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'Dead car rolling' -- distributor, or worse? 200

posted by  someone claiming to be kevin-at-vmware-dot-com on  Wed Jul 28 05:22 CST 2004 [RELATED]

This has not been a good morning. Could use some great advice from y'all.

CONTEXT
+ 1983 240 GL (aka 244) 4-door auto-trans, 160k miles, I'm 8th owner.
+ I use it lightly, drive a few miles a day to & from work, minimal highway use
+ It has been loping on idle, hesitating (with a cough or snapping noise) when cold on accelleration

PROBLEM
+ This morning, was driving it to work, about 25 mph and accellerating slowly, when it snapped / coughed and the motor simply stopped. (No backfires, roughness, or any warning -- just suddlely no engine).

+ I was still rolling, so I pulled over and tried to restart (A/T in neutral, then in full Park) -- starter motor spins happily (light-weight noise) but there's no sound of engine turning over / ignition (eg, not even that heavier coughing noise you get when cylinders aren't quite catching). Slight smell of gasoline.

QUESTIONS
+ So... what could this be? I'm thinking distributor -- because (between the sudden total engine halt, the smell of gas and the total lack of any cylinders catching) it seems like there's no spark in the cylinders, eh?

+ If my diagnosis is right, could I verify by removing the rotor cap and having someone turn on the starter motor -- the rotor not spinning would be a dead giveaway, right?

+ OR, am I missing something more sinister?

help help, I have to get my beastie towed anyway, just trying to figure out whether to take it back to my driveway or to the local shop...

thanks!

- KE





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