FIRST A LITTLE HISTORY: This ’78 245 is my daily driver. 267K miles. CIS injected with 3 spd AT. I rebuilt the engine 10 years ago, which now has about 40K on it. Runs good. We live in suburban city so I drive 28 mi daily round trip of which about 18 miles are X-way doing between 60-70 mph.
THE STORY UNFOLDS: Last Friday I left for a 150 mile overnight trip out of town. Before hitting the X-way I topped off the tank with gas. It took about 13 gallons. Got about 4 miles onto the interstate doing about 70 mph and the car quit. No warning, nada, nothing. No dash lights. I turned on my 4 way flashers and coasted across 4 lanes of traffic (the driver of the Kenworth was especially accommodating) and I coasted well off the curbside. The car would crank but would not fire. (Bad gas?) I noticed however that when I turned the key “off” that the dash lights stayed dimly lit. (A “short”?). I looked under the hood and did not notice or smell anything unusual. I disconnected the battery, then reconnected it. No large sparks or “snaps”. I tried to start the car again. Same symptoms: crank, but no fire. I had the car towed home. Before the tow truck driver left, I tried to start the Wagon in my garage, and it started right up! (Bad gas, fuel filter, vapor lock?) The dash lights now went completely off when the key was turned “off”, and light up brightly when the key is “on”. I still had to make my overnight trip so I took my 240 and left the wagon in the garage.
LOOKING GOOD: On Sunday evening, I got in the wagon and it started right up. I took it for a “test drive” to the grocery store and bought a gallon of ice cream. Drove the wagon home and it ran like normal. About a 4 mile round trip, doing 35-40 mph. I thought whatever it was, it must have healed itself.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: Monday morning at 6:45 am, I got in the wagon and it started right up. After about 5 miles at 35-40 mph, I got on the X-way and stayed in the curb lane - - just in case. I got about 3 miles down the highway and was doing about 60mph and - - you guessed it - - the car quit. No warning, nada, nothing. No dash lights. I turned on my 4 way flashers and coasted to the curb. Same symptoms: crank, no fire. Dash lights dimly lit when key “off”. Had the car towed home. Tried to start it and it still displayed the same symptoms. Disconnected the battery. Drove my 240 to work. Came home that evening. Tried to start the wagon. Lifted the hood. When I connected the battery, I heard a “tsssst”, not the fuel pressurizing, but just a different kind of noise. Key “off”: no dash lights. (I’m thinking “this is good”) Key “on”: all lights bright. Started the wagon and saw a little “poof “ of smoke rise from under the raised hood. No backfiring. It started like normal and I drove it out of the garage and turned it around and parked it in my garage again.
NOW WHAT?: So now it’s been sitting since Monday and still starts and idles just fine. But I am not taking it out on the road until I figure out what’s wrong, but I don’t know where to begin to trouble shoot. I have no electronic diagnostics or fuel pressure testing equipment. I am thinking an intermittent electrical problem: fuse, relay, the ignition switch? Is it something that acts up only when it’s warmed up or hot, under pressure or vacuum, or only at high speed? It’s hard to diagnose when the wagon now acts fine, but I dare not take it out on the highway as I don’t want to incur any more inconvenience or towing bills.
Is she destined to be a “grocery-getter"? Any ideas on trouble shooting this problem??? Thanks in advance for your advise and suggestions.