Car died suddenly, then wouldn't start....until next day
 

last night after a late night taco bell run, my parrents '94 850 NA (using that one while i do the engine rebuild on my T5R), decided to die all of a sudden. It started to choke and loose some power, then the engine shut down completely. Electrical systems seemed to work fine (fan, radio, etc..), I tried starting it several times, and it would crank and crank and every once in a while would try to start when i'd give it some gas. I eventually did get it to start, and it ran extremely rough...had to keep the RPM's up or it would die again. So i parked it in a parking lot and tried to start the engine again, and the same...it would crank but not turn over..

So this morning i went back to the parking lot to have it towed home...the first time i tried starting it, it ran fine...turned over right away as if nothing was wrong at all. I let it sit there and run for a good 40 minutes while i waited for the tow...the engine was up to temperature, and still no problems with it stalling out.

So i shut it down, and try it again...and this time NOTHING... not even any cranking, although the radio and stuff inside sitll worked. I put it in neutral and rolled it forward an inch maybe and tried starting it again, and it worked with no problems...

So i let it get towed home and it has started up a couple times in my driveway with no problems...

-Fuel filter was changed 4 years ago, but since then only 15-18k miles have been put on the car (it sat around alot without moving).

-I don't think it'd be spark plugs misfiring b/c it runs very smoothly when it does start up .

-Was thinking maybe the electrical portion of the igntion switch as i remember having some issues on my 95 855 T5R with that switch...but i only remember the abs and tracs lights flickering...never wouldn't start or die while running on me.

Any ideas?

RE: Car died suddenly, then wouldn't start....until next day
 

Fuel pump? Just a guess on my part, but when they start to go they can be intermittent.

RE: Car died suddenly, then wouldn't start....until next day
 

Or perhaps the Fuel Pump relay is on it's way out? That was a possibility on ours when we were having issues last year.

RE: Car died suddenly, then wouldn't start....until next day
 

sounds like an ignition switch only b/c you said one time it wouldnt crank at all
good luck

RE: Car died suddenly, then wouldn't start....until next day
 

Sounds like a couple of problems.
Stalling (Fuel pump IMO)
Not cranking (PNP IMO) would explain why it started after you moved the shifter out of park and then back in.

RE: Car died suddenly, then wouldn't start....until next day
 

And you may want to see if there are any codes stored.


JPN

RE: Car died suddenly, then wouldn't start....until next day
 

Iwould venture to say it's the Fuel Pump Relay. I had the same intermittent problem (getting progressively worse) for a few months until I replaced the Relay.
Good luck!