1987 S4 auto. Was running fine and had it in storage past three months and now will crank but no start. Fuel pump comes on, can hear it with key on. Fuel at the tales( unbolted both sides and fuel is there. Starter fluid sprayed in the intake produces brief 1 sec start and no more. I can’t image all fuel injectors would be clogged and at least give a sputtering of a turn over! Any ideas before I remove all the damn injectors? CPS ?

 

well first do the running relay test.
put your finger on these relays one at a time do the fuel pump last.
turn the key to run,
feel for the click of the relay
X bus
EZK
LH
FP will need to see the engine cranking.

Its quite possible you have a bad relay.

That said did you charge the battery with a 6 amp charger for 4 hours,
before you tried to start the engine?

 

I appreciate the reply
battery definitely fully charged. I keep it on a charger
the only relay I tested was th FP. I switched the horn relay with the FP just to double check it was ok and you can definitely hear the FP come on with key on for about 3-4 seconds then cuts off. I have not checked the other relays you mention but definitely will. Are those relays I can switch around like the FP ?
Really can’t imagine would be clogged fuel injectors. Seems like you would have a sputter or difficult start but not a total lack of turning over. Feels more like a failure of the injectors to fire
your thoughts appreciated

 

please follow the suggestions in post 2
NOTE a battery tender is not a battery charger ,
if its on a tender, then I suggest you charge the battery with a 6 amp charger for 4 hours.

 

Thanks again
will check the relays tonight after work

 

I would also validate that you have the plug wires connected correctly, but if those weren't removed from when it ran then that's not the issue. When you crank it and it doesn't fire, does the tach needle bounce or sit dead on the 0? If no bounce, check the crank position sensor and wiring.

 

Thanks for the response. I honestly don’t recall. Does it suppose to move a lot and bounce or just an initial move when cranking? I did order another CPS just to have but didn’t want to wrestle the damn thing out of I didn’t have to

 

There should be a master thread for these no starts...

If you get ignition when you spray starter fluid into the MAF you have a functioning CPS, X relay and EZK relay.

There are more than a few failures to start that are due to faulty alarms.

I would start with bypassing the alarm module. Need to rule that out first.

Kevin

 

I suggest to check the relays first,
as these have the highest probability of failure.

NOTE If the LH or EZK relay is not clicking,
replace the relay first, recheck.. is it a good click it should run.
No click, then
spray some lubricant into the hatch and door locks,
work the locks back and forth ,
then to the unlocked or centered position .
recheck the LH relay for operation

 

This might sound silly, but I recently had this issue after overfilling at the petrol station, the recovery guy ended up smacking the bottom of the fuel tank with a mallet WHILST I was cranking and ... BOOM ... started.
So ... you *could* try that ... but I can't see that as a 'doable' thing over and over :smirk:

 

Very confused. Checked the above relays and could feel a light click with key on. Just for the hell of it I switch the horn relay to the EZK relay and it start. Very crappy sounding but started. Now here’s the screwed up part. I had unplugged the intake and had forgotten to plugged it back in and therefore figured that was the cause of the crappy idle. So I put it all back together, plugged the intake which I assume is the MAF , reinstalled the air cleaner etc. go to start the car and No Start. Just crank. And cannot reproduce it. I switched out the three relays mentioned with a good horn relay , unplugged the MAF , No Start! Back to square one. So what the hell did I do that got it to start? !

 

before we go much further please post a few pictures of the engine

 

 

The fuel pump should not run unless the key is in "start" position or the engine is running. The pump should NOT run with the key turned from "stop" to "ignition on."

Verify that the fuel pump is running with the key on. Use a voltmeter on the pump's terminals or the 85 & 86 terminals of the FP relay socket.

If indeed the FP relay socket's 85&86 terminals (or FP terminals) show 12v with the key on then the LH ECU has failed.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will test this tonight. So with key “on” , if I don’t hear the FP kick on then the LHECU is ok? I’m going to still check with voltmeter at the relay