I have en old 1992 Ford Tempo that until recently used to work fine.
Now, after driving for some time, sometimes it won't start unless I wait for 3 or 4 hours. I replaced the fuel pump,
but that didn't help. Two mechanics told me they tested it, and nothing happened and it was running fine. But the next day
it stalled on a red light and I had to push it out of the way, because it wouldn't start.
Any idea what could make a car not start when hot, which happens but only sometimes?
Failing sensor. Good luck.
Thank you.
Define not starting. Is it turning over or completely dead?
A car needs spark, fuel and air to run. Narrow it down and find out what is missing.
It does crank but it won't start.
After I leave it to cool down for 4 hours or so, it starts again.
Something is fucked with the fuel injection.
So a sensor does sound reasonable?
Is it carbed or fuel injected? Again, you need to check fuel or spark to find out what is missing. Throwing parts at a car is the retard's approach to auto mechanics.
It has fuel injectors.
The problem is that it only does this sometimes and usually when I'm not at home
Making excuses won't fix your car user. You have to reproduce the symptoms and find the problem. Check spark first as that's the easiest. If spark is good get yourself a fuel pressure gauge and check fuel pressure.
You're right, excuses won't help me. But reproducing the symptoms when I need them seems to be the biggest problem for me.
After that I can start looking how to fix it. Unless it's an electronic problem, that seems more complicated.
It's the ignition module. Located by the distributor. A common problem. Get it at Autozone. If you don't have a Ford ignition module tool, buy one , it's also at Autozone. Fairly cheap. Use dielectric grease when replacing it.
Intermittent problems can be a pain in the ass. A 1992 won't have that much electronics to worry about. Test all the things you can test easily with basic equipment first and eliminate them before moving up to more difficult things.
I will try, I'm not an expert by any means.
It could be, but wouldn't it fail all the time?
It's the Ford TFI problem. Google it if you want. It fails when hot. That's why it's intermittent. I'm a mechanic, have seen this many times.
I will definitely check it.
The funny thing is I just went outside and the car wouldn't start. Last time I drove it was 3 hours ago so it had time to cool down.
It'll only be intermittent for a while before failing completely. You can probably find YouTube videos to guide you. If you can do basic mechanic stuff, you can do this yourself.
If it fails completely it will probably be easier to diagnose, because at this
points it's really troublesome.
I don't think I can find an exact video for a Ford Tempo, but maybe for another Ford. I will definitely try doing it myself but I need to test it somehow first.
Had literally the exact same problem with a '93 cavalier. Drove me fucking crazy. Turns out it was a plugged catalytic converter. Look into that before anything else OP
I will check that too.
Sounds like the crankshaft position sensor