Hi folks,

I have been beating on this one for over 2 months now and still no
luck. I have a 95 GT Conv 5.0 all stock. The problem started one day
randomly where the car was cranking, but it didn't start for 5-10
minutes. I didn't take it quite seriously. This is a long message, but
its the only way I can describe the problem.

This happened about a couple more times during a span of 2 weeks.
Finally, one day it just wouldn't start. I tried it for 2 hours until
my battery gave up. At the same time I made sure some really basic
stuff was fine, such as having enough gas. I tried to jump start, but
it still wouldn't start (This is when the battery was still good). So,
I was stuck 200 miles from home and had to take the next day off. After
I towed it to the shop, the mechanic said that the distributor cap was
bad and the battery was dead. Like I explained to him that it wasn't
the problem. But, he still fixed that stuff and cleaned up my battery.
Apparently it started after he did that.

So I thought, he knows better. Drove back home and it wouldn't start
the next day while I was heading to work. This time a buddy of mine
took a look at it. He said I had a battery grounding problem. He
cleaned up the terminals further and the car started. Hence, that was
the problem. I was excited.

Later, I went on vacation for a month and when I came back the car
started just fine. However, a day later it died on my way to work. This
time I had to get it towed. The guy said that there was no problem
since the car started the moment it got there. But I told him that I
have experienced this before so please take a look around. At that
point he said the problem probably lied around the coil. So we replaced
the Ignition Coil, spark plug wires, cleaned up the distributor, and
the air pump (it was noisy). At this point he mentioned that my fuel
pressure wasn't right. I knew I needed a new fuel pump at some point
due to the 122k mileage on the car. That was a little loud too.
However, I headed home.

The next day at lunch time the car wouldn't start again. I had the same
guy tow it back. This time he tried to reproduce the problem for 5 days
and couldn't find anything since the car would start just fine. So he
concluded that I needed a new fuel pump. Alas! I had my new fuel pump
installed. I thought this is a good thing. At the very least I got new
parts and the car is not getting any worse.

To my surprise it died again. The same friend who looked at it the
previously came to the rescue. One night while it wasn't starting he
identified that I had no spark. All this while the engine would crank
just fine, but the car wouldn't start. He played with the cable coming
out of the engine going into the ignition coil on the lower left and
cleaned the distributor cap, etc. It started fine.

When it died again, I called him and was pissed off. I waited until
evening and tried to start the car. It started and I headed straight to
the mechanic. At this point we tested the ignition module. It seemed
fine. However, the mechanic was embarrassed and gave me a spark tester
to see if I had spark whenever the problem recurred. And if it didn't,
we would try a new ignition module. Initially the car would not start.
Now, sometimes it wont start as well as die while in motion.

So, yesterday it died on the way again. I tested for spark and voila!
there was no spark. The car started in about 15 minutes. I headed to
the mechanic and he bought me a new ignition module. I thought, if this
is really the problem I will pay for it. But, he insisted that I try it
out. Now, this mechanic is really good and takes good pride in finding
the problem. However, my car has been driving him nuts as it starts
whenever he takes a look at it.

Finally, this morning it died on the way and I found that there was no
spark. I called the same tow truck. But, the car started in about 20
minutes. I am not sure if it was because I played with the cables going
into the coil and the distributor cap and rotor.

At this point, I have no clue. Someone suggested I should check the
grounding all over. The mechanic wants to keep it longer.

All I know at this point is that there is no spark going into the
distributor when the car isn't starting or stops while in motion.

So far I have the following new components:
Air Pump
Fuel Pump
Water Pump
Distributor cap and rotor
Spark plug wires
Ignition Coil
Ignition Module

The battery has tested fine.

Can any of you pros out there help me out here ? I am so frustrated.
This is my primary car and I have just moved into this area 200 miles
away from where I used to be. I can't afford to buy another car and at
the same time keep spending on this one. Please advise!

Thanks,
Nik.