should know tomorrow if the sensors come today. fingers are crossed. split rims will be a little challenge. Anyone want to buy them so I can put Fuch rims on?

 

Sensors are in, car doesn't start. The tach now has a little movement, its like a little wiggle. I wasn't sure if it was vibration from the engine turning over, but when I disconnect the sensors there is no movement at all, duh, kind of like with the bad sensors. I had some shim stock that was labled .03" and it measured about .031. (.8mm=.031496062992") I cut this and glue it onto the end of the sensor to use this for setting up the bracket which I had to remove. The only thing that was odd is it seemed like I had the bracket as far down as it would go and it was hard to tell if the sensor was hitting the flyweel. Maybe there is something in the way or I damaged something when I was getting the sensor out of the braket in place. May have to revist this, not sure how critical it is, If I measure the resistance between inner and outer pin on the referesnce or speed sensor I get about .950k ohms and if I watch this while I crank the engine over it does toggle. I do have access to an occiliscope if it comes down to it. I do have fuel as the rail but not sure on the pressure. If I pull a sparkplug it is dry. Clarks says listen to the injectors while someone cranks the car, I haven't done this, btu I did measure 12V at the connector to the injector and this also changes when cranking. It doesn look like the original fuel pressure regulators.
Why two, one on input and one on output, hmmm.
If I spray starting fluid, it does fire up, which is cool.

I may be closer to fixin this that I realize, maybe its just the position of the sensors. How much movement on the tach is normal.
There is one other variable, my battery box is rusted and the DME has been replaced at somepoint. Anyone in Vermont with an extra DME they could lend me?

I'll get it,
Dave

 

Very interesting, can have tach wiggle but still no start, info here: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...r+pulse+tester
Going to find a noid tester and start with that.

 

I assume you have checked to see if there is fuel in the fuel rail? If you remove the plastic cover on the rail, there is a cap you can remove. Do it carefully with some rags in hand as it is under pressure. You should have very good pressure here, mearly a dribble of fuel is not enough.

Also, remove the cover near the spare tire well that covers the fuel pump and check for voltage using your voltmeter on the fuel pump connector while someone is cranking the car. If you dont have 12v then you know exactly what to look for.

 

I jumpered the DME relay for the fuel pump as well as DME power as my relay is missing the cover (part of the previous owners troubleshooting I believe, still need to get a new DME although I think this one is working) so the pump was very audible and still no start. I removed the plug at the end of the fuel rail which has the ball bearing in it and it was after I had pumped the system and I was surprise at how little residual pressure there was. I'm going to start with the noid tester and see if the pulses are correct, then we can check fuel pressure if the noid tells me things are OK. I think it interesting that you can have tach wiggle and still no pulse to the injectors. Maybe my sensor heights are off a little or the connectors that mate with the new sensors are beat up. The only testor local is the complete kit, so I'll pick it up for $20. My Fluke is telling me that something is happen, but I have no idea what the size and shape of the pulse are.

 

Noid tester blinks indicating the injectors are pulsing. I know for sure the fuel pump delivers fuel as I pumped about 10 gallons of old gas out of the tank with it. No idea yet what the fuel pressure is at the fuel rail.
This may explain why when I pull the plug off at the end of the rail there isn't much pressure behind it. Go a feeling the pressure regulator is stuck open or something like this. Good to see the noid blinking!! It looks like all we need now is fuel pressure. Fingers crossed.

 

Are your spark plugs fuel soaked? Have you had the distibuter cap off to make sure the rotor is secured by both screws? This is wierd and I wish I were closer to you to come take a look.... keep posting your findings, we'll figure this out somehow! I remember reading about disconnecting one of the fuel injector connectors and trying to start the car, something about a poss bad fuel pressure regulator/damper overloading the injector circuit?? Just throwing darts at the diagnostic wheel here.....

 

OK, this one is a good one. Noid light says the injectors are getting pulse. Not sure how accurate these testers are as far as strength of the signal but for now I'm going to trust it, plus I am getting some wiggle on the tach. I pulled the cap of the end of the fuel rail and welded a fitting on so now I have a VDO mini fuel pressure gauge which is indicating around 40 psi with just the fuel pump running. I've yet to watch it with the engine cranking but my bet is it doesn't drop much. Is it possible that all 4 injectors are gummed up so nothing can get through them?
May pull the rail is see if I can see anything going on at the other side of the injectors. Spark plugs are still dry as can be. Cam is rotating as I pulled my cap, cranked it and made sure that it changed positions.
A little perplexing.

2.4 ohms across all 4 injectors.

 

YAHOO!!! Was reading on the site, I'll have to find it again as I owe someone a big thanks, that after a car sits for a while that this guy just taps on the injectors to free them up. I rapped on them like 3-4 times and sure enough it started. A little rough at first but smoothing out. Starter sounds like it is sticking engaged, but the engine is running and sounds OK. Bouncing off the walls here for now! Play with it more tonight after the family goes to sleep. May have to pull the starter and clean it up or rebuild it.

 

Well done mate! I was just about to suggest pulling the injectors and giving them a thwack to free them up... Guess you don't even need to pull them! Run some injector cleaner now though to get them really going..

Rebuild the starter - I just had mine done and it made the world of difference :-)

 

Hey Congrats. i've been following your quest..

 

Well I have success in that I do have it running. Unfortunately the sound which I thought was the starter staying engaged I believe is something else. Like something in the lower end, a rod bearing or main bearing maybe. I'm not an expert at this stuff. You can hear it at idle or when it goes into gear, maybe because the idle drops or that its under a load. Crankshaft speed changes the sounds speed. Compression looks good at 170, 185, 175, 180 and it runs good, but there is a noise. Maybe its a parts car. If it means pulling the engine I'll most likely let this go as I have enough going on. I'll get the wheels back on and inflated and take it for a short spin to see how the tranny works. Let me see if I can get some video's uploaded so you guys can hear it. Darn, it sure does run nice and would be fun. Just don't understand why such a nice car with 70K can make this sound....

 

For the record, you can send the injectors to www.witchhunter.com in Washington and for 80 bucks they will clean, rebuild, and flow match them for you. Even send you a spec sheet. They mail them back in 2-3 days.

EDIT: congrats on getting it running BTW!!

 

OK, so its decision time....
Do I fix it? Is it a money/energy pit? Do I part it out? Should I sell it to someone else that want to tackle it? I'll have to look, but I think I've got a total of about $1,250 into it now and it does atleast run. Low mileage too, but obviously sitting for about 2 years. Jeez, I wonder if the original owner parked it because it started with the rod knock. Being the car nut I am, I believe its worth the $1,250 and fixing instead of parting out. But I have 3 kids and many other car projects. I was hoping that this wouldn't be so big. Maybe 1/2 azz it so I can drive it and just throw in some rod bearings. Most likely open it up and find the crank is a mess. Well I don't have to make a decision right away.

 

Maybe take a short video and post it on youtube so we can take a listen. Does the noise change at all with RPM? Frequency gets faster? These cars are notorious for #2 bearing issues.