89 Ford Probe Problems

[beckg]

We have an 89 probe gl and need suggestions on what is wrong with it. It will start and run for a while and then dies.Please help if you have any ideas or had the problem with yours

Thank You

Becky

[isetta]

i don't know anything about the ford probe.

when you say 'run for a while' how long?  only when standing still? or does it drive OK eg. accelerate up through gears without spluttering etc.

when it dies, will it start again straight away?   if not, is there a spark at the plugs when trying to restart it.

is fuel getting up to where it needs to be?

fuel filter good?

I had an escort mk4 which kept dieing but not every day. drove us mad for weeks. after trying many many things i found it was the breather for the fuel tank was faulty. sometimes the pump could not suck the fuel from the tank as the breather for the tank was not working and casuing a vaccuum in the tank when the pump tried to suck the fuel out. Cure was to drill a very small hole in the fuel cap.  This type of arrangement (beather hole in cap) would be frowned upon these days but 50 yrs ago that's what all cars had, until someone decided something better was needed so that fuel did not seep out if the car overturned. 

is it too old to have a diagnostics port for error code reading?

There are so many things it could be

 

edit: just noticed how old the query was. 

[Richtee]

Hi Becky,

we use to have a Probe 2.5 V6. The issue we had like that was associated with the distributor, parts of it use to overheat and then shut down. This was all part of the inhibitor system also. The inhibitor system can be bypassed to stop the engine dying, but the distributor, a few options there, replace the innards with a completely new contactless system, replace the whole distributor with a factory distro, have your distro reconditioned. Remember the Probe is a Ford\Mazda hybrid, so look for the Mazda side of this as well as sometimes they are cheaper. 

If I am able to find the wiring diagram for the bypass I will post it here for you. 

Good Luck

[Richtee]

Hi Becky, back again,

this problem if it's the same as the one we had, when the engine dies you lose the power steering and the power assisted brakes it happened a couple times when travelling at 70 mph on the A3 to both myself and my wife a little scary to say the least. You might ask at either a local Ford or Mazda garage to see if there were any recalls , with the recalls they sometimes down the work for free.

again 

Good Luck