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89 RC 360 engine dies and wont start.

5K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  tank440 
#1 ·
Hey RCers. Ok so I have an 89 RC with a 360 with the EFI or TB I guess. My problem is I start the truck up in the morning to warm up for a few minutes and when I come back out the engine has died and wont refire for like 5-10 minutes.I can crank and crank and crank and nothing. It does the same thing while Im driving to, which is really annoying and kinda dangerous considering theres no where for me to pull off to the side because of the snow banks. I have a feeling its ignition related but not sure. I can hear the fuel pump kick on when I go to restart it so........Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanx RC Nation.
 
#2 ·
Hall effects pick up in the distributor.
 
#4 ·
one4house said:
Ignition Control module thermal short.



This is what it looks like. I have mine unplugged because I put in a new system that does not require it.
89 doesn't have one.
 
#7 ·
Well I Wiki-ed what Hall effect was and thats way to in depth for me. Im assuming that you mean to start with an ignition tune-up of rotor, cap, plugs and wires. Even if that doesnt fix it at least I know they're new. I bought the truck from a buddy who rebuilt the motor about a yr ago and know he put all new in it but still. And is Hall effect normal and would that fix the problem? And what is ASD?
 
#8 ·
rigger1112 said:
Well I Wiki-ed what Hall effect was and thats way to in depth for me. Im assuming that you mean to start with an ignition tune-up of rotor, cap, plugs and wires. Even if that doesnt fix it at least I know they're new. I bought the truck from a buddy who rebuilt the motor about a yr ago and know he put all new in it but still. And is Hall effect normal and would that fix the problem? And what is ASD?
The Hall-effect sensor is a simple little disc with a wire harness that sticks out of the distributor. When it starts failing, it'll randomly stop signalling the computer and spark control. It costs about $25-$30 and can be changed in under 30 minutes.

The ASD is the Auto shutdown relay. It receives the signal and relays the fuel pump to stay running. It's located on the driver's inner fender and take about 5 minutes to change.

These two parts fail often enough and cause intermittent shut downs. They also frequently fail to give an error code so can be hard for the Dodge novice to diagnose.
 
#10 ·
rigger1112 said:
Hey Toxic thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. Ill order the parts asap. Imstill gonna do the ignition tuneup while im at it though. Just for peace of mind. Thanks again. Ill let you know how it goes.
Mind you, this is just randomly throwing parts at an undiagnosed problem. IMO it's a small monetary gamble if you can afford it. There are other possibilities also. Just that these two are common and fairly straight-forward from an effort issue. Loose wires, break somewhere in the ignition circuit, faulty computer, etc can all do these things too. Don't hold us to it if it doesn't fix your problem.
 
#13 ·
this may help, i had a 85 r/c with kind of the same problem. i had a bunch of crap in the bottom on my gas tank. when i was going down the road the screen in the bottom of the tank would get clogged. i'd pull over to the side of the road have smoke and it would fire back up. maybe that could be your problem?
 
#14 ·
I had the EXACT same problem on my '90 RC and it was the Hall effect in the distributor.  Cost $24 and change and about 30 min.  Didn't even have to pull my distributor (even though the shop I usually go to said I would).
 
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