I have a 91 xlt 3.0 (pushrod) auto 2 wheel drive, it was losing power so I pulled the plug wires 4 of them were misfiring to the block, replaced the wires and it ran fine, drove down the street and back, 1/2 way back engine just quit! It's turning over just fine, got fuel and air, replaced the ignition control module, there's no crankshaft position sensor on my motor, trying to figure out why it would quit firing? Didnt spit or sputter, no loud noise or grinding, nothing to indicate jumped timing or something breaking, not sure what else to check?

 

Welcome to the forum

Do the 50/50 test, its been around since the first gasoline engine in the late 1800's, lol, still the best test invented
Spray gasoline or Ether(quick start) into the engine
Crank engine
If it starts and then dies you have spark but no fuel
If it doesn't fire/start then you have no spark
50/50 instant results

You have a distributor so no crank sensor needed, these are used on distributorless engines only

 

Thanks for the response, and the welcome, 50/50 lol never knew that was what it was called😏
that was first thing I did, removed breather tube opened butterfly valve and hit it with ether cranked engine, didn't even try to fire, I'm pretty confident it's not getting spark, just don't know why?

 

Yes, 50/50, starts or doesn't, some people think you can't use it on fuel injected engines

No back fire right?
That means spark only comes on when key is ON(RUN) not in START, so when you release the key it fires once

Pull up distributor cap enough to see rotor
Crank engine to make sure rotor is turning, easy test and a waste of time to check other things if rotor shaft is not turning

Does the CEL(check engine light) come on with the key on, so you know computer is booting up?

Next would be to get a volt meter or 12v test light
Test coil for 12v key on, the wire here also powers the TFI module and Hall effect sensor in the distributor, this 12volts comes from the ignition switch, red/light green wire to all components

The sudden dying of the engine sure reads like fuel, but if it doesn't fire then spark is where you focus attention

 

Borrowed an EEC code reader, told me my ignition pickup coil is bad, it's the original distributor so going ahead and replacing whole thing, I'll let you know how it turns out, thank you for your responses, I also had a spark tester, no spark at all! Hopefully by Saturday I'll have it running again🤞

 

I have a question on a friends 99 ford explorer, power locks and windows, I put in a new battery, there was no battery in it, he found what he believes is the right key, but not sure? Put key in ignition the theft light starts blinking, key will not turn ignition, won't unlock the steering wheel or shifter, it goes in the ignition and it goes in the door lock but won't unlock the doors, not even the rear hatch, can the antitheft system lock out the key or is it more likely that he has the wrong key?

 

Wrong key, similar Ford keys will always go into a Ford lock, it just won't turn it to unlock it

Theft light should always flash slowly when battery is hooked up, its to warn thieves that anti-theft system is active

Once key in the ignition is turned to RUN(on) then the key is tested for its PATS number, if Theft light then Flashes rapidly, very fast, it means the PATS key was not in computers memory, and engine will not start
The fast flashing Theft Light will start to flash a 2 digit number after about 60 seconds, a 1 flash, pause, followed by 2 to 6 flashes, longer pause, then it will repeat the code several times
This will tell you why the Key failed the PATS test, again this is AFTER you find the key that allows you to unlock the doors and turn ignition switch to RUN

 

Once again, thanks Ron