My SE Wont Stay On!
 

Hi everyone, just to let you know i have been searching for possibilities as to why my car wont stay on for about the past month or even longer (cant remember) and have come up with nothing that helps my situation.

Backstory:
I purchased the car in October of 09' from a guy who's father used to race the car in scca events. For 5 years this guy used it as his daily driver.

Now it had some problems when i initially had picked it up but the car was atleast in running state even though you really had to fight with it to get it started.

I had my friend come over so he could help me look over the car and see what may be wrong with it. He came up with the idea to reset the timing and thats practically when the problem first occured. The car will start and rev to like 4k everytime.

I know for a fact that the car is getting fuel and spark.

I started to think that maybe the main pulley was installled incorrectly so i used the wire method to check for the tdc since the engine is still installed with all manifolds in place. On the first rotor housing using the wire I could feel the rotor face in L1 and L2. And on the second rotor I could feel the wire slide down the rotor face in T1 and up the rotor face in T2 establishing that the pulley must be put on correctly.

I am entirely too confused with the car. It was so much fun when it was partially running lol, I could only imagine when it is fully running.

Performance Mods: (incase it helps)
2GDFIS ignition for leading
MSD Blaster 2 Coil on trailing
RB Racing Header i believe
Full 2.5" exhaust
Aftermarket intake filter connected directly to the AFM.

Here is a video of the car starting:
[URL=http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k84/quinton707/?action=view&current=video-2010-02-17-13-19-39.flv[/URL]
http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k8...7-13-19-39.flv

Yes i know battery voltage is low.

Thanks in advance. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

first off, you should have never messed with the timing. it will never go bad or be wrong if left alone. i would start by testing the mass air flow meter. there's a test procedeure in the fsm that measures resistance across the pins on the afm. next, check for vacuum leaks and make sure that the intake duct is tight against the throttle body. there will be two 12mm cap nuts that hold it on. i would also ensure that the initial base timing is set correctly per the fsm.

Well i just checked the resistance on the AFM and everything came back within specs of the FSM.

Intake piping is tight and secure to the throttle body.

But how would i check for vacuum leaks when the car wont stay on. Other than that I have no assistance at the moment.

And also how do you check for base timing. Sorry for the noob question.

base timing is checked as if you were setting it initially. bringing the engine to "top dead center" and installing the distributor into the engine, making sure the alignment marks on the distributor are lined up and the leading mark on the eccentric pulley (yellow) is lined up with the timing indicator pin on the front cover.

Oh ok yeah. That's taken care of.

So what other possibilities might there be?

can you keep the engine running using the throttle? have you inspected the bypass air control valve?

I can only keep it around 3k rpm but usually anything less just cuts off.
The car is very loud of course cause of the exhaust.

And no I have not checked the BAC. Your talking about the component connected to the back of the dynamic chamber correct?

Vacuum leak (and a massive one at that). Have someone (hopefully not your buddy who messed with your timing) hold the throttle open @ 3k so it continues to run, and spray carb cleaner everywhere there is vacuum. If the engine revs, then you know that the carb cleaner is being sucked through a vacuum leak and the engine is using it as a fuel. Find where it's entering the engine, and that's your vacuum leak. Fix it and enjoy.

Ok thank you I will go ahead and check for a vacuum leak.

Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated however.

Also to add the car did sit for some time without being run. About a year and a half i believe and has the same bad gas in it. The fuel gauge is on "E" so i believe i may be sucking up all of the really bad crud chillin' at the bottom of the tank. Could this lead to my issue as well?

yes. pull fuel lines off at carb. and just before the pump. blow them all out with compressed air. replace fuel filter. have about 10 extras in your bins. Fill with fresh gas. Drive. When you loose power, swap filter. rinse & repeat until all sediment is out of tank.

^^ no carb, its an SE..EGI-electronic gas injection.

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/D_oh.jpg

You will need to clean your fuel lines regardless. You may also need to have your injectors cleaned. Run a can (or two) of SeaFoam through your fuel system.

Reserrecting my own thread. I have some more questions.

Upon much more searching i found a thread with a car that had similar problems to mine and the solution to it was that the Trailing ignitor had failed and was keeping the car from getting fuel after start up.

Here's the link to said thread:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...t=stay+running

I would like to know if my problem has those characteristics.

Right now i would try to fix but am waiting on a new intake gas filter/screen as the tank not in the car.

Also i have tried to get ignitors at a junkyard but the only fb there had no engine

It might be. Typically tach works off the trailing ignition, so your trailing ignitor is sending some signal, at least. You can try swapping your ignitors around, so your leading ignitor becomes your trailing. I doubt it'll do much, but you've got nothing to lose. Does seem like a fuel issue.

You can probably get some ignitors off of people on the forum, a lot of folk here is sitting on piles of spare ignitors. If you can't find any spare ignitors, you can try the GM HEI module instead. There are threads on wiring it up. Those are cheap and can be had at any autoparts store.

Also if you still have your stock coils somewhere, it's usually a good idea to install them when troubleshooting.

Now when you say the problem started when you "reset" the timing, how exactly did you reset it? Did you pull the disty and unplug ignitors/disconnect wiring? Be sure that your disty is in correctly and hooked up properly. Double check your TDC, as well. Use the "seal through the rear rotor spark holes" method.

How are your injectors? If the fuel was old and had gunk in it, maybe injectors are clogged?

Got it to stay on
 

OK so i made my own little gas tank rig and put my injectors back in from their cleaning and manifold back on and what not.
Started her up and what you know. She stayed on. but only until it ran out of gas.
Started up again and stayed idling but once i gave it some gas she cut out.

Now wont even stay on or even start at all.

Heres of video of it running. It smokes like a m**** f**** too.

[url=http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k84/quinton707/?action=view&current=video-2010-05-05-14-24-19.flv[/URL]
http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k8...5-14-24-19.flv

Only the first like 40 seconds i was paying attention to recording.
So then i did as Whisper suggested and swapped around my ignitors. Ended up with no tach signal. swapped them back and still no tach signal.

And that is where i now sit.

You didnt say you filled up the gas. Just trying to clarify that it was ok then nothing again.

Lol yeah i put in some more gas.

No vacuum leaks with carb/ brake clean? I know nothin about this egi.

In your first post you refer to the front rotor plugs as L1 and L2 and the back as as T1 and T2, I think, is this refering to the dist cap and wire routing? The lower two plugs are L1 front and L2 back, trailing are the top plugs. Should be L and T on each housing. Im guessing its ok though if it ran ok once.

Yeah i guess the way i worded it was wrong but i know that the wires are all connected correctly. I also am fairly sure that i have no vacuum leaks.

As everything was off i replaced all vacuum lines with silicone hoses and had a new soft seal gasket for the Upper intake manifold.

Bump!

Well, it looks like it had tach signal when it ran, so maybe ignitors are on the way out. Check your wiring on the ignitors and capacitor, make sure all the connections are tight.

Smoke might be an aftermath of flooding.

I believe the smoke to most likely be water.

Why? Did you blow your coolant seals?

Smell the smoke. If it's sweet like antifreeze, pull the plugs and check them. Then start the engine with the radiator cap removed and look for 'champagne bubbles'. No bubbles, do a compression check.