New VMC Speedster randomly dies

Check battery cables both on battery and where the ground strap bolts/mounts to the pan. Location of ground strap should be in front pan section behind the front beam.

@CG512 I had that happen once and it was my coil wire. It had came lose.

I’ve had it happen, but not in my Spyder.
911: hot lead from the fuse box to the FI had become so corroded it stopped passing electrons.
Alfa: Ignition switch was giving up the ghost. True story: when this happened, ignition switches were NLA. Luckily (or not) Yugos used the same switch, so to this day my Sprint Veloce has a Yugo key.

None of which helps you, as your car is new and both my issues were age related. As your issues included all your electrics vs engine only, I’d start at the ignition switch and work from there.

@CG512 posted:

So the first time this happened, it was after getting caught in the rain and I chalked it up to something being wet.  It finally happened again on a sunny 80-degree day.  Here are the details….

Today, left turn and the car completely shuts off.  Obviously engine, but all electric too.  It’s almost as if I had turned the key to the off position.  I coasted to the side of the road, came to a stop, turned key off and then back on.  The car started right up.  I’m thinking there has to be a lose wire, bad ground, etc.  Has anyone ever experienced this and where are some simple places to check?  Can’t be too many places to look.

I’ve had my Speedster since Labor Day and I can’t say enough good things about the quality of the build.  I know this is a little blip, but would love to figure it out so I don’t get stuck somewhere.

Welcome to the madness.

There is nowhere near enough information in your post to diagnose your issue. The only thing I know is that your car is a a VMC - not whether it's has a Subaru engine, a VW T1, a VW T4, a bank of golfcart batteries, or a flux capacitor. I'm not trying to be pedantic, but knowing if we're dealing with digital or analog is pretty much the first step toward maybe helping you from this long distance.

This happened to me twice and it was a loose battery cable the first time and a bad ground to the frame the other. I would start there. Good luck and welcome to the madness.

Stan..... Pedantic ?  You truly are a word smith.

loose wire coil to dizzy

Thanks all.  I’ll keep you posted if I find the culprit.  This is just a simple Type I engine.  I think I have enough to go on.  Seems like a simple issue to address.  

Just to add confusion to this. My car, a 2015 Vintage Speedster with a 1600 engine, would randomly die--just like yours. It was like a switch was flicked. Yet all the electrical connections were tight. Then it got worse.

Now, the car starts and runs for about 30 seconds and then cuts out. It cranks, but doesn't catch. But, if I wait 15 minutes, it starts--only to cut out after 30 seconds. No matter how many attempts I make it never stays running.

So... maybe this is a fuel issue. A clogged fuel line. The carb bowls accumulate enough gas to run for 30 seconds.  The gas is used up, the engine stops, and then after 15 minutes enough fuel dribbles back for another short start.

Maybe it's time for an electric car. 

Wombat's car has a bunk coil.

The left turn issue @CG512 describes suggests motion is pulling a wire. I'll endorse all those who says battery lede, ground, coil wire etc. You'll know it when you see it.

I had a coil go bad in Bridget about 3/4 of the way to the Bug Out in Virginia years ago. @WOLFGANG saved my bacon that day.

Had a coil wire slip off during one of the early Pumpkin Runs also. That took about 20 minutes to solve with all the help.

During an early shakedown run the Spyder stalled out dead on the road: coil wire had slipped off.

These things happen. Then you fix them, and other things happen.

Engines need three things to run: air, fuel, and spark.

If the valves are adjusted and the engine is mechanically sound: good compression and valves adjusted, camshaft bumping, pushrods pushing, and rockers rocking, then your air pump is working.

That leaves spark and fuel.

For spark, it is either a power problem: coil power, coil itself, or wiring to it, distributor, points(or electronic replacement), cap, rotor, and wires.

For fuel, three things: Fuel supply(clogged filter), fuel pump, and carburetor. There should be some sputtering involved with a fuel supply issue.

If the car literally shuts off like a switch, it's electrical IMHO.

@wombat posted:

Just to add confusion to this. My car, a 2015 Vintage Speedster with a 1600 engine, would randomly die--just like yours. It was like a switch was flicked. Yet all the electrical connections were tight. Then it got worse.

Now, the car starts and runs for about 30 seconds and then cuts out. It cranks, but doesn't catch. But, if I wait 15 minutes, it starts--only to cut out after 30 seconds. No matter how many attempts I make it never stays running.

So... maybe this is a fuel issue. A clogged fuel line. The carb bowls accumulate enough gas to run for 30 seconds.  The gas is used up, the engine stops, and then after 15 minutes enough fuel dribbles back for another short start.

Maybe it's time for an electric car.

I had a similar issue a while back but my car would run a bit longer before it did what you're describing. My issue was the coil as Ed referenced in his comment. The car would start, the coil would heat up, the car would die, the coil would cool, the car would start, the coil would heat up, the car would die, and on and on the cycle continued. I put in a new coil and the problem went away.

Is your Speedster new or used?? Are you anywhere near VMC in Hawaiian Gardens??

I have not had your problem, but Greg has taken care of the ones I had.

Jim Ruiz

Westchester, CA 90045

As others have asked, how old is the car, and how old is the engine install?

In other words, brand new build Labor Day, or just new to you?

Also, specifically what other electrical things quit when the engine did?

