Strange intermittent no start
03-25-2014, 11:05 AM
#1
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Location: Portsmouth VA
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Strange intermittent no start
Car is an '86 auto.
90% of the time the car starts just fine but occasionally I have had a strange no start issue.
It usually seems to happen on a cold start.
I will crank the car and it will cough like it wants to start but it either wont catch and stay running or will run extremely rough for a few seconds then die and will not start if cranked again.
Fuel pump relay and fuse are known good and jumping the relay has no effect.
The only way to get the car to start when this happens is to remove either the fuel pump relay or fuse to keep the fuel pump from running. The engine will then start and run until it dies from lack of fuel. After that the relay or fuse can be replaced and the car will start and drive normally.
The fact that killing the fuel pump will allow the engine to start leads me to believe that it is a fuel issue, but searching the forum hasn't turned up any similar issues.
*the only other thing I have noticed is that on a cold start the car starts and immediately idles at the normal low idle speed. I would expect it to rev up a little bit and then settle back down?
Any ideas?
Thanks
Eddie
90% of the time the car starts just fine but occasionally I have had a strange no start issue.
It usually seems to happen on a cold start.
I will crank the car and it will cough like it wants to start but it either wont catch and stay running or will run extremely rough for a few seconds then die and will not start if cranked again.
Fuel pump relay and fuse are known good and jumping the relay has no effect.
The only way to get the car to start when this happens is to remove either the fuel pump relay or fuse to keep the fuel pump from running. The engine will then start and run until it dies from lack of fuel. After that the relay or fuse can be replaced and the car will start and drive normally.
The fact that killing the fuel pump will allow the engine to start leads me to believe that it is a fuel issue, but searching the forum hasn't turned up any similar issues.
*the only other thing I have noticed is that on a cold start the car starts and immediately idles at the normal low idle speed. I would expect it to rev up a little bit and then settle back down?
Any ideas?
Thanks
Eddie
Last edited by kombatrok; 03-25-2014 at 11:14 AM. Reason: Added info
03-25-2014, 12:28 PM
#2
Team Owner
go the easy route first add a bottle of techron to the fuel do lots of short drives.
Otherwise to check,
pull the vacuum lines off the fuel dampers and FPR ,
smell them for fuel if you smell fuel then these parts should be replaced.
Inspect the 14 pin connector the battery terminals and grounds.
inspect the coil wires at both ends make sure the coil wires dont touch any part of their run
To start the car if it indicates hard to start hold the pedal to the floor and crank till it starts .
NOTE make sure the battery is fully charged,
use a 6 amp charger set for 4 hours
Otherwise to check,
pull the vacuum lines off the fuel dampers and FPR ,
smell them for fuel if you smell fuel then these parts should be replaced.
Inspect the 14 pin connector the battery terminals and grounds.
inspect the coil wires at both ends make sure the coil wires dont touch any part of their run
To start the car if it indicates hard to start hold the pedal to the floor and crank till it starts .
NOTE make sure the battery is fully charged,
use a 6 amp charger set for 4 hours
03-25-2014, 01:22 PM
#3
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Join Date: Feb 2010
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go the easy route first add a bottle of techron to the fuel do lots of short drives.
Otherwise to check,
pull the vacuum lines off the fuel dampers and FPR ,
smell them for fuel if you smell fuel then these parts should be replaced.
Inspect the 14 pin connector the battery terminals and grounds.
inspect the coil wires at both ends make sure the coil wires dont touch any part of their run
To start the car if it indicates hard to start hold the pedal to the floor and crank till it starts .
NOTE make sure the battery is fully charged,
use a 6 amp charger set for 4 hours
Otherwise to check,
pull the vacuum lines off the fuel dampers and FPR ,
smell them for fuel if you smell fuel then these parts should be replaced.
Inspect the 14 pin connector the battery terminals and grounds.
inspect the coil wires at both ends make sure the coil wires dont touch any part of their run
To start the car if it indicates hard to start hold the pedal to the floor and crank till it starts .
NOTE make sure the battery is fully charged,
use a 6 amp charger set for 4 hours
I have tried cranking it before with the pedal pressed and it didn't seem to make a difference but maybe I just didn't crank it long enough like that.
I'll pull the air filter box and check the FPR and damper for fuel. I'm also going to replace the temp II sensor today.
The no start issue is seemingly random so I have no real way to know if anything I have done has fixed the issue until it happens again.
03-25-2014, 02:22 PM
#4
Team Owner
also check/ replace the crank position sensor
the temp 2 sensor
the short harness to the TPS,
fit a fresh MAF,
replace the ignition wires if they are 10 yo,
replace the ISV if it has over 50K miles on it.
Check clean the connector for the fuel pump fuse on the rear of the CE panel,
its common for the fuse pin to corrode ,
and then the power goes into the fuse on the top row and out of it on the lower row,
but the output wire isnt powered. BTDT
the temp 2 sensor
the short harness to the TPS,
fit a fresh MAF,
replace the ignition wires if they are 10 yo,
replace the ISV if it has over 50K miles on it.
Check clean the connector for the fuel pump fuse on the rear of the CE panel,
its common for the fuse pin to corrode ,
and then the power goes into the fuse on the top row and out of it on the lower row,
but the output wire isnt powered. BTDT