Seems as though I might have some plug wires "mis-attached" I have left them EXACTLY where I found them on the car that I just bought, however the car has not run in several years, so I thought I would check the setup to make sure it is right.

I have downloaded all the manuals from www.fc3s.org and read through everything that I can find, but can't seem to find where it tells which coil goes to which plug.

SO...If someone could help me I would be greatly appreciative.

There are 2 "coils" in the engine bay, one near the headlgiht on the drivers side, and one near the drivers side strut tower. Which is leading and which is trailing? Also...Once I have determined which is which, how do I know which lead goes to the front or rear rotor?

Please help, as I have looked everywhere, and searched and searched, but couldn't find a definative answer. Thanks in advance for any and all help.

mike D

 

OK lets get oriented here. On the engine there is a rotor towards the front and one towards the back. The one on the front is rotor #1 and the back is rotor #2. Now on the housings you will notice the spark plugs are labeled T and L. T= trailing coil which also has T1 and T2 on it. L is for leading coil which has L1 and L2. Now T1 goes to the front rotor's T plug and T2 goes to the rear rotor's T plug. Same with the L plugs which would be L1 goes to front lower or L plug and L2 goes to the rear lower or L plug. Another good bit of info is L=lower and T=Top that way even if you can't see the markings it is easy to remember that.

Santiago

PS- Hope that helps

 

Ok I continued to read the shop manuals that I downloaded.....looks like the LEADING COIL is the one closest to the headlight, and the trailing is the one closest to the Strut Tower....Is that right???

 

Those markings are inscribed on the coil packs?? If so I kinda feel dumb for not looking on the coils themselves to figure it out.

Thanks for the info

 

The lables are on the coils yes. just look at the areas where the wires hook up to the coils and they should be labled.

Santiago

 

Thanks again for the help....I will check tonight and let you know how things go.....

I have a sneaky suspiscion that the coil packs are hooked up to the wrong plugs causing the car to not fire and run right.

Mike D

Thanks again

 

Way back I mis-matched my wires and my car still started and ran but it would idle way messed up and would misfire if I drove it. I thought it was detonation Came on forum and got help. Fixed the plug wires and drove off with no probs.

If you aren't able to fix it I can take pics for you and upload them to a site and you can see where exactly the lables are at.

Santiago

 

OK one last question.....I re-read your first post and have gotten myself confused again....

The leading plugs are the ones on the bottom, and the Trailing plugs are the ones on the top (when looking at side of motor).....That seems a little backwards...I had always thought that the leading plugs were on top and the trailing plugs were on bottom....but that wouldn't hold true to the L=lower t=top theory.....

Thanks again for the help

 

yeah I also wondered about this when I first got the info but low and behold the T and the L are where I said they are. T on the top and L is the lower.

Go out to your car and check it out.

Santiago

Good luck!

 

Car is at my shop/garage (I like to think its a shop anyway ) I will check it tonight.....Thanks again for the info....If this makes the car run (which I seriously think it will) I'm going to send you a couple bucks for a beer....

 

haha! I am under the legal drinking age but I will take the cash if you feel so inclinde.

 

Trailing T=top
Lead L=lower

The peripheral housing is labelled too T and L...

You might as well just take all the plug wires off and start from scratch that way your eyes don't get fooled looking at the wires crossing, you can ensure you put them on correctly one by one.

Remember rotor bank 1 is at the front of the car, closest to the rad, 2 closest to the firewall

 

I am going to print this thread right now, and take it with me tonight I know this stuff isn't hard, but I have confused myself like 3 times now.

Thanks again for the help...I'll post how things work out tonight

Mike D

 

Well I went and checked the plug wires last night...they wree in deed wrong, however it didn't seem to help the situation any.

Here is the problem. I am at my wits end. I have tried everything.

Bought the car KNOWING it was flooded, very much badly. SO I bring it home, and start tinkering with it. Do the unflood procedure. Pull the EGI fuses, and crank with foot to floor with one plug out of each rotor. Car expells this misty haze of gas. I do this several times for a total of about 2 minutes of cranking with no plugs or EGI fuses. I'm thinking (My last car did this) so I clean the plugs real good and stick them back in, throw the fuses back in, and hop inthe car....WITHOUT touching the gas pedal I crank the car,and it TRYS to fire....sputters a little, but never makes it past 750rpm....Instantly flooded AGAIIN!!....So after doing this several times (and becomeing a pro at removing/replacing plugs) I decied to try the ATF trick. Pour about 2 teaspoons of ATF into each side of the 2 rotors...let it sit over night.

