new owner with starting probs

Hi Guys,
Been reading for a while here, trying to find answers to my recent starting problems. Great place with lots of good info.
However, I'm not really sure where to start checking & fixing.
I purchased a 1992 3.8 from a good friend who took good care of it for two years.
After about two months of enjoying it, I'm having trouble cold starting and hot starting.
Cold: Engine starts and runs for 5 secs and dies. Usually takes two to five attempts before I can shift to drive. Revving the engine usually helps. Runs fine on the interstate and doesn't die at traffic lights.
Except yesterday on the way to the interstate, it died in a turn and I almost crashed into a sign pole due to losing powersteering.
And two days ago on the onramp, it lost power for a second, the tach needle jumped crazy but regained power.

Hot: After 20 miles of interstate driving, stop at gas station or grocery mart it dies as soon as I reach for the shifter. Usually two to three starting attempts with a little throttle revving gets it going again.


I've replaced the ECT sensor yesterday but no change. A new fuel filter is planned for tomorrow if it doesn't rain. I don't have a garage. Tbird is my daily driver.
My other is a 1966 Econoline van that I'm driving ocasionally and as a back up

I really love this Tbird and would like to learn how to fix it.
I appreciate any info on how to proceed.

Thanks, Pat

Have you tried pulling any codes.....

It could be a number of things causing your problem....

"And two days ago on the onramp, it lost power for a second, the tach needle jumped crazy but regained power. Usually two to three starting attempts with a little throttle revving gets it going again."

Classic symptoms for electronics &/or wiring issues. Won't hurt to change the fuel filter, but I doubt it will do much for your current issues.

As E says, check codes. Also check the wiring harness (look for any cuts or burns) and connectors at the crank sensor, camshaft sensor and DIS, as well as all the grounds. Don't ignore the ground cable that goes from the right side of the engine over to the body...if it looks corroded, replace it with new.

Check that the alternator is putting out 12 ~ 14+ volts to the battery. Check your harmonic balancer to see if it has moved forward or is wobbling. Check the air filter and if it looks bad, you might want to clean the MAF...ask if you need details etc. and good luck.

I haven't tried to pull codes yet. I know my Autozone is able to do that but I'm not sure how to interpret codes.

All the wire harnesses I could see look pretty good.
crank sensor, camshaft sensor and DIS are new to me with this car and I don't really know where they are. Same for grounds. I have a chilton manual but it's pretty confusing and the diagrams are too small to read.
Is there an online diagram or pdf that shows those connections?

What is a DIS anyways? I do have a distributor though.

One thing I've noticed changed was the ignition switch.
When turning clockwise, just one click before start, it used to start the fuel pump to prime and one more turn started the engine.
Now, I can hear the fuel pump priming only when I turn the switch more, a little beyond the point where it used to be, almost to the start position.
I have to hold it there until I hear the pump finished and than I turn a little more to fire.

ThunderRat said:

I haven't tried to pull codes yet. I know my Autozone is able to do that but I'm not sure how to interpret codes.

All the wire harnesses I could see look pretty good.
crank sensor, camshaft sensor and DIS are new to me with this car and I don't really know where they are. Same for grounds. I have a chilton manual but it's pretty confusing and the diagrams are too small to read.
Is there an online diagram or pdf that shows those connections?

What is a DIS anyways? I do have a distributor though.

One thing I've noticed changed was the ignition switch.
When turning clockwise, just one click before start, it used to start the fuel pump to prime and one more turn started the engine.
Now, I can hear the fuel pump priming only when I turn the switch more, a little beyond the point where it used to be, almost to the start position.
I have to hold it there until I hear the pump finished and than I turn a little more to fire.

Click to expand...

your going to have to pop the codes, you can find out how by visiting the search engine in this forum. many many post on how to do that. as for the dis, well if you have the sc 3.8 then no you dont have a conventional distributor. the dis is part of what takes its place.the shaft that your cam sensor is attached to is not a distributor.

your crank sensor is a lil tough to see, its much easier from the bottom and its placed tightly behind the crank pulleys.

as for grounds, well pretty much just make sure the block has good contact with the frame and the frame to the negative post of your battery. or like with mine, i have a cable from the block to the batt. and a bigger cable from the frame to the batt.

as for the Chilton's, you can get that online and then zoom in as much as you need. if you spend the time in the search engines, with all the post there has been im sure you'll find an entire Chilton's worth and then some

its impossible to trouble shoot these. you need the codes but i will say it sounds like fuel filter and or pump. again the codes will tell the truth of it. this is just my advice, never try to fix anything on this car until you check the codes. you could end up changing out $2k worth of parts to find out it was a $20 part that the codes could tell you. many codes are hard to figure out from the chiltons due to they tend to not put things in English all the time(normal people terms) most have been translated on the search engine but in most cases its faster to post a request asking if anyone knows what it is. beware of bad wire connections. these things like to get nasty snot looking corrosion build up in relays and what not.

I would also replace the ignition switch.....

A lot of problems can occur because of a bad switch....

They are very easy to change out (about ½ hour)....

the-big-e said:

I would also replace the ignition switch.....

A lot of problems can occur because of a bad switch....

They are very easy to change out (about ½ hour)....

Click to expand...

And cheap, I paid $9.99. Hope it's that easy.
Picked up a new PCV, too.

Autozone pulled one code 11= system pass.

ThunderRat said:

What is a DIS anyways? I do have a distributor though.

Click to expand...

If it's an SC, you do not have a distributor. If the plugs haven't been changed for a while I'd get them changed. Inspect the plug wires to make sure the wires don't need to be changed as well. The problems you describe sound like some sort of an issue with weak ignition.

sounds like you have a vac leak, get the car warmed up so it'll stay running on its own and snoop around under the hood for any whistling noises.

its always a good idea to add more ground, no need to get rid of the original grounds if there still intact just add to it, electricity will follow the path of least resistance, i run a 4gauge wire from my battery ground to the transmission bellhousing bolt on the driver side on every supercoupe I work on. You couldn't imagine how much easier the car starts up especially when cold with just doing that.

I would also make sure the cam sensor wasn't faulty, my cam sensor just went completely out on my black sc this week and I had a slight hesitation at part throttle but could never figure it out. It was the ONLY part on the engine that wasn't replaced when I rebuilt the engine back in february... go figure.

anyway, good luck with your sc, the sc gremlins can be very annoying at times but when all is well its def worth it. I love all 4 of my supercoupes dearly.

It was the ignition switch. The old one fell apart when I took it off.
Everything is back to normal.

Thanks for all your help

Gotta love the easy fixes.....