i am having troubles with my car.?

Question

i drive for about 10 minutes and she stops. and then i can't start her up again. i need a starter motor but this is not the problem. could it be the vacume hose or maybe points,

yes my car is 30 years old and has got points.

Answer 1

This should be a simple one. Sounds like you have a dirty fuel filter. You will need a repair manual to find where it is. Unless the car is over 20 yrs. old it shouldn't have points. It should have elecrtonic ignition. The only other problem that comes to mind is a coil starting to break down. Advance Auto, or Auto Zone may be able to help you in testing it out if you remove it. Are you sure you need a starter? I would replace the filter first. They're enexpensive and it can never hurt if hasn't been done in several years. Good luck.

Answer 2

It is a "she"? That might be the problem, she is uppity, or does not like the gas you give her.

I once knew someone who had a similar problem except it was a Volkswagen Beetle, das Deutshces Reich, probably was a "he". The car would just up and stall out every so often. After a while it would start again. He took it to several mechanics, but none of them could figure out what it was. They replaced just about everything, fuel line, fuel pump, even drained the fuel tank and stuck mirrors in there and looked around and found nothing. No luck.

Finally one day when it died again he went to a new mechanic and explained the problem and the history. Well, this mechanic took a different approach, and I don't remember what it was he did but here is what he found: He figured it had to be in the fuel tank, since everything else was new. So in looking at that what he discovered was a little 11/2" square piece of paper floating around in the gas tank. What would happen is sometimes the little piece of paper would float over and get sucked onto the outlet for the gas line, and cut off the gas to the engine. In a short time the car would die. When the car died the little piece of paper floated off the outlet and the car would start again, and run until the next time it floated over and got stuck again. The reason why one earlier mechanic had not seen it when he drained the tank was because when he drained the tank the little piece of paper floated over to the side of the tank and got stuck flat onto the side of the tank and became invisible.

This is probably not what you have, but I give this story to highlight the importance of thinking outside the box. You just need someone who can think that way.

I had a problem once trying to get a replacement part for my Mercedes. It was a vacuum pump in the passenger side of the dashboard. Every time the mechanic ordered the part the parts supply place would send the wrong one. Finally after this happened about three times I took the car to the Mercedes dealer and had the parts guy look at the exact vacuum pump in the car so he could see exactly what it was and where it was. With that he sold me a replacement part and I went happily back to my mechanic.

It was the same wrong part again! Now this was beginning to get stupid. I went back to the dealer with the wrong part and explained that it was the same wrong part I've been getting all along. He couldn't figure it out. All the parts diagrams for these cars were on computer, so you punch up a few screens and eventually you get to the area of the car you want. They had done that and had no explanation as to why I kept getting the wrong part. Finally the parts guy came up with a brilliant statement to the effect that well, sometimes on a car this old you can't get the parts because they stop making them.

While all this was going on there was a mechanic from the dealer who just happened to be standing there listening to all this. So he chirped up and said "You know, these Germans were not all that smart. After all, they lost the war. I bet I know what it is."

So he went over to the computer and got up the screen that showed this part location under the dashboard. He said, "this picture is backwards, the vacuum pump you want is not this one, it's that one over there on the other side..."

And he was right.

Thinking outside the box. Good luck.

Answer 3

Next time it dies and you happen to have a friend handy, pull one of the spark plug wires, hold it a few mm from a metal surface in the engine compartment, and have your friend try to start it. See if you get a spark. You might want to wear rubber gloves when you try this - ask me how I know. :) If there is no spark, check the ignition system - with points, there's not much to go wrong, either the points, the ballast resistor, or the coil. If it sparks OK, you've got a fuel problem.

Answer 4

Sometimes an auto mechanic can give you a dianosis for as little as $25.00.
It is hard to fix a car through an email.

Bus drivers are hot

Answer 5

Maybe your automobile refuses to run because it doesn't want to be caught out in public with somebody who sounds like she just got done having a jug tootin/can spittin sexfest with Chuck Bayless

Answer 6

vapor lock

Answer 7

you nees a now gaskit

Answer 8

alternator possibly??

Answer 9

it could be fuel filter

Answer 10

i would guess the alternator.