Car shuts off while running!!!

[69PonyRider]

Well this problem is very frustrating, i just got the car a few months ago and now that i started driving it around, the car shuts off while its moving! Could that be because a short somewhere? The car has trouble turning on, like if the battery is going dead, could that be connected with shutting off? One other thing....the car has a kill switch but the car will only turn on if the car is in neutral(automatic) is that part of the switch or is there something wrong with that? thanx.

[nicolette]

That happened to me!. I was learning to drive at the time and i thought i stalled the car (although we wern't going slow!). The car couldn't start afterwards although it tried really hard! ;p. it nearly caught and then did a tremendous backfire. i ended up ringing AAA and getting towed home!. Unfortunately i am still learning when it comes to these baby's...but when i looked under the hood i saw a loose wire where i was sure there hadn't been one before. When my dad looked, that was what was wrong. The wire for the starter motor (i think it was that one!) was shorting out against the engine. It was also too long...someone had hand twisted extra wire onto it with the copper thread hanging out!.Dad said i was lucky it didn't catch fire. And he was also suprised i had been running my car so long without problems. Apparently the wire had been loose and not attatched to anything since day one....just hadn't shorted against anything. So have a looksee. after i shortened the wire and secured it, my girl runs smooth again! ;p I hope it's as simple as that for you!
good luck B)

[mustangman65_79]

I had the same thing two diffrernt times, and found two different probs.

First check all wires going to your coil. Any of these coming off will have no spark.

The other is the wires in your distorbitor. I had a screw come lose in there, again, no spark. It would try to start both ways, because the enegine is shaking durring starting. Ck these and get back to me.

[Kisner]

Had the same problem with my 68 when I first got it in that it would only start in neutral. Took it to my mechanic and he had it fixed in 5 minutes. The neutral/safety switch was out of adjustment.

[pntrbil]

69PonyRider, if it won't start in Park you definitely have a neutral safety switch problem. Out of adjustment, broken wire, not working etc. It's located on the driver's side of the trans, the only wires on the trans go right to it, and that's where you'll be able to fix that.

As far as the other problem the list of what could be is very long but I'd be looking at that "kill switch" first. Mustangs didn't come with kill switches so somebody put it in there and quite often those kind of installations are the worst.

Hope ya figger it out!

[69PonyRider]

whats happening to me is almost identical to nicolette's story, it would start running, shut off, and wouldnt start for a while, nothing not one click from the bay, then from sitting a while and thinking of solutions i would try again and it fired up as i was pulling away a very loud backfire, it scared the crap out of me!! i looked through my rearview mirror and thought i saw a flame from the bottom of the car. my lil bro was in the car with me and he looked pale as snow. IT WAS LOUD!! could that be the timing? I going to check out that starter though.

mustangman65_79 I checked those wires looks like they are all hooked up right. Also, its got an MSD ignition setup could it be that it wasnt installed right?

im thinking of removing the neutral switch, if that's the problem and i wont be able to fix it, then so much for safety. ill check it out though. thanx this has been so much help so far.

[mustangman65_79]

I didn't even think of this till u posted again, have u checked your fuel filter? I've had the same porb with that before. Car shuts off while driving, and won't start right back up. Not enought gas getting to the carb. The MSD could be going out too, try hooking up your stock system just for a little bit. I've heard of those getting warm, then just quiting.

[Gearhead999]

Sounds like the neutral safety switch. It is adjustable. But, may need replacing.

[PKRWUD]

The neutral saftey switch can prevent starting, but can't kill a running engine. I believe it's a problem with the battery cables and/or alternator output connections. The backfire confirms this wasn't fuel related, and that the ignition was shut off. The backfire was caused by the fuel that was still being pulled into the engine that didn't ignite because the ignition killed. Normally, a bad battery connection wouldn't kill the engine if the alternator was in good working order, but the fact that the subsequent attempt to start the engine resulted in a weak battery condition tells me the alternator may not be up to par, and was unable to support the load when the battery connection was lost. I would first inspect and clean the battery terminals and cables, and verify they are on tight. Next, I would check the alternator output at idle and at 2000 rpms, both with and without a load.

The person who is having the problem with the neutral start switch needs to replace it. They're cheap, and should never be simply removed and forgotten about. Even the best of us have accidentally tried to start a car in gear, and that can be dangerous if the switch isn't there to prevent it.

Take care,
-Chris

[mustangman65_79]

To farther back up PKRWUD, I'm driving aroung my bronco w/o a working neutral safty switch. I have to start it up from under the hood.

[mustangman65_79]

Oh ya, now it's too late to edit

Chris-
I was driving around with a died batt and no Alt one time on acident. My power wire from my alt burned off because of batt acid, but my car till ran. I had an elictric fan going and I noticed that it had stopped running. My car still ran good, don't know how. But it has a stock spark system in it. Maybe since his is a MSD it doesn't work w/ a died batt. I luckly found the wire, fixed it, and waited about 30 min, till my batt had just enough power to crank it over, it started on the first turn, lucky.

[95GTS]

Check that neutral safety switch.

Also, I'd bet money that the reason your car is dying and not starting is the MSD. I"m having the exact problem of my L dying and not starting till I sit for a while. I've got the MSD 6A with MSD TFI Blaster coil. I can unplug the MSD and plug back in the stock ignition and it starts right up. Then I can plug the MSD in, run for a few days maybe, and then have troubles again with it dying and/or not even starting. Just sits there and cranks. So I've been running without the MSD for a couple months with no problems. My MSD is only about a year old too . Plug in the stock ignition and run on that for a while to see what it does. Then try the MSD for a while. Kinda run an experiment. I've heard of quite a few people having this exact problems with the MSD units.