Engine stalling again

[atf01]

1980 360/727/219 wag

I've got a weird stalling and starting issue, engine starts right up when the starter works properly, and there's no sputtering so I'm ruling fuel and carb out, it stalls at idle and at wot, anytime at random, definitely feels like spark just shuts off, now, back to the starter, the starter isn't working properly most of the time, it cranks intermittently, meaning it turns the engine a bit then stops then turns a bit again, I've noticed when I disconnect the ign module it cranks normally, the ignition module is new, motorcraft, (albeit a chinese one I'm guessing, since I doubt they're made in the US anymore), so is the starter solenoid.

Had this stalling issue a while back, it cured itself for a couple of months after I changed the module, I'm starting to suspect it's the wiring but I wiggled it all around and it didn't stall, maybe it's the pickup coil?, since I'm having that intermittent starter operation issue it all must be related right?

Also the wiring is pretty crusty and repaired (properly with crimps and heatshrink) maybe I should replace all of the wiring for the ign system?

PS: I did tighten the starter cables, they were loose a month ago and the cable was getting really hot, the starter issue cleared up a bit but it's back to being as bad as it was before.

PS 2: for what it might be worth, the NSS's been bypassed I'm not sure how but it's never worked and I lost the wiring to the nss a few years back when the connector got loose and the wiring got ripped out by the front driveshaft, the rest of that piece of the harness is intact, it just got up to the connector above the bellhousing, and the ammeter bypass was "done" except it's still plugged all the way to the ammeter but there's a big wire straight from battery to the alt.

[SOLSAKS]

sounds like you are on the right track,...

I wish I could offer advice

but I am ignorant about many technical issues,...

someone on here is bound to have some good advice.

good luck,....

dave in NC

['89_Wagon]

I had something similar happen when I tried the GM HEI ignition module except it would start fine when cold, but during a hot start the starter would turn slow and eventually burned out. Some posts said the ignition was advancing too much at startup, working against the starter.

I mention this because you suspect your ignition module is causing performance issues elsewhere. Could be working against you at startup too. The module should be retarding ignition during startup. Maybe it's not doing that because of some wiring or connection issue? It's not getting the signal that it's starting?

[rang-a-stang]

I would attack these one at a time. Pick either the slow starter and fix it, then go after the stalling. If you mix them together, it gets confusing. If they are related, you fix one, you fix the other.

With the starter, make sure all the connections are good and clean. Wire brush each connection. Battery solenoid in, solenoid out, and starter. Clean the place it connects and clean the connector on the wires. Then clean the ground from the battery to the engine. Do you have headers? Might be heat soak on your starter, too.

[atf01]

Thanks everyone, I've been testing a bunch of things, realized just disconnecting the coil made the starter problem go away too, so it's not just disconnecting the module, now the wire that feeds 12v to the red terminal in the module also feeds the coil and one of the smaller terminals in the starter solenoid (both of these last ones with reduced voltage coming from the resistor wire) all of this is wired per stock wiring diagram specs, I've also noticed the issue with the starter tends to happen more often when the engine is at operating temperature, and I noticed the coil gets really hot.

The blue wire that's supposed to retard the spark was cut off ages ago, but the engine has started fine (starts right away after turning the key) for years so I'm thinking that's not part of the issue.

I agree I should look at these problems separately, linking them does make things more confusing, the connector from the pickup coil to the harness is completely destroyed, I sort of jerry rigged it together with some jb weld but it might be causing the stalling issue, I found an old dizzy with a coil laying around, tested it and the coil was bad (and the magnet is broken) so I'll swap the connector over to my working pickup coil to eliminate that (and I'll add an extra ground cable since both the pickup coil and module are grounded to the dizzy housing through that black wire), also, my ground from chassis to engine is connected to one of the studs of the engine mount from the underside of the base in the chassis, I'm thinking that's not grounding properly since the mount is rubber, so I'll see if I can ground it straight to the block where the alt bracket bolts to the engine or somewhere close to that area.

If the stalling persists I'm thinking of checking out the ign switch, a few days ago while testing, I started the engine, it idled for about 15 mins and suddenly shut off, went to start it again, it started no problem, so I just sat there about 10 mins later it stalled again but I noticed, the clock and the parking brake light shut off for 2 seconds and then came back on, i'm not sure if I'm losing voltage completely on the ign circuit when it stalls (since the clock and cluster get 12v from the red ign wire from what I could tell from the diagram).

I'll keep posting progress in case this might help someone with similar issues in the future.