kraabel

I know that a non-running 928 can be a nightmare. Come to think of it, a running 928 is pretty hard these days.

A couple weeks back some of the guys from our local 928 group were sending around a link to a craigslist ad for a non-running 1990 928 with a little over 100k miles on her. We made fun of it for a bit and then it slipped my mind.

A day or so later I couldn't stop thinking about her. I wondered what was wrong, how long it would take to fix and what other problems would be discovered?

I called up the guy and he gave me the "back story." The car came up from Texas a couple years ago (probably off auction). If anyone knows anything about her, let me know.

He claimed that the car was part of some credit default and that the bank or someone else owned it. They had it sitting on their back lot for a year and a half and nobody knew what to do with it.

Eventually, the guy at the shop decided to buy it from the bank and try to get her running and make a profit. Well, he couldn't get her started. At first he thought it was a fuel pump issue, but a replacement fuse got the pumps going. After that all they could do is get it to turn over, but not spark. His guy didn't know anything about 928's and they gave up on her and posted it on Craigslist.

It was a big enough mystery that I just had to bite. At $3,700 for her, I figured it would be a good little project to work on.

She arrived yesterday afternoon. I poked around, wrote down the broken parts and did a quick walk around. Not bad, but definitely neglected. Fluid levels were good, just needed some topping off. Battery held a charge, but I put the tender on anyway to make sure.

Here were the symptoms:

1. Would crank, but not turn over.
2. The RPM needle would bounce all over the place when the key was turned.
3. The alarm was engaged and tweeted back at me when I tried to start the car.

I had to take a few conference calls, so I left her alone in the garage.

So ... what would you do next?

(to be continued)

JPTL

...sell it to me for $3,800 & make a quick $100

jsherid1

The car looks pretty nice in the pics--good luck!

docmirror

Sell it to me for $3800.

Well done. Here's what I would do, and yes, I work on my own cars.

You need three things to make the engine run. Fuel, spark(timed) and compression. If you start the car and the timing belt is no good, you've just thrashed the engine. I would take off the dists and the timing covers on each side and CAREFULLY inspect the whole belt while running the engine around with a socket on the crank bolt. If it looks very good, then I would take oou the plugs, squirt some WD40 in the cyls and get a compression test on all holes. Then with the plugs out, connect all the plugs to the wires, and crank the engine with someone watching for spark on all 8 plugs. Insert plugs, and squirt carb cleaner in the MAF, see if it will fire on carb cleaner.

Let us know what happens, we can go from there. Remember, look carefully at the belt. If you don't like the look of it, replace it first.

Leon Speed

Looks very nice actually. I would check out the regular stuff first: change the EZK relay for a known good one, check if there is spark at each distributors, check out the final amplifiers, check the crank position sensor.

worf928

Looking pretty nice actually.

As for next steps:
- check all the fuses: condition, toasty looking?, correct rating
- check position and type of all relays versus chart (a key missing or mis-socketed relay can cause no-start)
- no spark? or no fuel?
- if no spark: EZK relay, speed/impluse sender, ignition amps
- if no fuel - fuel level in tank? check FP operation (fuse? relay?), LH relay?, LH dead?

Leon Speed

Or to me for $3850

Cosmo Kramer

Ya if you can get it running you should do OK on that one. Looks pretty good from the outside. I suspect there are some wiring gremlins in there, check bad grounds and especially the alarm system.

Mongo

Crank sensor. Mine is going bad and my tach is bouncing. Funny if you get that one fixed and the car runs beautifully! You may as well slim-jimmed it open and stole it from the previous owner.

Charley B

With no maintenance history and 100k miles, conventional wisdom says replace the timing belt before attempting to start. I'm sure you know that, and I'm not sure I would have the discipline to follow my own advise.

Tom in Austin

Ship to Sean in Dallas and enjoy a few cold beverages thinking how nicely it will run when he's finished with it! Has a Texas plate after all, probably a little homesick ...

Hilton

Might also want to check the ground points.

Bill Ball

When a car doesn't start despite good cranking of the starter, I generally bypass most/all the likely electrical culprits and see if it starts, then begin removing the jumpers one at a time until it fails to start. So, pulling the EZK, fuel pump and LH relays and jumpering 87-30 on the CE panel sockets for them is what I do. Bypassing the alarm would be a good move in this case too. Find the alarm control module and pull it's plug and jumper 15-87a - it's behind the glovebox. Or you can jumper CE panel connectors N11 to Q12 to bypass the alarm. If still no firing at all, then it's time to determine if it's fuel or spark. Lot's of ways to do this. You can put an inductive timing light lead on the plug wires and see if you get a good flash on all of them. Pull the spark plugs. If they are wet and it's not oil, then fuel is probably present. If these are not helpful, a short puff of starter fluid down the MAF throat, crank the car. If it starts briefly, lack of fuel is the issue. Then it's a bit of a sleuthing game to figure out why. If it looks like no fuel delivery despite a working fuel pump and fuel in the rails, then the injectors are not firing, which could be the LH brain or a short in the injector harness, often inside one of the injector plug boots. Anyway, see if any of this provides some clues.

Certainly make sure the timing belt is intact and the cam gear timing looks correct first - turn the crank to TDC and looks through the cam cover top air ports for a notch on the front of the cam gear. If you don't see it, turn the crank another 360 degress and look again. If you still don't see it, you have problem there.

Roger

Wait a second. If this is the factory alarm and it's engaged, the ignition cutoff will prevent the car from starting. Use the long key to dis-engage the alarm.

Regards,
Roger

BC

Unlock the doors and THEN try and start it.