When I came back the next day (yesterday) I was confident that the plug wire mishap adn the ATF would get the car running.....NO LUCK....after a short unflooding procedure I hop in the car, and crank without touching the gas...car fires, but once again never makes it 750rpm, and then immediatly refloods....

SO, My question is...Is there something that I am missing? SOmething to keep it from firing? Is there a way to disable the injectors and let the plugs continue to fire? I am going to get a compression test this weekend and try that and see where I stand on compression, but I can hear 3 distinct "phoooshs" of air from each rotor when the plugs aren't in, so I don't think thats it. Is it possible that I have a completely stuck injector, causing fuel to be pured in, once the fues is put back in and the car is turned on??

Any help woudl be GREATLY appreciated. I don't want to have to rebuild. I would love for this car to run, without one, however I am prepared to rebuild if I ahve to.

 

Ok how is the battery doing? Once I thought my engine had died on me cuz it wouldn't start. But it turns out that it was just a weakend battery from all the cranking. Try charging it or using a larger charged battery.

If that fails tryi buying a used set of injectors that match the car. Swap them and see if that does it.

I would also recommend installing a fuel cut switch and using 2 tsp of two stroke oil in each housing to help build compression.

 

I think that I am going to get new injectors, or send these out to be cleand and fixed/inspected....I am thinking this is a BIG part of the problem.....

I tried cranking last night with a Red Top optima that was spinning the motor at like 450rpm trying to start it....I figured that would be enough of a spin to get it going, but maybe not....I'll stick it on charge and see if it goes nay better.

I wish I had a nice long hill to push start the thing (or a couple of good dedicated friends ) that always seemd to work on the old car....maybe also I can wire teh clutch safety switch so I can crank the car in gear....that also worked well on the '86

Thanks again for the help...it is much appreciated

 

however the car has not run in several years, so I thought I would check the setup to make sure it is right.


Several years? You may need to change that stale gas. And get some supper strong fuel cleaner.

Its also possible that fuel filter is clooged and rusted or something.

And then there's also the ATF trick as well. That is, putting Automatic Transmission fluid in the rotor housings to get better compression on start up.

 

You might also have better results if you change the oil & filter...Its probally almost useless with so much gas in it...and being so old.

Also, The ATF trick works best when the fuse is out and plugs, by putting some in and just hit the key to turn the rotor a small amount, put some more back in and do this perhaps 4 times...

Then you get a coating on all sides of the seals...Helping it gain compression...
Good luck/skill

 

Done the ATF trick already....didn't work.....First thing was to remove busted oil filter that was on car, and refill (crankcase was EMPTY) with some new 10w40 dinosaur oil.

Oil filter that was on car.....


I am pretty sure that the fule filter is not clogged since I get an INSANE amount of fuel into the combustion chambers (making it flood constantly)...However I might have to try putting some new gas in there.....too much of a bad thing might be bad, but too much of a good thing might work...dunno

I'm thinking a fuel cut switch might also do the trick, that way I can keep it sparking while cutting the fuel flow off!!!

If none of that works then the injectors are going to go out and be rebuilt (or new ones purchased)...I think the "block" is OK, but will be verifying that this weekend with a compression tester.

 

Change the plugs too. The plugs might not be able to fire from all that gas.

 

I'm thinking a fuel cut switch might also do the trick, that way I can keep it sparking while cutting the fuel flow off!!!


Yes.

You can take channel locks and have a friend crimp the fuel hose that comes up from the fuel filter while you're cranking it.

Sorry I kinda jumped the gun and didn't read the part where you already tried the ATF trick. Drrrr.

 

Crimping fuel line sounds like best bet right now (cheap easy, temporary fix)...Have to try that when I get home...Heading to SEMA tomorrow morning EARLY and won't be home until Friday night ...WooHoo