Brad Huff

I recently purchased a Monster Miata and had it shipped to my location. It was transported through a torrential rain storm and when it arrived we off loaded it in a high school parking lot and drove it about 4 miles to my storage. It died in the driveway and would not restart. I came back the next morning and it fired right up so I figured that the rain had something to do with it. I went back over today to get the car out for a drive and had it idling in the lane. As I was closing up the garage it stumbled and died and would not restart. I let it set for a few minutes and then it started but died after about 2 seconds and wouldn't restart. Being a carburetor guy I am at a loss. I know that there are several things that can cause the injectors to shut off but I don't know where to start. I contacted the previous owner and he says that he drove it as a daily driver and never had a problem. The gas gauge shows full and he told me that he filled it up before it left. I did loosen the gas cap and there was a pressure release but my 1.8 NA does the same thing. I guess I don't know for sure if there is an ignition problem because I am by myself and I can't crank the car and look under the hood at the same time. I suppose I could set my smart phone to record the ignition tester and crank the engine. It does not have a stock fuel rail so there is no schrader valve to check fuel pressure. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you in advance.-Brad

tbone heller

Sounds to me that it is likely the module AND stator. Test before you guess!

engineer

Hi Brad,

You only need 3 elements to make it start and do something.

Compression, Spark and Fuel. I assume you have compression. So its either Spark or Fuel.

I am guessing its more likely a spark issue. So simple pull out a Spark plug wire from a spark plug (i.e. Cylinder 8) and pull back the plug wire jack. Use sticky tape, a bit of wire, a screw driver or whatever you have handy to hold it in place close to(i.e 1/8 inch) to any earthing point on the car (i.e. bolt head on the engine or body) . Then crank it and see if you get a solid spark jump across from the spark plug wore tot ground. I sometimes do this at night (or in a dark shady spot) as you can see the spark a lot easier.

If you pull the Cylinder 8 wire for the test it should be close to the driver side fender when extended out so you should be able to see a spark if you are standing outside the car and cranking it. When you do crank it for the test keep the throttle to the floor to stop the injectors form activating and flooding the engine.
If you get a spark great. If not...then its likely the module as Tbone said.

It wont take long to do the test and you should be able to see if its sparking or not. If its sparking we will move to the fuel side..

keep us posted

Brad Huff

Update-
Finally got time to go over and look at the car. I had no spark. It would run for a couple of minutes then die. The only way that it would start was if I let it set for a day. Well, I left it sit for several days and then I took apart all of the connectors between the distributor through and including the coil and cleaned them with contact cleaner. I am the new owner of this car and before the car was shipped to me the seller "detailed" the entire car including the engine compartment. It was coated with this oily substance under the hood, it was everywhere. I was told that it was some sort of a detailing compound so I am assuming that it is non conducting but it was a mess. It was so heavily applied that it dripped down from various places in the engine compartment and pooled on the floor. The hoses, the wiring, everything is- was covered including the contacts of most of the plugs in the wiring harness. After I cleaned the contacts the thing started right up and ran for several minutes until I shut it off. It would not run for that length of time before. I am hoping that this was the problem. It has a"Select" remote ignition control module. Don't know anything about this particular brand but I believe that oem Ford modules are generally preferred. I'm learning about the hows and whys of efi and engine management systems. This is all new to me, I am pretty much a carburetor and points guy. Any other suggestions? I am still afraid to take it out on the road, it is so low to the ground that I am not sure how it could be towed.-Brad