V2Rocket

friend was trying to drive his 89 to school this morning and the car would die shortly after starting. the car has a new battery, new starter, and had plenty of gas. it was probably 60 degrees out this morning.

car is an auto. im going over there in a few mins to check the dme relay and unplug everything, what else to check?

xsboost90

j-boot is not hooked on all the way.

afm is hanging up.

dillon410021

That happened to me after I raced a civic to 125mph. I shut the car off in a parking lot and when I started It up I heard a loud pop and it would not run. Opened the hood and finally noticed the AFM was off. Luckily I had the tool kit in the trunk which has the perfect screwdriver for the intake clamps.

JimV8

Most likely a hose of the bottom of the intake and then MAF does not read properly.

V2Rocket

ok so i checked out the car and everything seemed well in order, injectors were firing fine, AFM contacts were clean, engine was in good shape. however ive determined that its the alternator/voltage regulator, as the car would run briefly and then die and the battery gauge showed completely low. i jump started the '89 with my '85 and the '89 ran fine as long as the cables were connected. about 30 seconds after disconnecting the cables the '89 would stumble and die.

his DME relay is fine, i used both my new spare and his original and the car ran fine either way until power cut out.

what other possibilities are there for electrical failure?

also, when the '89 was running it really sounded strange. my '85 has a sort of purr in the engine bay and it sounds smooth and even, but in the '89 it was a much deeper sound and rough sounding. i thought it was a balance shaft but the car was smooth as silk.

V2Rocket

bumpsauce