Well wouldnt you know it. I have all of these plans and parts bought and on their way, and she dies. Yesterday i changed the oil and sprayed degreaser on the engine. Started it up and ran fine yesterday. Now this morning it was COLD (27F)... Well it ran like crap... Like it was missing or something... Well i had to get to work. So i let it warm up and it started to sound better and a smoother idle... I thought maybe the oil was to thick or something and had to warm up... So i started off to work cause this is my second week and it would look really bad if i walked in REALLY late... Well half way there it started sputtering and the more gas i gave it the faster it died... so i let off and it started back alittle... then progressively got slower and slower... so i pulled off the highway and left it running... It continued to idle slower and slower till it died... I noticed a smell of like burning plastic. I tried starting it and nothing. It would act like it sometimes wanted to catch but never would. I had to leave it there and get to work. I checked the oil level and it looked good though so i have no idea whats going on... Any ideas?

 

Have someone try starting it when it's dark - and look for sparks jumping from the plug wires or elsewhere.

 

Ok well, i figured cause it was not idleing correctly then the ignition system had to be messed up somehow. So i took out the spark plugs and it looks as if they were NEVER changed. I changed those with Cheapos till i get some more money comming in. I also got some electrical contact cleaner and cleaned the contacts on the inside of the Cap and Rotor. Those were caked in grease and water and dirt. I als used the contact cleaner on my alternator cause of the same reason. The burning plastic smell was a zip tie i found stuck inside the alternator housing. Only about 1 1/2 inches were showing on the outside. I pulled it out and it turned out to be a 6 inch zip tie. Well after starting it it ran for about 15-20 minutes blowing water out of the tail pipe, i guess from me using degreaser and spraying it off some water got in the system. Anyways everythings running fine now. But i still need to get a Cap and Rotor.