Questions and Answers
Mazda Dies
Q. Out of the blue last week, my car just stops running. No smells, sounds, unusual movements of the car or panel lights coming on. If I let it sit a minute I can start it right up and drive it only to have it stop running. Sometimes it runs for a few minutes, sometimes I can go an easy 10 minutes before it stops running.
Mechanic put in new fuel filter, carburetor, cap and spark plug wires. I hadn't driven moe then 5 minutes from the lot when it stopped running again. I started it and drove it a few minutes and repeated that step until I was back at the mechanics. Obviously what they replaced wasn't the problem and he doesn't seem to know what it is. Any suggestions?
1. 1991, Mazda 626
2. 2.2 liter
3. Manual transmission
4. 200,000
5. Fuel Injection
6. No ABS
7. Yes to P/S, A/C, Cruise
8. Yes to rack and pinion steering.Thanks!
A. Since the complaint is easy to duplicate, it shouldn't be too difficult to track down. The first thing I would do is determine if the problem is fuel or electrical.
When the car dies, I would look in the carburetor sight glass and see if there is fuel in the bowl. If there isn't, then you probably have a bad fuel pump. A fuel pump is also easy enough to check with a vacuum gauge.
If there is fuel, then I would check the spark. When the car craps out, I would pull a plug wire and check for spark. If there is no spark, then I would think the most likely cause is the ignition module. This is a classic symptom for them.
Because the problem is so consistent, I have to wonder how the guy who worked on it ever let it leave the shop. I would be ashamed to have a customer come back half an hour after he picks up a car I deemed repaired.
