*Intermittent no start, can't chase it down*

Hey, if you are still fighting the no start issue humor me, next time the car will not start hold the gas pedal to the floor and see if it will catch and fire. if not ignore me and move along to your next test.
 
when you are experiencing the problem try to start holding the gas pedal to the floor this turns off the injectors and will prove a flooding condition
 
you thought that you saw a 113 code that's a bad ACT sensor (Air Charge Temp) if its defective and telling the engine its -30 degrees you will have the exact symptoms you have described been their done that!!
 
well my theroy was to rule out a bad pressure regulator possibly allowing too much fuel passing in and out flooding the engine causing both the fuel and no start issue and by monitoring the fuel pressure after the car is shut off might show that its draining back to the tank to quickly.
Just did a fuel pressure test and while running, the fuel rail had a steady 22psi fuel pressure. Not sure if thats good or bad. But curiously there was a moment when the engine stumbled and started idling rough and the fuel pressure actually rose as high as 30psi and then settled back to 22psi when the engine went back to a smoother idle. Once the engine was shut off the fuel rail held the same 22psi for several minutes. Still holding at 22psi as I'm typing this out lol
 
you thought that you saw a 113 code that's a bad ACT sensor (Air Charge Temp) if its defective and telling the engine its -30 degrees you will have the exact symptoms you have described been their done that!!
I will have to look into this. Are there any tests that can be done with a multimeter to see if the sensor is defective?
 
Hey, if you are still fighting the no start issue humor me, next time the car will not start hold the gas pedal to the floor and see if it will catch and fire. if not ignore me and move along to your next test.
Tried this a couple times, and it seems holding the pedal to the floor will allow the car to start when it's experience the no start issue. But after doing a fuel pressure test the rail holds pressure when the engine is off, so i don't think I have any leaking injectors. Is there something else that could be causing the engine to potentially be flooding out?
 
Tried this a couple times, and it seems holding the pedal to the floor will allow the car to start when it's experience the no start issue. But after doing a fuel pressure test the rail holds pressure when the engine is off, so i don't think I have any leaking injectors. Is there something else that could be causing the engine to potentially be flooding out?
Plugged cats ?
 
Plugged cats ?
I'm not even sure if it has cats still, it has some aftermarket exhaust parts, but I haven't looked that closely under the car. But after driving it home several hours I think I would have noticed some glowing cats lol but I dare not assume.
 
I'm not even sure if it has cats still, it has some aftermarket exhaust parts, but I haven't looked that closely under the car. But after driving it home several hours I think I would have noticed some glowing cats lol but I dare not assume.
No cats should be alot louder underneath , plugged cats will be alot quieter than stock .
If someone near you can lend you an ECU to swap just in case the injector drivers are not working properly that's a fairly easy test.
 
If you have a temp gun, warm up the car then measure the temp before and after the cat should be pretty close in temp if front is really hot and rear is much cooler plugged cat
 
The fuel pressure is way too low. Should be 31# with a clean good idle, and jump up towards 40# with a quick throttle snap. Pull the vacuum line off of the fuel regulator. should see 40# or so.
 
Tried this a couple times, and it seems holding the pedal to the floor will allow the car to start when it's experience the no start issue. But after doing a fuel pressure test the rail holds pressure when the engine is off, so i don't think I have any leaking injectors. Is there something else that could be causing the engine to potentially be flooding out?
You might be having multiple issues but this was similar to something i experienced. There is a coolant temp sensor on the top of the engine that might be your issue. When you start and run your car do the rad fans come on at full power?

Your no start can be replicated by others with good cars just by unplugging that sensor on the top of the engine. With it unplugged it will cold start fine, but once warm you will need to hold down the peddle to start it again.
 
You might be having multiple issues but this was similar to something i experienced. There is a coolant temp sensor on the top of the engine that might be your issue. When you start and run your car do the rad fans come on at full power?

