Car People: What's Broken?

[shereads]

And how much does that cost?

It starts. But as soon as I release pressure on the ignition key, it stalls.

And yes, before you ask, it has plenty of gas.

And no, before you ask, I can't "get it running long enough to move it out of the way."

Instead, I had it towed home last night and left it parked on the street, on the off chance that it might attract the attention of a car thief who's also a mechanic and keeps a stock of spare parts. No such luck. Miami car thieves have standards.

I was on my way to look at used cars last night when this one conked out. I don't think I can even donate the car to charity if they can't drive it. But I'll be damned if Ill have it towed to a mechanic and pay hundreds of dollars to repair it when I don't even want it.

 

[S-Des]

And how much does that cost?

It starts. But as soon as I release pressure on the ignition key, it stalls.

And yes, before you ask, it has plenty of gas.

And no, before you ask, I can't "get it running long enough to move it out of the way."

Instead, I had it towed home last night and left it parked on the street, on the off chance that it might attract the attention of a car thief who's also a mechanic and keeps a stock of spare parts. No such luck. Miami car thieves have standards.

I was on my way to look at used cars last night when this one conked out. I don't think I can even donate the car to charity if they can't drive it. But I'll be damned if Ill have it towed to a mechanic and pay hundreds of dollars to repair it when I don't even want it.

I don't know about your area, but they have places that will tow your car and give you money (although I'm sure it's not much). You can also donate it to a charity (I believe that '(877)cars4kids', takes cars that aren't running). I know enough about cars to know there are a bunch of reasons why that could be happening, so can't help you there. Sorry.

 

[neonlyte]

And how much does that cost?

It starts. But as soon as I release pressure on the ignition key, it stalls.

And yes, before you ask, it has plenty of gas.

And no, before you ask, I can't "get it running long enough to move it out of the way."

Instead, I had it towed home last night and left it parked on the street, on the off chance that it might attract the attention of a car thief who's also a mechanic and keeps a stock of spare parts. No such luck. Miami car thieves have standards.

I was on my way to look at used cars last night when this one conked out. I don't think I can even donate the car to charity if they can't drive it. But I'll be damned if Ill have it towed to a mechanic and pay hundreds of dollars to repair it when I don't even want it.

Sounds like an electrical fault. If you call an mechanic, don't offer to hold his monkey wrench.

 

[R. Richard]

And how much does that cost?

It starts. But as soon as I release pressure on the ignition key, it stalls.

And yes, before you ask, it has plenty of gas.

And no, before you ask, I can't "get it running long enough to move it out of the way."

Instead, I had it towed home last night and left it parked on the street, on the off chance that it might attract the attention of a car thief who's also a mechanic and keeps a stock of spare parts. No such luck. Miami car thieves have standards.

I was on my way to look at used cars last night when this one conked out. I don't think I can even donate the car to charity if they can't drive it. But I'll be damned if Ill have it towed to a mechanic and pay hundreds of dollars to repair it when I don't even want it.

It sounds like you have an electrical problem that might not be too much to fix. When you have the key in "start" position, the electrical contact is made. When the key is not in start position, the contact is not made. It might be a contact that has come loose from the starter module [easy.] It might be a break in the electrical line a long way from the start module [very difficult.]

Above all, don't loosen the fuel line and let the fuel spray out on a hot electric line, as that is illegal and you certainly wouldn't want to do that. Besides, the car would burn until it was completely consumed and someone might get hurt.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

It sounds like you have an electrical problem that might not be too much to fix. When you have the key in "start" position, the electrical contact is made. When the key is not in start position, the contact is not made. It might be a contact that has come loose from the starter module [easy.] It might be a break in the electrical line a long way from the start module [very difficult.]

Above all, don't loosen the fuel line and let the fuel spray out on a hot electric line, as that is illegal and you certainly wouldn't want to do that. Besides, the car would burn until it was completely consumed and someone might get hurt.

 

[shereads]

Above all, don't loosen the fuel line and let the fuel spray out on a hot electric line, as that is illegal and you certainly wouldn't want to do that. Besides, the car would burn until it was completely consumed and someone might get hurt.

If it did burn, and if no one got hurt, and if it wasn't my fault, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

I should go clean out the glove compartment and the trunk, just in case.

 

[CopyCarver]

Anything could be wrong, but there is a high probability that R.Richard diagnosed it. If it were my car I'd buy a lock/ignition module of the correct make, model, and vintage--from an auto wrecker, not a parts dealer or, worse yet, an auto agency. Installation is a no-brainer, and it takes very little time or work. If you're not familiar with wiring systems and think you might get confused when installing the new switch, pull the old one out of the dash as far as possible and shoot a photo. Then connect the wires to the same terminals shown in the pic.

No guarantees this will solve your problem, but the odds are pretty good that you'll put your car back into running condition long enough to sell it or donate it; the cost will be low.

Alternately, you could do a "South Boston" repair: rip out the ignition and touch bare wires together until the sparks fly and the car starts. It's effective, albeit a bit "spooky," but the broken ignition will put you on a first-name basis with every cop on the grand-theft-auto squad.

 

[Lisa Denton]

It sounds like the defobulator, sometimes you can just pull it out and kick it and put it back in.

Also, more seriously, if your ignition is (like peoples been sayin) maybe fucked up, and you don't want to pay a mechanic to find out for sure, you can just ask any neighborhood kid to try hotwiring the car. they all know how to do it, just tell him you won't tell his momma he did it for you.

Problem solved.

 

[Misty_Morning]

.........

 

[angelicminx]

My brother, a certified mechanic, says it's most likely the key cylinder. "Some are easy, some are hard. Some are cheap, some are expensive." He mentioned this website to answer your questions: www.cartalk.com

Also said it could just be a spring in the cylinder.

 

[Weird Harold]

And how much does that cost?

It starts. But as soon as I release pressure on the ignition key, it stalls.

And yes, before you ask, it has plenty of gas.

Sounds to me like it's way overdue for a tune-up. A worn out distributor cap/rotor, Spark plugs and wires, -- points and condensor if it's old enough -- will cause what you're describing.

Parts and labor should run right around $100 -- about as cheap as auto repairs get -- even cheaper if you've got a friend who can manage the labor.

It could be something more serious and a LOT more expensive, and harder to find, but I don't think it's the ignition switch.

 

[cloudy]

Sounds to me like it's way overdue for a tune-up. A worn out distributor cap/rotor, Spark plugs and wires, -- points and condensor if it's old enough -- will cause what you're describing.

Parts and labor should run right around $100 -- about as cheap as auto repairs get -- even cheaper if you've got a friend who can manage the labor.

It could be something more serious and a LOT more expensive, and harder to find, but I don't think it's the ignition switch.

Yep. A distributor cap costs about $10, and is beyond easy to replace. Something as simple as it getting a crack in it and moisture getting in there can cause it (been there, done that).

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

I had a similar problem about 16 years ago. Had a couple of different "mechanics" check it out. Then one of my brothers was visiting me...he was a Godsend and a ASE master mechanic...

Turned out to be a problem with the vacuum lines.

It cost about $45 to fix (although I had already spent about $400 on needless repairs).

Don't ya love having those mechanics in the family. . .

My husband is no longer in the automotive industry, but he too was ASE Master and I was always amazed when he could distinguish what was wrong with a car simply by listening to it, or during movies he could tell the difference in what engine was actually started compared to the car that was actually used in the movie itself. . .

Granted I had to sit through all the details of the day from when he got to work to the last customer of the evening. This hasn't changed now that he works in the Steel Industry, it is just different topics.