GavinJuice

SO i am trying to get my car to start and i noticed something that makes no sense, i am hoping it is in relation to my problem. As it stands right now my battery is pretty much dead. When i try to crank it over of course it doesn't start, but my tach needle zooms up to about 1200RPM and flutters there untill i stop trying to start it. Now is this an indication of a dead trailing coil?

my problem is my car wont start, im assuming it's running on one rotor. You can read about that here.

Gregs

check the coils

-greg

Gregs

check the coils

-greg

BIG J MIXALOT

twice twice

Keaponlaffen

have you tried swapping ignitors like Longduck said to do in the thread you linked to?

that would be my bet.

Coils rearely go bad, it's usually the ignitors, unless the coil is arching (shorted) from primary to secondary windings, in which case you'd see a spark at night, or hear a cracking noise of electricity when the car was running.

slashdawg00110

I agree. Did you do what longduck suggested? And when you swap igniters smear some new heat sink paste behind them. You can pick up a tube at radio shack for a couple bucks.

What I'm really wondering is how the hell you're working on the car at all. Hasn't been above 0*F in the Twin Cities for a few days, from what I hear. It's even been damn cold here in Kansas.

GavinJuice

Well i found out that i am getting spark to all 4 plugs. So that throws the ignitor problem out the window. I am getting 6 strong "shush's" from both rotors so most likely i have good compression. I don't see how my timing could be off, i spose that a possibility. Fuel pump is running now for no reason in the ON position, shouldn't be running in a 85GSL-SE. Haven't had time to check how that is related to any other problem since it's so f-ing cold out. And yes slashdawg00110 it's cold as hell out, we're at about -24 right now. It feels good.

LongDuck

You need to find out why your fuel pump is running even though the SE isn't actively 'starting', or running. The FP should only be running when the airflow meter senses that there's air coming in the intake, i.e., the engine is turning and needs fuel. If your pump is running whenever you have the key in it, you're going to flood your car out very quickly, since the SE injectors are most likely 'leaking-down' and releasing excess fuel rail pressure into your chambers.

First step; go to the green plug near the airflow meter and the idle mixture rheostat - verify that you don't have a shunt in this plug - if you do, that's why the FP is running. This shunt is used to fool the ECU into thinking that the airflow meter is showing intake, thus turning on the fuel pump to run the injectors. You DO NOT want this shunted - it will lead to flooding and starting problems.

Second thing is to look for anywhere that the wiring harness that leads to the airflow meter (AFM) may be shorted out, or grounded. This will cause the AFM to send a signal to the ECU that it needs fuel to for the air going in. If you find wiring that's shredded or frayed, replace or ensure that it's intact and wrap with electrical tape.

Second, charge your battery up overnight - you need a good, strong battery to troubleshoot this kind of thing, particularly if the engine is flooded. Flood check is to remove plugs, check for wetness. If so, you're flooded, and will need to 'crank' it out, or otherwise add some Ether as a Starter Assist (not recommended unless emergency use or no other way).

Unflood by removing the fusible link for 'Injection' at the driver's side strut tower, and crank until you get a stumble - reattach fusible link and crank until started. You'll only be effective in this unflooding procedure if you've fixed your 'FP-running-all-the-time' problem, first.

Good luck, and report back.

BTW, if you haven't messed with timing prior to this problem, don't touch it - if it worked before, something else is to blame, not something you didn't change. Think backward about what you were doing when this problem started. That may help to identify the cause.

GavinJuice

Thats the odd thing though, the only thing that i have adjusted is my TPS, and air flow screw. I cleaned out my BAC and everything was running tip top, then it died on the way to school and wouldn't start afterwards.

Anyways i'll check things out at the AFM and see whats goin on. Thanks for all the help LongDuck.

I do like troubleshooting, but not when it's on my only car.

GavinJuice

Well i pulled out the AFM and guess what it was stuck. I had to give it a couple pushes back and forth to get it back in motion. Also pulled out some ICE that was in there.

I decided to do it the right way and pulled of the bottom plate and clean the whole thing out, sprayed everything down real good with air intake cleaner and wiped everything down clean. I also cleaned and glued eveything back up with ATF for a nice stinky finish.

Just gotta wait for it to dry and hopefully it should roar back to life tommorow !!!

GavinJuice

YAY! IT STARTS! Thank You LongDuck for the information, your a godsend!