Renmauzo

So, I bought this car and did some work to it. I'll be honest and say that I don't know much at all about cars from the get-go, so don't yell at me for some mistakes I may have made.

When I got the car, I changed the distributor cap and rotor, the plugs, and the air filter. Easy. No problems.

Then, I replaced the fuel pump and got it running! YAY!!!

But, yesterday I flushed the radiator and ran it. It ran weirder than before, sometimes dying at 1K so, I thought that maybe I was having fuel cut. Nope. Fuel is running in fine, so I'm guessing I may need to adjust the carb.

Well, when I got it started, I tried putting it into gear, and it wouldn't go. The shifter got stuck in neutral, so I had to pop it into first to get it back in the driveway. Inspected it, put more clutch fluid in, and it ran for a little while.

Then, all of a sudden, I go to start it up again and it JUST WON'T TURN OVER. No matter what I do, it won't turn. I hooked it up to my Jeep and cranked it for over 5 minutes. Every now and then it would act like it was about to start, but then it would just die.

I don't think that flushing the radiator could've done it, but maybe I did it wrong? I had my grandfather with me and followed his instructions, so I don't think that's the case... I'm just hoping that I didn't kill the engine, because if that's the case this car as a project is over.

Rx7carl

I doubt you killed it so relax. You may have flooded it or got some carbon in the seals from not letting it warm up before shutting it off. Lets clarify some terms so you can be better understood. Turn over = cranking= engine turning by way of the starter. So it is turning over right? Just not firing/starting?

Renmauzo

Alright, yeah. It cranks, turns, etc. but it doesn't fire/start. Every now and then, it'll give a little bit of a start, but then it just sputters and dies.

Anything else that could help you in the diagnosis? Or, if it is carbon-locked, what should I do?

Renmauzo

*bump*?

coldy13

Basically, the engine has gas puddled up inside it and it won't come out on its own. Pull the fuse for the fuel system or pull out the spark plugs and disconnect the ignition. Then crank the car for 10-15seconds, connect the ignition/fuse back, and crank it. It should fire right up, but sometimes you have to do it several times before it will start again.

Steve Shulz

And the easiest way (sometimes) is to push/pull start it. One of my -SE's wouldnt fire up to save its ***, pull started her and withing 5 secs she was running. And then you must find the reason it keeps flooding and fix it.

Renmauzo

Well, I got it running again and let it sit idling for about 20 minutes. Tried to put her into reverse to get her out, and unless I have her up around 4K RPM when I let the clutch out, a stall is about set. This wasn't so before, so I'm wondering if I may have damaged something?

It seems to be stalling a lot with the choke all the way in. Idles kinda high, too. Maybe it's a carb thing? Maybe the car is just done for?

Changed the oil today, too and upon looking under the oil cap after revving it a few times, I found a white chalky gel of some sort. Not sure what to think.

Steve Shulz

You need to do a comp test or at min pull the plugs and listen for 3 swooshes on each rotor. From your last post it doesnt sound good. Any time you have to rev that high to get it to move, usually means you lost a rotor. Do the comp test and get back to us, if you have 3 good blows then it could be something else but it is imperative for you see if it is the motor at this point....

Renmauzo

The engine just refuses to start now. It'll give a slight jump or something, then die. I think it's about time to just settle for rebuilding or buying a rebuilt engine, because this one wasn't really meant to last anyway. Between the cracked radiator and the oil leak(s), it's pretty obvious what needs to be done.

On a level of 1-10, how hard do you think a rebuild would be with 1 as a moron and 10 as Mr. Mechanic?

djmickyg

have u got ur spark plug leads on the wrong plugs??

it will start like that but run like a fat kid