kandyinmyvan

Well, I'm having some starting issues after doing some seemingly unrelated work on the '44 in the last day or two. I can't yet seem to connect all the dots, but I am a believer that everything is somehow related. Hopefully you can shed some light . Firstly, I tightened a squeaky and loose alternator/AC belt. After that, I went on a wonderful late night drive through a mountain road. At exactly the half-way point, my power steering malfunctioned and I could hear the belt making an interesting noise on tight turns. I simply limped on home and figured I'd fix it in the morning. Well, this morning I wake up and discover that the power steering belt is very loose due to a nut that came off presumably during my drive. No biggie, I get a new nut and tighten 'er down. Everything seems dandy... until I try to start. She cranks but won't fire. I'm getting fuel, but no spark. The plugs aren't in the best shape, but no fouled. The coil was checked, and it's fine. Everything has been traced, tightened, and cleaned. I think it may be caused by the coil-to-distributor cap wire. The end was fairly crusty on the coil side. I cleaned it and reinstalled. I also forgot to add that I had an oil leak in that area due to a loose oil filter . I would appreciate any help guys.


On a plus side, during last night's drive, I really fell in love with this car. So it's making this all a little easier to swallow

kandyinmyvan

Hey guys. Well, still no spark. I have ruled out plugs, wires, coil, and battery. The starter is fine and I'm getting air and fuel. I have checked all my connections and everything seems to be in order. I would really appreciate any suggestions.

kdjones2000

What model/year is this?

1) Does the tach needle bounce when you crank the engine? If not, you are not getting a signal from the reference sensors to your DME/KLR.
2) Do a search here, and check on Clark's Garage - There is a no start checklist that you can go through, and these conditions are very common.

Good luck,

Keith

kandyinmyvan

Thanks Keith. I have been reading through Clark's Garage quite a bit. I just wanted to see if anyone had any more suggestions. I'm leaning towards the DME relay which I am about to inspect.

Edit: It's an '87 944 N/A

kdjones2000

DME relay powers the fuel pump. You already mentioned that you have fuel, so that is most likely not your problem. Jump it anyway, and see what happens...

Check for needle bounce, that should tell you which direction to head.

Keith

knfeparty

You know the way to surefire check the coil-to-distributor wire, right? Put a spark plug in the boot that usually attaches to the distributor and see if it fires when you crank it!

Having that wire not work will definitely put you in the situation you're in.

So will a lot of other things.

quinnfiske

An often overlooked failure is the distributor rotor. It is held in place by a small set screw. If it falls out, the rotor won't rotate and your no going anywhere. It is sometimes hard to get the cap screwed down after you check it so have a short screwdriver handy.

cambria

check the flywheel position sensors and connections.