And, if you’re checking ground points, there are a few - one up front near the steering box and at least one more in the rear, probably near where the engine mates with the transaxle. If the car is more than a few years old, ‘tight’ grounding points (and battery connections) can be mechanically tight, but corroded underneath. Remove cables, sand to bare metal, and reconnect.

But again, knowing what all failed electrically when the engine did will help with a remote diagnosis.

@Robert M posted:

I had a similar issue a while back but my car would run a bit longer before it did what you're describing. My issue was the coil as Ed referenced in his comment. The car would start, the coil would heat up, the car would die, the coil would cool, the car would start, the coil would heat up, the car would die, and on and on the cycle continued. I put in a new coil and the problem went away.

Lived that very experience with a 1969 vw beetle, took a while to get somewhere it was a foreshadowing of an EV charge cycle

Grounds: On more than one speedster the steering box to axle beam was a poor ground, the fix was to run a wire from the box bolt to the chassis = problem solved.

@Robert M posted:

I had a similar issue a while back but my car would run a bit longer before it did what you're describing. My issue was the coil as Ed referenced in his comment. The car would start, the coil would heat up, the car would die, the coil would cool, the car would start, the coil would heat up, the car would die, and on and on the cycle continued. I put in a new coil and the problem went away.

My coil issue was even weirder. The car would start and run fine. Once underway, it would either coast or run WOT fine, but it would cut out on partial throttle. This is when I really learned “90% of carb problems are electrical” I messed with the carbs for a week. (I’d just re-jetted and replaced my venturis) Turns out is was my coil all along.

What was really weird is that it tested OK with my cheapo digital multimeter. It was only when I tested it with my analog Simpson 260 that I discovered it was out of spec.

@dlearl476 posted:

It was only when I tested it with my analog Simpson 260 that I discovered it was out of spec.

There's a blast from my past.

The sheer terror of triple checking that there was no voltage applied when checking resistance with a Simpson meter is something I had almost forgotten.

I had a speedster that would start and idle instantly but over idle it would barely run. The coil's secondary windings were bad ( That was discovered after I convinced myself it had to be fuel delivery related:~(

@Alan Merklin posted:

I had a speedster that would start and idle instantly but over idle it would barely run. The coil's secondary windings were bad ( That was discovered after I convinced myself it had to be fuel delivery related:~(

I share your pain. My lesson in “90% of carb problems are electrical” cost me a June of perfect driving weather.

The 90% figure is for normal cars. With the exceedingly crappy ignitions commonly used in these cars, the figure has to run north of 95%.

The beloved blue coils are generally awful.

@Stan Galat posted:

The 90% figure is for normal cars. With the exceedingly crappy ignitions commonly used in these cars, the figure has to run north of 95%.

The beloved blue coils are generally awful.

So get your butt in gear and finish up your new spark project!

.

@Stan Galat posted:

...The beloved blue coils are generally awful.

My experimental sample is relatively small - limited to the one that's been in my Speedy for about eight years and the one I ran for 23 years in my ol' BMW 2002 , but from that experience I'd say blue coils are adequate for the modest demands most of our engines make on them.

BUT (notice that I've resorted to all caps here), they are electrical devices and, as such, don't like heat much. The cooler you can keep them, the more likely they are to keep doing what you want them to. An ignition coil should really last the life of an engine. If they're burning out (which is usually how they expire), something was probably wrong with the spec or the installation.

In my 2002, the blue coil was mounted on the firewall (which might act as something of a heat sink) and as far from the radiator as possible. And of course that engine compartment (wide open spaces and open at the front and bottom) ran much cooler than the one in my Speedy.

In Speedy's, it's fashionable and 356-ish to mount them on the fan shroud. They do look cool there - especially if you remember to stick the Bosch decal on upside down. But, thermodynamically, there are better places - like on the engine compartment side panel and as far aft as possible - away from the worst heat sources.

This is just another example of why it's important to think through the whole engine package and installation to run as cool as possible. Yeah, it keeps your pistons from going all melty on you, but there are other advantages, too.

Power is good, but there's a lot to be said for longevity.

Especially in these rotten times when a decent Type 1 motor now costs more than $300.

.

Bosch doesn’t make anything anymore. They’re a mail order company/freight expediter. Chinese “Bosch blue” coils are generally crap.

Google Bosch Blue Coil. There’s a good tutorial about how to tell the good from the bad.

After I burned mine up, I bought a black coil from F.A.S.T. Removed their tag and replaced it with a yellow Bosch tag from Klasse.

I have one of these fancy heat sinks mounted on my shroud.

ps: AFAIK, no Porsche ever came with a blue coil. They were an aftermarket thing. And they didn’t even exist in the 50’s. Iffen you GAF about “authenticity.”

I keep the Spyder's on a little mount in front of the fan with a lot of air space around it. And a spare strapped in next to it.

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Dave, thanks for the details.

I found this page online which sounds like the one you reference (apparently written in 2011).

It looks like I have been lucky. The coil in my car is the Brazilian one he recommends as the best one now available. It has these numbers stamped on the bottom. The first is the part number ( 9 220 081 083 ) and the second is the number of the original German part this one is supposed to replace ( 0 221 119 027 ).

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Yep. That’s the one SM. Lucky you got a good one!

Welp, I finally remembered to check out the suggestions above.  Both battery terminals were loose.  Hopefully that solves the mystery.  Thanks!

👍

Battery terminals were fine.

You just tightened up the loose nut behind the wheel! LOL!