Okay so heres what happened, I just got off work and was driving home, got to a red light and when it turned green I released the clutch like normal and started to go, then all of a sudden the rpm's went through the roof like it was in neutral and the car completely lost power. There was not bang, no pop, nothing to indicate that something had blown, not even smoke. I tried starting the car while it was rolling but it would not start.

I had someone push the car into a parking lot and I tried starting it again, no go. The car would crank but would not start up. I thought it might have been flooded so I removed the egi fuse and did the deflooding procedure but it didnt work. I removed two of the 4 spark plugs to check them out (I definately need to replace them, they dont have any unusual build up just normal wear).

I dont know what else it could be, my father told me it could be the fuel pump, would that prevent the car from starting? maybe a clogged fuel filter? I have 2 days to work on the car and need to find and solve this problem because i go back to work on sunday and this is my daily driver. I havent had any problems before with flooding and the car has been running strong. It's an 88 non turbo vert, so please give me your expert opinions.

Thanks in advanced.

 

Does it have fuel pressure? Is it getting spark? Does it sound like it had compression, or does it sound different when cranking? How many miles on this engine?

And one more thing, you said you were stopped, started to go, and the rpms shot up through the roof, and then completely lost power. Expand on this some, if you would. Did the rpms suddenly climb like the throttle plate was stuck open? Did you shut the car off, or did it die? Did you try to keep going, but the car had no power, even though it was uncontrollably rising rpms? It just doesn't make sense, but I'm sure you can shed some more light on it.

 

remember to post more infomation on your car such as year, model, any mods, and miles.

is the fuel pump working? i agree with AGreen though with when you said "I released the clutch like normal and started to go, then all of a sudden the rpm's went through the roof like it was in neutral and the car completely lost power. There was not bang, no pop, nothing to indicate that something had blown, not even smoke." in the fact that this isn't very clear to me.

You let up off the clutch pedal and the rpms just went through the roof? As in redline or past redline?

Check the basic stuff first (Fuel, Fire, Air) and look around for things that are out of the ordinary.

 

there are 178,000 miles on the car, the engine was rebuilt at about 140,000. the rpms did not redline but went up to about 6k, then when the rpms went back down the car turned off. I was already on the gas pedal when the rpms when up as if i was in neutral. the car was accelerating fine for a couple seconds then it didnt accelerate any more. im gong to check the fuel filter first and go from there.

The car cranks as normal there's no different sound

 

So how is the clutch? It *sounds* like it just crapped itself. Then, depending on whether the car fully warmed up, it could have flooded. Just see if you can push the car around with it in gear. If so, time to pull the trans.

I wouldn't fool with the fuel filter dude. Start by checking spark, then check fuel pressure. That effectively splits your diagnostics so you can go down a single path, instead of checking random individual components.

 

clutch is good, and ive never had any problems with the tranny, doesnt slip, easy to put into gear.

 

okay so i pulled out the fuel pump and im trying to remove the strainer, the strainer looks like it needs replacing as it took a while for the fuel to come out of it, it doesnt look like its ever been replaced as its the original box one and it looks brown and orange now =(

 

I think your failing to understand something here. If the rpm suddenly climbed to high rpm yet the car did not take off quickly then the clutch or trans or diff are broken. There is no other explanation if the clutch pedal was at the top and this happened. Stop looking in the fuel tank for now. You need to figure out why the car did not move while the rpm went to 6000 or whatever you said. That equals like 30mph. Also it probably would have resulted in tire spin if it was sudden. Obviously something broke. Flywheel nut? came off jambed clutch motor is half jambed and wont start cause its starting in first gear? I don't know this post makes no sense

 

okay so then if that is the issue how do i go about to check it?

 

Depends on what you wanna check first I guess. Jack the rear up and put it in neutral and spin the driveshaft by hand. See what happens there. If it spins and the axles and wheels spin then the diff and trans are probably good. rock it back and forth see if there's any strange noises.

Next try it in various gears spin the driveshaft and see if there's a gear it doesn't work in. Probably first since you were just taking off.

Then if all that seems normal take the trans out and look at the clutch. There you will probably find the problem if your description was correct.

You gotta start somewhere. If the car didn't go anywhere and the rpms shot up its probably the clutch.

One more question though did the engine rpm go up and the tach or just the tach flicked up then died and the engine turned off? Did you actually hear the engine itself increase in rpm?

 

tach flicked up then died and the engine turned off, i didnt hear the engine increase in rpms

when you say various gear spins, what do you mean? put it in different gears and spin the rear?

 

okay so i spun it in different gears and i rocked it back and forth, it spun just fine and didnt make any weird noises. So now to remove the tranny is there a link for a DIY?

 

Have you check all your vacuum hoses ? This could account for sudden spike in rpm, an sluggish power afterwards. (possible the brake booster vacuum hose came off)

Before you pull the tranny out of it, does the car want to lunge forward when your trying to start it (either in neutral or with the clutch in ) ? If not your tranny and clutch should be ok.
Unless your car is lunging forward while your starting. Your engine should still run ok even if the transmission is screw as long as it's stuck in neutral or your clutch is in.

 

no it doesnt try to nudge, it just tries to turn on, it cranks and cranks and will sound like its trying to start up but it doesnt, let me try to take a video really quick

 

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this is the video

 

anyone?

 

I've heard that sound before and it sounds eerily similar to a flooded engine. Can you erase any doubt that the tach isn't moving upon startup by saying that it is moving?

 

no one knows?

 

flooded? i did the deflooding process but it didnt work

 

And what about the tach moving or not? Sometimes deflooding is easy and sometimes it's not. How about disconnecting the plug to the fuel pump and spray some starter fluid into the air intake duct for no more than two seconds and try to start the car. If it fires up for a brief period before conking out do it one more time then reconnect the fuel pump and try to start the car in a normal fashion.

 

okay im going out to get starter fluid, i tried cranking it with the pump unpluged and the egi fuse unpluged and there is a heavy gas smell, is that an indication of flooding?

 

another question, do i need to spray while cranking or spray then crank?

 

Before. And I'm guessing you have a strong dislike for the tachometer. Now what gives?

 

sorry i was heading out, anyways the tach wasnt moving

 

scratch that, tach bounces a bit while cranking