart and cleaned it the best I could with electrical contact cleaner, and it has a brand new MSD cap and rotor and street fighter coil. What could be going on with the distributor that makes it act up like that?

The PIP inside of the dizzy is known to break down after a few years of use and heat cycles. It's a very common issue.
Sometimes a remanned unit will work sometimes not but at least there's a warrenty with it if it does fail. I went through 3 remanned dizzys but I've been good for 4 years now.
Some guys have used a Rich Porter Dizzy with good luck. and it's new not remanned.

Codes... look in your Haynes/ Chilton manual on how to pull codes with a paperclip. and DYI. It's so easy I don't even want to buy the $20 reader.

 

[96gt4.6]

i would guess a ground wire, check every thing you did with installing the headlights, seems like there is a ground behind the drivers side headlight

 

[Phoenix0783]

TFI module can be an issue. The bushings inside the distributor shaft can get worn out and cause the timing to jump around. And, like others have said, the sensor inside the cap can get worn out too. Also, the rotor can get worn out too. Look for black marks or pitting on the contact on the end of the rotor and the underside of each tower electrode.

 

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

Thanks guys I'll check it all out one day this week and see if I can get it straightened out!

 

[2002BLGT]

If its cutting off and wont start back for few minutes , its 99 percent sure its the distributor or the TFI module , both of those usually cut out when hot and if you let them cool off for a minute they will start working again for a few minutes and then repeat LOL , so I would get a reman distributor and a new TFI module both and parts bomb it and it should be good to go , I have also seen fuel pumps do the same stuff but that is easily found by checking your fuel pressure with a test gauge

 

[95opal]

If its cutting off and wont start back for few minutes , its 99 percent sure its the distributor or the TFI module , both of those usually cut out when hot and if you let them cool off for a minute they will start working again for a few minutes and then repeat LOL ,

What he said

 

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

I haven't made time yet to try and clean the maf or iac or anything yet but I went out earlier today to crank the car and let another buddy check it out and my brand new battery was already dead, so I put my charger on it and will prolly try again tomorrow sometime. But after that it made me think if it could be a bad ground somewhere or if whatever is going on could also be causing my battery to drain, because the battery I had in it before this weekend was fully charged and now is dead all of a sudden after it started acting up. Any thoughts?

 

[5-oh-MUSTANG]

Same problem. My battery dies with in 2 days if not started. Do a parasitic draw test and start pulling fuses lol.

 

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

I let the car charge over night and went out today to try and crank it...when I first turned the key it sounded like it was still dead. I turned the key again and held it down and it slowly started trying to fire up and after about 4-5 seconds it fired up but still ran like crap. I had to keep my foot on the gas and keep it running for the whole 15-20 second time period that it ran, and when it died I just left it for the night. Gonna pick up an ignition module and an obd-1 tester tomorrow and try to clean my maf and some other things and see where I stand.

 

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

Pretty sure something is definitely making my battery drain and I'm guessing it's most likely the cause of my car idling so crappy too. I'm just stumped on where it could be coming from.

 

[shoua50]

Battery draw, dies while driving or idling, won't idle, electric fan came on for no reason, runs poorly. I think u got a bad ECU

 

[CC'S95GT]

Pretty sure something is definitely making my battery drain and I'm guessing it's most likely the cause of my car idling so crappy too. I'm just stumped on where it could be coming from.

In the past people have had issues with amps and aftermarket alarm systems causing the battery drain. I have also seen a bad alternator kill the battery too
Finding the draw will almost be impossible without a multimeter.

 

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

I looked today for anywhere possible that a wire could be grounding out or cut or anything else and can't find anything. Went ahead and took the maf out and cleaned it but I can't start the car with a dead battery so I'm back to square one. I can't imagine what it could be though...new battery, alt, coil, cap & rotor, all new sensors, fuel pump and filter, the car is basically new again lol. And it stumps me that for like two weeks I could go out to my shop and put the key in and fire it up faster than you could blink, it would idle perfectly and start again immediately after you turned it off...no issues at all...and I drove it twice (a total of about 3-4 miles) with no issues at all...then all of a sudden bam it starts cutting out and dying, won't idle and now is draining the battery. God I hope it's not the computer..

 

[ElrodKTPQ_89]

In the past people have had issues with amps and aftermarket alarm systems causing the battery drain. I have also seen a bad alternator kill the battery too
Finding the draw will almost be impossible without a multimeter.

Also didn't mention there is no alarm system other than keyless entry from the factory and no amps or even a cd player at the moment.
And how do you check for draw with a meter?