mslo

So the other day a friend and I went out for a drive in the rain, i waited until the engine began warm up before i took it passed 3500rpm like always. Once warm i had done one pull in 2nd gear near redline around 6600rpm and shifted to 3rd for deceleration back to the speed limit. I drove about half a mile from the pull and as i was coming up a mild hill the car started to lose power. My autometer boost gauge started to sputter up and down and my engine finally cut out and i rolled to the side of the road.

I checked for any fluid leaks and found none, i also checked vacuum lines but found none disconnected, i also verified my fuel pump was working correctly. Seeing that visually nothing was wrong we attempted to push start 3 times with no luck and i had the car towed home.

The car cranks and gets fuel occasionally i can here a mild puff from the exhaust which i am assuming is fuel making its way to to engine sparking and iginiting but theres not enough to get the engine running.

If anybody reads theough all of this any advice or help would be appreciated i am doing a compression test today and will update my numbers. Thanks.

Car is a 1987 turbo II, turbonetics turbo(unknown size) stock ecu (currently) with 850cc injectors (aus inj) and full emissions delete

Gabriel82

iTrader: (8)

I recommend doing a compression test on both housings. Start from the inside out. Go from there.

WondrousBread

Gabriel82 is giving you the correct advice, a compression test is pretty cheap and simple.

You should also check that you are getting spark, since you didn't mention that in your original post.

mslo

So, I performed a compression test on my cold engine(it wont start so i cant warm it up) and i used the regular old compression tester gauge.

my max compression was just above 60psi for both rotors. When i removed the shrader valve from the tester and checked the pulsations they all bounced very evenly at the same 60psi mark.

my battery was full charged but i dont know my actual cranking speed and my elevation is 1086 feet in phoenix.

Are those apropriate readings? Could i have done something wrong while comprssion testing? or what could that consistantly low reading tell me?

Thanks a bunch

WondrousBread

If all the bumps are even, it's unlikely that the engine is blown. Typically a blown engine would have inconsistent pulses.

60psi is considered very low, but I get the impression that reading isn't accurate. The tester could be leaking air someplace, because typically if your compression was that low you would have had starting problems for quite awhile now. Like you said, barometric pressure and crank speed can also affect it.

If your car just sputtered and died, but compression is still bouncing evenly, I would suspect something else is amiss. Were you able to check spark? You said you were able to verify the fuel pump is working. So if you have fuel, air, compression (presumably), then spark is the next likely scenario.

mslo

so when i try to start the car the fuel pump begins to run fine and the engine cranks and occasionally ill get a puff or "backfire" noise from the exhaust when i searched this, people explain that it's likely just too much fuel making its way through the engine, which makes sense. Doesn't that mean Im getting proper spark? Could my timing have become errored while i was cruising and that is the reason it began running horribly and die on me? I can check each plug for spark with a spark plug tester and give more definitive results i will update shortly.

thanks for the help so far guys the fc3s is my dream car and im not giving up on it due to minor or major setbacks.

Edit-used plug tester and verified all four plugs are getting proper spark. that leaves me to believe that compression or timing is having issues.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

if you have spark, and you have even pulses its either flooded, or its not getting enough fuel.

were the plugs wet? if not, then you might spray some fuel/something flammable into the intake and see if it starts

mslo

When i checked compression my trailing plugs were wet actually what would this tell me, flooding?

also ive checked compression twice now and it seems i may have been wrong and that the pulses arent as steady and even as i had thought initially, im planning for a rebuild but just want to be sure.

Visually the components of the engine dont seem to be in poor shape, so my guess is it is internal and a rebuild is needed. Could attempting to start it make things worse if any sort of seal is blown?

Fastevo1

Any good specialist local that can have a look for you?

mslo

Not that i know of, im in phoenix AZ so there pretty hard to come by.

Ive since begun to tear away the engine bay peice by peice making labels for every little connector or hose disconnected.

I plan on doing a rebuild by myself seems to me that its not super difficult and as long as you use the right tools and take your time it should all go fairly well,

any good turbo 2 rebuild links would be greatly appreciated at this point, thanks for all the help guys

JOE68

turbonetics turbo(unknown size) stock ecu.. ?? that not good ... stock ECU can only support a stock turbo unless u hav a piggy back of some sort..(tickin time bomb).. if u manage to get the car to start and your boost gauge jump around on vacuum your engine is probably blown

mslo

JOE68;12400167
the turbo is aftermarket i would say close to stock size, however the wastegate setting only had boost at 6psi so i dont see that it would be too dangerous to drive around

JOE68

do u hav a air/fuel gauge.... if not you're just guessing its safe

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

you can certainly have a blown engine with 3 even low pulses, ask me how I know

not saying its the case here, but it can most def happen

mslo

Oh im sure of that, when i attempted to start the car again one last lime it cranked fine and i heard a loud and stale sounding pop, and i was assuming its one of this remain good chambers left in the engine because the car did not want to start whatsoever