Ziff951

here's the latest. I pulled the plugs and took a pic. Keep in mind, these are brand new plugs and, since the car has not started with them at all, they have only been used in the attempted starting (turning over and not firing). from left... 4-3-2-1...
what do you guys think? They seem to have fuel on them and even maybe sparked off a bit and burned...timing?

Jeff N.

I had a similar problem. Rotor set screw had backed out and rotor was slipping on the shaft. Car would spark, car had fuel but would not start. Rotor was spinning on the shaft but the timing was way off and thus never fired.

Suggest you verify the rotor is tight onto the shaft.

I have no idea why Porsche didn't put a flat spot on the rotor shaft like just about every other manufacturer.

Rogue_Ant

Good idea Jeff!

Ziff951

good idea, but no go.. it was on there good.. I also switched back to the original rotor and plugs, just to eliminate variables. Still at it..

Ziff951

Okay, I checked everything again and this time let it crank for a bit, twice. (8-10 sec each, maybe?) At the end of each cranking session she popped a little out of the exhaust. other than that, nothing. is that anything? I'm ready to tow it out into traffic and take an insurance claim...alright, not quite yet, but getting there...

Rogue_Ant

Plugs are probably fouled by now - I would replace with a fresh set...

ibkevin

Poor connections will do "iffy" stuff, have you checked the speed and reference sensors as per Clarks?

hp18racer

Is it possible you hooked up the speed sensor to reference input and reference sensor to speed input?

Ziff951

I did replace the ground cable...maybe I jostled an already bad connection back there? A couple of the three prong connectors look mickey moused together... truthfully, I'm not even sure what all the connectors go to back there. Is there a good detail of that area for wiring explanations? I also re-wired the plug on the icv..very straight forward, though.

hp18, unfortunately, I didn't do anything with the speed/ref sensors. Is it possible just working around them messed them up? Maybe I jerked a wire while I had the intake off that went to something in there? I did clean off the ground area when I replaced the cable, and used a little PB to clean up, along with a little wire brush....any problems there?

I appreciate all the help here. I'm so busy and this really throws a wrench (no pun intended) into my life... We'll figure it out...or I'll have a psychotic episode..;-)

Also, if anyone wants to come out this weekend (if I can't figure it out before then), I'll pay what I can for some help...so embarassing...I rebuilt my whole 74' Land Cruiser and can't get this stupid ignition problem figured out...grrrrrrrr...

joster86turbo

+1 on the speed and reference sensors... they seem to have a mind of there own when they are going out. it's surely worth wiggling them and having someone turn the key to see what happens.

Ziff951

I'll check them tomorrow.

I was reading on Clark's about the fuel pressure being too high and shutting down the injectors. My rail gauge is dead, so I think I'll replace that and see if my pressure is messed up as well..

Does anyone else find it odd that something major would break while I had this stuff apart? It seems more likely that I did something while I was in there...Or it's just Murphy's law. What a pain.

Ziff951

Wow...take a look at the connections for the speed and ref sensors...this can't be good. And yes, that looks like goop filled in the end of them to hold the wires in there...I want to hurt someone..

Can I just hard wire them to see if it'll start, then wire in new plugs?

theedge

Does the tach bounce while youre cranking? Stay above 0 while cranking?

hp18racer

You can get the speed and reference sensors for about $60 each. Money well spent.

Ziff951

Yeah, just checked paragon. I'll get the harness from the dme, also...that whole thing is an abortion. Hopefully that's the problem, too..

Edge, I'll have to crank it again to check tach activity. What should it do when cranking?