my 86 fc na wont start. It sat for 4 years in a garage.




Things I’ve done so far:

New:

Fuel pump

Fuel filters

Spark plugs/wires

Oil change/ filter

Flushed old gas added new

Battery


Checked:

Afm

Egi fuse

Power to fuel pump




Haven’t checked:

Fuel pressure regulator

Primary/secondary injectors

Pulsation damper (installed new before for sitting)




I tried towing it and popping the clutch for a couple miles. Did this multiple times and it “turned on” but only stayed on while in gear, when taking it out of gear it died immediately. The quotes around turned on are because it didnt sound like it usually does when it’s on. Sounded muffled. I could hear a strange “spraying” noise coming from the fuel tank when I popped the clutch and left it in gear. Not sure what that was. Also when I pushed on the gas it did nothing. The fuel pump runs when the afm door is open and the key is in the on position. Not sure what info is relevant but I hoping putting more is better then putting less.

Questions:

Any idea of what could be the problem?

How do I check if the injectors are working if the car won’t start?

How can I check if the pressure regulator is working?

Is there any way to check for a possible blockage in the lines?

 

for problems I cant help you there as I'm having the same problem but as for your fuel problem do you have a fuel pressure gauge? or take fuel line of at the engine and crank it to see if fuel comes out..

ive got the same issue ive got spark and fuel and right amps for the battery but it wont fire she wants to tho

 

Are your plugs wet after cranking for a bit?

 

Ill check that. What if they are?

 

If they are then it means you are getting fuel into the engine and the fuel system is working properly. If they are wet you may want to perform a proper deflood procedure and attempt to start it again. If the plugs are dry it's time to start diagnosing a potential issue with the fuel system. The injectors can stick with old gas and while everything in the system works properly, you could be chasing your tail due to stuck primary injectors. I've been there. You also need to open the main relay and ensure it's making proper contact on the contact points.

 

I wouldn't open the main relay. There are better ways to test its function.

 

If the car sat for 4 years, you probably have stuck seals. I'd suggest pouring some MMO in the plug holes, roll it over by hand, add more MMO, and repeat the process until you feel the entire engine internally is coated. let it sit for a couple weeks and rotate the engine by hand every day or every couple days, then go and fire it up and smoke for mosquitos.

Also, I would only do this if you verify the injectors are working (if your plugs are drenched with fuel). EVEN if they are drenching the plugs, this still is a good idea to help bring it back to life, be a good time to send the injectors out for a rebuild also

 

How do I crank the engine by hand?

 

^19mm socket on the eccentric shaft bolt. It's in the middle of the main hub pulley. Lowest pulley if looking from the top of the engine. Rotate the engine clowise or righty-tighty haha

 

Iduley is right. You should focus on the fuel system.

Crank your car for 5-6 sec.
Wait.
Crank again for same amount.
Check your plugs.

They should be drenched. Trailing especially iirc.
If they are dry then you've deduced that you do have a fuel issue. Don't work on anything else until you do this. You're just gonna waste time and money.

 

Thank you! I’ll try these and see how it goes

 

I had a similar no-start problem on an S4 13b that sat for 5+ years. It had fuel and spark.

It turned out to be stuck seals. We tried cranking the engine for a couple days in a row with no results. We kept pulling the plugs and cleaning them off, and de-flooding the engine. We were about to give up. The third day we tried, it all of the sudden fired up. After that the more we ran it, the better it ran. The engine had 124k miles and was in a garage for the 5 years it sat.

That was 30,000 miles and about 4 years ago. The engine is still running strong today.

Keep on trying!

 

How would I check if the primary fuel injectors are working if the car won’t turn on? I tried cranking it for 5 secs then waited and cranked for another 5 secs. The spark plugs were dry. I checked the resistance of the injectors and they all fell within the proper range. I also used carb cleaner to clean the injectors by connecting the injectors to battery and pulsing the current while spraying the cleaner into the injectors via a hose. This was done until the liquid coming out of the injectors was clear.

 

Jump the yellow connector under the hood.

Turn key on.

confirm that you hear the fuel moving through the lines.

Also, change your fuel filter. You probably need one and even if
you don't it gets it out of
the picture. They're like 15 buck US(??)

 

I see that you have changed your filter.

yo mentioned a spraying sound... can you confirm that the hose coming from the filter runs to the pulsation damper?

 

If you're the guy on Facebook that posted a video of your car idling rough, I'm the guy that told you your car is running on 1 rotor and your primaries are probably clogged.

 

Yes I can confirm the hose is running to the fuel line.

im not the guy from Facebook.

I thought there might be a clog within one of my fuel lines so I removed them and sprayed carb cleaner through the metal portions.

The line that sends the fuel was bone dry, the carb cleaner coming out of it was relatively clear and air flowed through it easily.

The return line had fuel in it, the cleaner coming out was brownish and air flowed through it but not easily.

Would a clogged or semi clogged return line prevent fuel from reaching the inline fuel filter? When removing the line that sends fuel from the fuel pump some gas came out but when removing the line connected to the fuel filter it was completely dry. The fuel pump is brand new so I’m hoping that it isn’t the problem.

 

Can you hear your fuel pump kicking on? If so, could you have mistakenly installed the fuel lines in reverse either in the engine bay or at the pump hat? If you put the car in run and hold open the AFM door you should be able to hear fuel circulating.

 

Did you jump the yellow connector as I suggested in post #10?

Seems like you're running in circles.

Edit: You mentioned that the hose is connected to the fuel line... is it running from the filter to the pulsation damper?

 

Hey bud,

seems like some extra information could help. Try taking some pictures of your fuel setup, pump to engine and back, and take a video of trying to start the thing. That might help these guys figure out what's going on. A picture is worth a 1000 words, because you can write at least 2 pages to describe what's going on inside it.