Hi All

My little Felicia has developed an intermitent fault and i'm after some help.

It's a N '95 1.3 Lxi plus with 80k on the clock. It has the standard looking distributor and a HT coil set to the left of the engine bay. Hasn't missed a beat until lately. Whilst driving back from work on the dual carriageway the engine just died, clean as you like. Everything else stayed on and I cant remember seeing any warning lights.

It would turn over but wouldn't fire. Then after phoning the missus I tried it again, probably been standing for about 5 mins and hey presto.

It's done the same thing twice now and I'm worried it's going to really catch me out sooner or later and not re-start.

It also cut out (again at about 50-60mph) and kicked straight back in a couple of times. No spluttering, just a clean cut out.

I thought I heard one of the relays switching in when it cut back in. Could this be a faulty Fuel pump relay? What about a faulty coil?

Cheers Jon:(

My Dads Honda Accord had a starting problem earlier this year.

When we looked under the bonnet the car would turn over but not fire and you could see sparks coming from the dizzy cap.

Turned out the Distributer cap was a little damp/dirty.

Sprayed wd40, cleaned it and all seemed OK after.

The car never cut out though so you may have a different fault.

Any pre heat pipes (i.e intake pipe to air filter ), supposing it's a carb fuel system. Had a similar problem on an old cavalier - someone had removed the pre heat pipe from above the exhaust manifold to carb-result cold air (with chill factor) icing up carb.Very similar symptoms - after sitting (usually on hard )for up to ten mins started right off.

Definitley worth starting with the ignition system. How long ago since it was serviced? You sure don't want it cutting out on the motorway or dual carriageway as it won't be long before the brakes start getting harder to operate without the engine running.

I'm a reasonable home mechanic and service the car regularly myself. After having MG's for many years I've learnt the lesson of having a good ignition system so all the leads and the dizzy cap are in good nick. Regularly sprayed with WD40 and kept clean.

I ordered a new coil yesterday, easy to replace and relatively cheap so i'll start there.

Sorted?