Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Over the last 6 months I've had a strange problem with the way my 1600 is running. It will run fine for up to an hour or two then it will die like its out of gas, I can then sit with the motor off for about 5 to 10 mins. start it up and it will run just fine until it dies again. I never know how long it's going to stay running, it has died in as little as 10 minutes of running. I have changed the fuel filter, fuel pump (electric), spark plugs and wires, distributor cap, points, condensor, had the distributor rebuilt and carbs checked out but still I continue to have this problem. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. THANKS GUYS!

Could be the coil overheating. They are oil filled, and if the oil has leaked out over the years, they can overheat and shut down. I have had that happen. When they cool down, they work again - just not as good as a new one though.

Of course, I could be wrong...

I had a dodge did that for a while. Shut down after 30 minutes running, almost exactly My drive to work was 25 minutes. If I hit traffic, could depend on it to crap out. In desperation I added a clear fuel filter by the tank in the fuel line so I could see if it was running out of fuel. It was. Blew out the fuel line with a bicycle pump from the pump back to the tank, never happened again. Made me crazy for couple months trying to find it. Made my local parts store Very Happy while I was trying.

Sid's suggestion is a good one, do you have a functioning ballast resistor?
High voltage will heat the coil up fast.

Good luck

DELETED

i had a problem with the car shutting down similiar to what u described....it turned out to be bad points so i switched to electronic ignition and the problem was solved....check this as i thought mine was a fuel problem as well...

I would have to agree with Sid on the coil overheating.
My car had the same problem of konking out like it was out of gas after running about an hour and intermittenly after a cool down.
The coil was hot as heck. Once replaced, problem went away.
Oh yeah, I also cleaned up the ballast resistor because it had filthy conections.

Ray B.

Thanks everyone! I did replace the coil, just forgot about it when trying to remember everything I had replaced and done to remedy the problem. The resistor and fuel tank answers sound like that could be it (HOPEFULLY) I'll definently give it shot!

THANKS AGAIN, EVERYONE

Now that Mark mentioned it, the fuel filler hose on mine is delaminating into layers, like wet plywood. If I left it there I could easily see a big flap of rubber falling into the tank.

I had the same problem with my old Volvo, although the time period before it would shut off was much more regular.

The problem was an overheating coil, but the cause was a broken spring in the ignition switch. It stayed stuck in "Start".

On these cars the resistor is a more likely culprit, but it's worth checking the switch, too!

Jesse.

Could also be vapor lock, make sure the fuel line is not running on anything that can get warm...

Recently someone else had a problem of starving there engine by not having the gas cap venting properly, thus your gas cap may not be venting and your electric fuel pump is creating a vacume in the fuel tank.

Does your electric fuel pump get louder when the problem occurs?

Next time it happens loosen your gas cap and see if air sucks back into the fuel tank. Bill