I'm new to Z cars, and I absolutely love mine, though it needs a lot of work to get it running in tip-top shape.

I bought it about 4 months ago. The guy who sold it to me knew very little other than that it sat in a garage for 5+ years. Old plates had tags good until '07, so I figured that information was credible

Anyway, on to the main problem. Shortly after I bought it, I replaced the oil, thermostat, plugs, wires, and distributor cap, as well as the fuel filter. Maybe 3 weeks after these replacements, it would die at seemingly random intervals. It was nothing dramatic, the engine just cut all of the sudden, sometimes at stop-lights and sometimes on the freeway. I would have to pull over/push it off the road and wait maybe 10 minutes and then it would start again, and I would be good to go for another 15 minutes of driving before it died again and I would have to wait. If I tried to start it right after it died on me, the motor would turn over just fine, but would not start.

So after getting it home (had it at college when the problem started occurring), I looked at the distributor cap and rotor and found that the center connection that goes from the cap to the rotor was totally burnt and pretty much was not there anymore. The electricity was having to arc to reach the rotor. Here are a couple pics of when that happened:




Fast-forward to a replaced cap and rotor (and a much smoother idle), car would still die. Took a look under the hood and the new parts were just dandy. After reading a bunch online and looking at the Haynes for my model, I decided to check out the ignition coil. Took it out just a couple hours ago and found something interesting:

Pic of the coil installed and hooked up normally:


Pic of an odd bare-metal spot on the coil:


Pic of burnt insulation and exposed metal:


So what I think happened was the coil got really hot and burnt away the insulation on the metal pipe (part of the air-conditioning I think) and the paint on that spot in the first image of the coil, and then the coil grounded out on that pipe, which stopped it from producing a spark. That 15 minutes I would have to wait usually allowed the coil to cool down and stop touching that metal pipe, allowing me to start the vehicle again. But after heating up, coil would ground out on that pipe. Of course, if that is not the source of the issue, then maybe I have a bad ignition coil? That would be an easy fix. Or is it something more serious than that? I'm not sure. Your opinion and experience would be very appreciated!

 

Welcome to ZDriver!

I can't see your 1st pic, or 2nd to last... dunno if that's because the links are broken, or my work's proxy has randomly blocked some imgur pics...

Anyway, from the factory there was a rubber boot covering the top of the coil to prevent such arc'ing. Most people yank it and throw it away.

Have you tried relocating / moving the coil? Oil filled cylinder coils should be mounted with terminals horizontal, not diagonal, not up, not down... this is because the oil needs to cover both terminals or it can overheat.

So as it sits in this pic, it needs to be rotated clockwise just a bit to get both terminals horizontal:

 

I also have to keep approving your posts because new user posts are moderated for html and being edited....

 

Ok, imgur has not been working for me so I switched hosts and everything should be showing now.

Thanks for the reply. I will do what you suggested and see if that fixes it, hope it does! I will post back if the problem persists

 

There's a very real chance it could be your coil.

 

Welp, took it for a drive after rotating the ignition coil like Nismo suggested, and I am still having the same problem. Within a couple of minutes of reaching normal operating temperature, the engine died. I popped the hood and felt the coil itself and it was barely warm.

I'm thinking about taking it to a shop. But that's so expensive

 

Get an MSD SS coil - they are fairly cheap. It doesn't hurt to replace the spark plug wires - the do wear out over time. You might be having problems with the ignition module built onto the side of the dizzy...

 

I had something like this happen to me w few years back on my truck.
It ended up being a fuel pump going out.

replaced the fuel pump and the problem went away.

 

Would I need anything else besides the coil?

 

don't discount poor battery and cables. corroded cables and weak battery can give you fits. have the battery load tested and inspect the cables closely. one size fit all clamp on terminals are problems waiting to happen. If you don't have the volts it gives the zx electronics a heart attack. sold my s130 so I can't just go look anymore but ignition module could be bad. (or am I thinking z31

 

That's right - the S130 NA has the ignition module on the dizzy. Battery cables - said it 10000 times before but it's something I automatically change and a new to me S130... grounding is crucial for ANY car.

Who know's what's wrong with yours but it doesn't hurt to do a complete tune up and start from there.