my 93 1.9L mercury tracer, which i use as my college beater car, has suddenly died on me twice in the past 2 weeks. I put new plugs/wires & air filter on it and it runs like a champ, but today I was coming back from the gas station, i went around a turn and it just died. Battery is good casue it still tries to start. I got my truck and towed home and as soon as i tried to crank it, it fired right up. It has 84,xxx miles on it, and the fuel filter looks pretty raddy--im thinking its a fuel filter. Any ideas?

Also, I dont have a gas cap-just a rag i shove in there to keep water, etc out. Do you think that a cap could have anything to do with it, since it could hold pressure inside the tank somehow? Im hoping its not a fule pump. Any ideas?

 

back to the top.......

 

check foe spark and make sure when you turn your key you here the fuel pump hummmmm

 

Check for spark!!! Prob an ign module problem if it is temp sensitive. get it started and use a blow dryer on the module. I have seen this knock out a running engine because the module get hot and stops working.

 

i checked that and i started hearing a slight click-click every now and then. Turns out one of the spark plug wire boots had come loose from the plug. This time i cleaned the boots and plugs but im still thinking its something else. When it dies it throws a CEL at me, however when i start it again, it goes away.

This is aggrivating

 

You did know you were buying a model that had over 200 TSBs against it when you bought it, right?

Tracer

 

yea i knew there were a handful of recalls on this car, but this car is actually in great shape. The motor/tranny are fine--doesnt burn a drop of oil, purrs like a kitten and the tranny fluid is clean and doesnt shift hard, etc. I didnt realize there were this many TSB's with this car. If this fuel filter doesnt fix the car in the long run and it turns out to be a fuel pump (in tank type), this cars going up for sale

The one recall that im worrying about is the "Fuel Pump/Sender Wiring Modification " Sounds like I could be a candidate. The cars only got 83,000 on it.

 

I'd look into more info on the TSB campaign for the fuel pump sender modification. Sounds like it could be the problem. It was a recall. Maybe you can get it fixed free.

 

you really think i can get a 10 yr 80+k car serviced under recall conditions?

 

Dunno

I always thought that the dealership (or any company that issued a recall) had to honor the repair/replace agreement. It isn't limited to the original owner or length or ownership unless there is some kind of clause stating the terms of the recall. And I don't think they can weasel out of a recall for safety reasons no matter how old it is.

 

Do you think they would consider a fuel pump a "safety item?" If so, what documentation do i need so that i could drive my car to the dealership and say "fix it for free" and not have them laugh at me?

 

Real simple just call the dealer on the phone and ask em if theres any open recalls on your car, then give em your vin and they should be able to tell you... usually if not always, they are free.

 

Ill give that a try this weekend when I go home. So under this TSB, I have a chance at having a new fuel pump installed for free?
Also, does anyone know if the fuel pump is somehow accessible through the truck? I know that some electronic fuel pumps can be taken out through the top of the tank instead of taking the whole gas tank off.
Thanks.

 

When the engine is totally warmed up, is this when it dies and won't start till it cools down a little? I would suggest the pickup coil in the distributor is giving up. I had this happen on a escort with same engine. It was a right pig to track down!! Turns out when the coil gets hot a break in a wire opens and kills the spark.

 

how much would one of those cost? are they easy to install?