North American Turbocoupe Organization



URGENT- STRANDED
powerstrokin Offline
Junior Member
#1
Guys I need help. Driving from Utah to Indiana, I'm stuck in BFE Nebraska on I-80.

Car started missing more and more cruising at 75 mph.

About once every 10-45 seconds or so, it would miss sometimes bad enough the tach would drop a few hundred rpm for a second then run fine. Bad miss under boost.

Then it just died. Cranks, won't start. Tach doesn't move a bit while cranking don't know if it should. Tried to test spark with screwdriver in main wire, and near coil tower. Wrong?

Pressed Schraeder valve on fuel rail, little dribbled. No pressure.

Where's the fuel pump relay? Don't have a cover for fuse panel.

If anyone can help I would really appreciate it. My cell is <-redacted->
'88 Turbo Coupe
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vinnietbird Offline
Senior Member
#2
My Bird is an '88 Sport, and the fuel pump relay is in the trunk up high on the passenger side inner fender under the window. Could be a bad fuel pump. I have had that happen. And for the reasons of being stranded in the middle of nowhere, is why I have cut an access panel in my trunk for the pump swap. made a nice panel to cover it.
1988 Thunderbird. No details will be given or spoken of.
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vinnietbird Offline
Senior Member
#3
Turn the key to the "On" position and listen for the fuel pump to prime.
1988 Thunderbird. No details will be given or spoken of.
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vinnietbird Offline
Senior Member
#4
Turn the key to the "On" position and listen for the fuel pump to prime.
1988 Thunderbird. No details will be given or spoken of.
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Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#5
Fuel pump relay is in the IRCM on the pass side strut tower. If you dont hear pump run, jump the inertia switch in the trunk (on tail light panel at back of trunk), and see if pump runs. You can also run a long wire from batt pos terminal to pump side of inertia switch to bypass relay, wiring, etc to see if the pump runs.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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turbird77 Offline
Member
#6
I've had the inertia switch itself go bad on mine before, and caused the car to randomly die while driving, and not restart at all. To test it pull the wire connector out of the bottom of the inertia switch, and use a paper clip or short run of wire to jump the 2 connector wires together. If the fuel pump runs then, the Fuel Pump relay in the IRCM is fine, and the inertia switch is the problem.
88 TC - Work in Progress.
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Dan S Offline
Administrator
#7
Update:

I talked to him a few minutes ago on the phone. He is near Sidney, NE and a roll back truck picking him up. I gave him the phone # for the NAPA Auto Store that has a service center in Sidney. Not much out in that part of the country, which is 85 miles East of the Wyoming border on I-80.
Dan S
Custom 88 TC, Mandarin Copper Pearl Metallic
http://natomessageboard.com/ubbthreads.p...5#comments
1972 Ford F-100 SWB Styleside
2015 Lincoln MKC 2.3 EcoBoost AWD
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powerstrokin Offline
Junior Member
#8
Thanks guys, and Dan. It's the timing belt. Sidney Napa is bringing me one now. I'll do a search on here but any pointers?
'88 Turbo Coupe
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#9
There is an article about installing a new belt. Triple check the results when done.
Pete Dunham


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powerstrokin Offline
Junior Member
#10
Well I'm about to leave Strong Motors (Ford) in Julesburg, CO. They put a new belt on the ol girl and she's running again. Good service here in case anyone needs it in this area.

Crossing my fingers haha. I've only got 1,000 more miles to go!

Also, so far I've filled up twice since Utah and got 29.4 and 24.6 mpg respectively. Hand calculated and the odometer is correct. I attribute the poor second tank to the timing belt that probably started slipping or jumped a tooth. Second tank should have been better mileage since it was flatter terrain.

Thanks everyone who posted for trying to help me out. I kinda freaked out... It was the middle of the night after all and Nebraska is very empty.
'88 Turbo Coupe
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