Strange starting ailment on the racecar
 

It has been having trouble starting. No codes though nor check engine light. Here's the symptoms.

Turn key. It'll catch rough then immediately die most of the time. Sometimes it'll catch and idle roughly until it seems to run out of gas. Other times it'll idle roughly then develop a decent but higher idle. Can't touch the gas though or it'll die. The fuel filter spouts gas when I remove the hose but the first two times I did it there didn't seem to be any pressure in there. The last time it was definately pressurized.

The tach isn't working but will jump to about 1.5k when you turn the key to on then drops back down. Any ideas? We did kinda run her quite hot on Sunday and have developed a coolant leak from one of the water pump gaskets. Other than that it seems fine as it ran the rest of the day w/o issue then tonight when I went to put it on stands to replace the exhaust and springs it started to move it back in the garage, I turned it off and now it won't start.

We're quite perplexed and lacking in the FSM Electrical section as it is vacationing at Hucks.

cam angle sensor? Sounds similar to the problem i was having when i did the engine swap for ciscokid.

Tom

Wouldn't a sensor trip a code though? It's something electric as I turned the lights on replugged the cluster in and am getting a clicking from the middle relay on the top of the cabin fusebox. Replaced it with one from the headlights and am still getting it. Weird thing is now the speedo is jumping too up to 20mph then down. You have to actually remove the key to get 'em to do it again.

Also, when you turn the key there is a pop. Only 2 lights come on then if you leave it in the on position the rest of the lights come on. Really weird stuff if you ask me.

guess its not the cam angle sensor. Seems like you may be shorting out the ECU. I am not familiar with any of that.

Tom

what if the sensor working fine but its just off a bit... with my old blazer the throttles sensor was mal adjusted and it idled at 4k 3 days no codes and then a 5 minute fix and the thing was back on the road at just off 700 rpm idle

Ben,
I'd suggest getting a multimeter out and start checking the resistance, etc. in the starting circuit first....I'm guessing you "dinged" something during the tear down - just not enough to throw any codes.
-Bill

Yeah, time to start playing electrician....

A few questions?
Does the ECU control the fuel pump?
Does the ECU drive the Tach?
Does the ECU drive the speedo or is that all TCU?
I'm guessing the fuel pump should get a variable voltage as the engine revs?

ugh... I hate electrical crap... and Ben thinks I'm an "expert" :D

Ug. Me no electricican.

Weirdness continues. Pulled the connectors from the ecu this morning 1 at a time to see if I could track down the spiking. I couldn't but when I put everything back on it fired and ran just fine. Perfect idle. Nice throughout the power range. The SVXfiles exhaust sounds nice and mean even though it isn't clamped and is being supported by a jackstand on the hooker muffler. Oh yeah, no o2 senors are in either.

Did get one of the cut springs in the rear. Strut was bad so I used a spare rear for the other side. Seems to be okay. Even got the brake line mounted to its mounts.

You gotta have the O2 sensors installed.

I agree with Mychailo...you're risking burning valves, as the ECU can't close the loop without O2 feedback.
On the other hand, it's nice to see that the "hard reset" of the ECU seems to have fixed things :rolleyes:
-Bill

Nope, she ran just fine without 'em. Did too when I fired it up without an exhaust on it at all. They're still sitting on the stock exhaust I took off. Haven't had time to try to get'em off yet. Will probably wait until Hocrest make's it down with his actual 02 sensor socket before attempting.

Doesn't even throw a code (at least for the few minutes its on).

since its all disconnected just throw a closed end wrench down the wire and that will actually be better than a wrench designed to fit while still connected aka open end

Would if I had one. Mine stop at 19mm. Need a 21. The one I do have won't fit with the heat shield on which won't come off w/o ruining it. I'm giving the exhaust (which as nary a rattle it it to marlettpat) so I don't want to ruin anything.

Yeah, the 02s will go back in. I have plenty of other stuff to do. Only starting it now for a few seconds to diagnose the non starting issue (which has seemed to totally disappear again.
:confused: :confused: :confused:

ghosts in the machine i guess.

Tom