i read all the unflooding procedures, and tried them, but to no avail...
my 88 NA isn't starting
last night i put on a new alternator, fired up the car and everything was cool
let it run for like ten minutes, checked the temp and it was a little less than half, so i turned it off and came inside

about an hour later i try to start it, just won't kick over, i hear the starter going, the fuel pump is working
the plugs only have about 5k on them, and i checked them, they're in decent shape, a little carbon on them, so i cleaned them off
all my wires are a year old
i tried the EGI fuse pull trick four times, and nothing happened, as well
after pulling the plugs and cleaning them i put a little bit of oil into the two lower plug chambers, and replaced all plugs and tried to start again, but she didn't catch

any ideas guys?
thanks,
james

 

did you pop the main 80A fuse while changing the alt? It's easy to do, just let the big ring terminal brush against a ground (like the intake...)...

 

If th plugs were dry when you pulled them then it prolly ain't a flooding problem. May be possible you loosened a vac line or elect connection that came loose after the start with the new alternator.
If they were soaked and you cleaned them then I would try the complex unflooding procedure again. With a severe flood, I had to do it 5 times before it would finally catch.

 

no i didn't pop the fuse while i changed the alt, should i just pop it out and brush the ring on the intake, then try to start again?

the car started right after i installed the alt last night, then like i said i let it run for like ten minutes to reach operating temp then shut her off...now i got this =[

thanks,
james

 

Interesting...Out of curiosity...when the car is flooded, can't one pull the plugs and crank the motor? Shouldn't that blow the gas out?!?!

 

so all starting operations are normal, except the actual starting/ firing of the engine? (starter sounds normal, tach is "twitching", volt meter is dropping, etc...)

 

you have to remove the egi fuse as well and step on the gas.

Mine would also do this Spot_skater. It would just make noises with the starter but would not kick over. So i would stop trying to cranked and continue again and stop and continue till it would turn over. I never found out what it was but sometimes it just wouldnt "catch".

 

The plug hole are way smaller than the exhaust ports. Guess you could counter that by saying the resistance out the four plug holes will be less than the exhaust system resistance. It will help tho. I removed all 4 when I had the mother of all floods. Figured it could only help. Suspect it did a little.

 

i did step on the gas while the egi fuse was pulled, i was flooring it

should i just keep trying the fuse trick until it catches?

thanks,
james

 

if its not even cranking then flooding is not your problem. Even though a motor is flooded it will turn over ....just that it will sound weak and weird.

 

Not sure I understand just what procedure you tried. Maybe take a look at this to see if it might help?

http://www.rx7.com/tech/unflood-fc.html

 

the motor cranks, and has good compression

any ideas?

 

try reading jodoolin's link and follow those steps exactly (not that you haven't already) and see if it helps....it took me 6 times before my car began to run...best and easiest way i have found out is to push start it. If flooding is your problem then push starting it WILL work. =)

 

alright, thank you
tomorrow i may just try rolling with it down the hill
i'll let you all know what happens, thank you

james

 

Push starting will even get a Coolant seal ruptured FC to run I know

Anyways. I NEVER do the oil trick for one reason.
If it doesn't catch imediately you now have a set of oil ridden plugs. These will not even think of firing until you completely clean them.

I put mine in a glass full of gas to remove any oil.

Anyways. If it's really flooded.
Remove the plugs and pull the EGI fuse out.
Crank the engine over with the gas pushed to the floor.

Do this a couple times.

It will clear out all gas and oil.

Clean up plugs and try it again.

 

just get a can of contact cleaner or brake care (always good to have around with these cars) and spray 'em out- saves having to immerse them in gasoline...I don't disagree with ya, Digi7ech, but I do know that injecting a little oil (say, 10-15 cc's) builds up the compression required to finally get it started...that's the only thing that worked last time I flooded...

 

Well I still haven't been able to kick my engine over by starter.

I still have to push start it.

I actually have a small syringe which I use and put in like 10-20cc's per housing.

The problem is getting it in there without totally gunking up the spark holes.

 

To the original poster:

You need to buy some automatic transmission fluid, get a little bottle pump used for filling a transmission with oil, and squirt *no less* than three pumps of the auto. fluid into each spark plug hole, then try to start it.

I learned this the hard way (through about 100 attempts to get my rebuild started six months ago). If the engine is badly flooded, you need to remove the lower spark plugs, remove the EGI fuse, and crank until there is no more fuel mist coming out of the holes. Then pump three or more squirts of ATF into the holes, reinstall spark plugs / wires, and crank the engine while HOLDING 1/4 of the gas pedal in.

Mine absolutely wouldn't fire unless it had three or more squirts of ATF with at least a quarter throttle held down while cranking.

 

just make sure to use the leading plug holes- you won't get much in through the trailing...that sucks- I thought you had yours running good now...

 

just an update for all you guys
after lots of $$$ and bringing it to my mechanic, my FC is now running
apparently there was a problem with the ecu...
now that it's fixed the car runs beautifully

by the way, i'm somewhat new here
the car was a gift from my mother and step-father (which the car belonged to previously) for my graduation, but i had to sell the FB first...no offense but i never would've sold the GSL had it been manual

maybe sooner or later i'll take some pics and post them up...

again, thanks to everyone for their input, i appreciate it

-james