So I was driving to school this morning in the snow. Went out about 5 or so minutes before I left to let the car warm up like I always do. No problems. Drove about 45minutes to school like I always do. No problems. Got into the town where my school is, and as I slow down, the car bogs down, and shuts off. I get off the road, and try to start the car again. It starts but won't turn over. I open the hood and notice a few things are wet, specifically the top of the ignition coil. I wipe everything off, and bam it turns over and idles. But I see a spark from the top of the coil where the wire connects. It's a 75 four door maverick. Could it have been sparking just because maybe it was still a little wet? Or is it something else? It was getting fuel and air, all that was operating correctly On a side note, the engine was weirdly not very hot, I was able to touch everything. Maybe it was because it was snowing and I had just got off the highway?
You said that the car starts, but won't turn over? If the car starts an will not continue to run, make sure the wires in the fire wall are pressed in all the way.You may have one or two things wrong. The control box may be going out. The coil is another that comes to mind. Let me know I am here.
For got one thing carb icing do to this cold weather we have water that is in the fuel. Try some Heet from any parts store or water remover from a mom and pops .
Well it ran fine and idled after I dried off the ignition coil. I'm just worried about the spark on top of the coil. Is that just from the moisture that is left?
yep. sometimes you can cut the bad end of the wire slightly and re-terminate to get rid of pinholes/cracked insulation. If it's very old.. new is always best since the resistance has probably risen beyond acceptable anyways. Also best to use dialectric grease to better seal those things up too.
Here is how you can replicate this to make sure replacing the wire fixed the issue. Take a length of solid core copper wire, strip a 1/4" or so of the shielding and affix it to the coil near the place where you saw the spark, and make sure you ground the other end of the wire. This should actually give you a cleaner and easier to spot spark if something is damage and arcing. Ideally you should be able to see where the spark originates from. These sorts of intermittent issues can be annoying because replicating the conditions can be a pain, but every time it happens it gets worse. You really need to confirm that replacing the wire fixes it, because you do not want it to be a cracked housing and not identify that. Nothing worse than being stranded because you didn't replace everything that was broken. Believe me I've done it to myself enough times being a cheapskate.
