speedholes

I have disconnected the ECU cable from the primary fuel rail, and connected a test light to the connector on the end of the cable. When I try to start the car, the light briefly lights up once and then stays off. Shouldn't it keep blinking as the ECU keeps trying to pulse the injectors?

(87 N/A.)

speedholes

I've never done this before, by the way. A friend told me all this over the phone. If he;s right, and the light isn't blinking as it should, does this mean there's something wrong with the ECU?

speedholes

More background info: when the car was last driveable, it wouldn't have any power until ~3200 rpm, and above that it felt pretty much normal. I let it sit for two days and then it refused to start. It cranks over; spark is good; gas tank is 3/4 full; not throwing any codes; compression is good.

speedholes

Guess I posted at the wrong time of day... I bet most people hop on the site after work.

311unity13B

did you test the resistance of the injectors?

speedholes

No... I'll go buy a multimeter and look up how to test the injectors. I've never done any of this crap before.

But that's not exactly my problem... my test light is hooked up to the cable that goes to the injectors from the ECU. Someone has to know: should this light blink only once, or should it keep blinking?

GodSquadMandrake

The injectors pulse very rapidly it's possible the light is blinking but you can't see it. Hooking up a multimeter might show something more useful. The engine wouldn't run period if the ECU didn't tell the injector to fire however so my guess is if it was running before it's not the ECU.

speedholes

Okay, I now have a multimeter. I know how to test the injector's resistance, so I'll be fine with that. When I'm testing the plug on the cable, though, which way should I hook up the multimeter and what should I be looking for when I turn the key?

speedholes

SONOFABITCH. For as long as I've owned this car, I thought the primary injectors were the ones on top. Now that I know that's not the case... it looks like the primary injectors and fuel rail are entirely inaccessible except for the pulsation damper. At this point, I don't even know the right questions to ask. Suggest anything that doesn't involve pulling half the damn engine off and I'll do it.

By the way, I tried starting the engine again, and it sounds even closer to starting. When I tried a couple days ago, it was cranking but not catching. When I tried it tonight, it sounded like it almost caught a couple times but didn't have quite enough fuel. Think I should try unflooding it again? Is there a way to know for sure if the engine is flooded or not?

Beater86

sound like whats happening to my car right now too..
i just took it all off to check...but i heard somewhere if you put a long screwdriver down there on it you should hear clicking... but im not sure ive never done that...

inflatablepets

Just un-flood it again to be sure. And change the oil again if necessary.

speedholes

I will try unflooding it a few more times, and I'll check to see if there's any fuel on the spark plugs (hasn't been so far, though).

Meanwhile, I've been looking at the FSM and Haynes and ruling out what I can, and I've come up with a list of things that could keep my car from starting:
- fuel pump switch in the AFM
- crank angle sensor
- primary injector(s)
- solenoid resistor
- ECU (the bad solder?)

If anyone can tell me that one or more of these isn't my problem, or tell me how to test them, it would help me a lot.

I'm pretty sure I feel/hear fuel being pumped through the car -- it's kind of like a soft heartbeat in rhythm with the starter. If that's fuel pumping, then that would rule out at least one thing on that list. Is there anything I can to test the primary injectors (for leaks, resistance, anything) without taking the engine apart?

Man, I've spent so many hours reading "car won't start" threads...

speedholes

Okay, I really thought it was a fuel problem... but I sprayed starter fluid in the intake yesterday and it didn't start. So I took off the intake and sprayed it directly into the intake manifold and it still wouldn't start.

Compression and spark are fine. Why the hell won't this thing start????

Help!

Goofy

The fact that you have power after 3200 rpm could indicate that your secondary injectors (which go online about then) are working perfectly and your primary injectors are the problem.

You should probably get your injectors nice and cleaned in addition to making sure they're all the right impedance.

-Goofy

speedholes

But then why can't I get it to fire up with starter fluid?

I think I'm probably about to take my car and my tax refund to the shop, since I can't do the primary injectors myself anyway.

Goofy

Getting injectors cleaned is pretty cheap. $50 or so for all four.

Are you saying it doesn't even burn off the starter fluid you're spraying into the engine or that is burns that and doesn't continue?

Not continuing confirms there's a primary injector problem. Not even burning that off would indicate lack of spark or air.

Did you unflood? You may have fouled your spark plugs.