Your no start can be replicated by others with good cars just by unplugging that sensor on the top of the engine. With it unplugged it will cold start fine, but once warm you will need to hold down the peddle to start it again.
Yes, actually the rad fans come on full power as soon as I turn the key to run position and they stay on full even while the car is running, but I had a peek at the wiring coming off the fans and at first glance, it looks like previous owner eliminated a relay and wired the fans direct. So not sure if it's because of the sensor you mentioned or not. I'll have a closer look soon and see what's actually going on. Either way a coolant sensor isn't that pricey of an item. Might be worth buying and replacing just to see what happens. Along with ACT sensor someone mentioned previous in this thread.
 
You might be having multiple issues but this was similar to something i experienced. There is a coolant temp sensor on the top of the engine that might be your issue. When you start and run your car do the rad fans come on at full power?

Your no start can be replicated by others with good cars just by unplugging that sensor on the top of the engine. With it unplugged it will cold start fine, but once warm you will need to hold down the peddle to start it again.
According to his past post's, he does have multiple issues. Evidence of rodent's chewing on the engine harness & plug wires, bad stumble & slow acceleration below 2000 RPM, a 3 pin connecter not hooked to anything & wiring cut off/terminated near MAF-may be for low coolant sensor?, IRCM wiring for fan bypassed, fuel pressure below spec, a non original MAF & A/market air intake, not sure if it has cat's, it does have headers, but not sure if O2 sensors were retained.
 
According to his past post's, he does have multiple issues. Evidence of rodent's chewing on the engine harness & plug wires, bad stumble & slow acceleration below 2000 RPM, a 3 pin connecter not hooked to anything & wiring cut off/terminated near MAF-may be for low coolant sensor?, IRCM wiring for fan bypassed, fuel pressure below spec, a non original MAF & A/market air intake, not sure if it has cat's, it does have headers, but not sure if O2 sensors were retained.
Yeah when it comes to a massive list like that it is best to start setting everything back to stock and repairing any damage if you are heart set on restoring the car. It is a bit of a laundry list. the sensor I had mention might not even be bad if the wires running to it have been damaged.

also a good idea while your in there is to double check the grey connection on top of the Ac compressor bracket. just check to make sure it is fully seated. I do not believe it is a problem but since you are there might as well
 
Yeah when it comes to a massive list like that it is best to start setting everything back to stock and repairing any damage if you are heart set on restoring the car. It is a bit of a laundry list. the sensor I had mention might not even be bad if the wires running to it have been damaged.

also a good idea while your in there is to double check the grey connection on top of the Ac compressor bracket. just check to make sure it is fully seated. I do not believe it is a problem but since you are there might as well
Restoration was never on the table for this car. I was just hoping it would be something family simple to get running reliably enough to drive around town, so I can stop driving my gas guzzling truck back and forth while I save up a little more to buy a different engine for this car. If it ends up being too much of hassle, I'll just let it sit in my garage until I'm ready to swap the engine.
 
According to his past post's, he does have multiple issues. Evidence of rodent's chewing on the engine harness & plug wires, bad stumble & slow acceleration below 2000 RPM, a 3 pin connecter not hooked to anything & wiring cut off/terminated near MAF-may be for low coolant sensor?, IRCM wiring for fan bypassed, fuel pressure below spec, a non original MAF & A/market air intake, not sure if it has cat's, it does have headers, but not sure if O2 sensors were retained.
Just checked, it does indeed still have the cats and both O2 sensors. Looks like bith pipes then merge into a single resonator I believe, the comes out and splits again into two borla mufflers.
 
The fuel pressure is way too low. Should be 31# with a clean good idle, and jump up towards 40# with a quick throttle snap. Pull the vacuum line off of the fuel regulator. should see 40# or so.
Pulled the vaccum line off the fuel pressure regulator, while idling the pressure guage indicated 30#. Once I shut the car off the fuel pressure Guage almost instantly dropped to 25# then over the course of 5 min vled down to 22# and stayed there.

The car idled much better than before no fluctuations or stumbles in idle. I let the car idle until it reached operating temp and then tested for the no start when hot condition. Could not get the no start condition to occur. Car started fine every time. Could just be a fluke. Will let the car cool off for a while and try again.

With the previous fuel pressure reading and this new reading with no vaccum, I don't want to assume but would that point to a faulty regulator?
 
With the vacuum line unplugged smell it and see if it smells of fuel I belive (although not certain) if it does it's a bad regulator
 
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