ok guys, i have been searching, but i havent really found anything usefull. its a 88 SE, auto trans. i got the car and it didnt ran, after about 1qt of ATF and weeks of trying, i finally got it to start, but now i have more problems. i HAVE to do the unflooding procedure to get it started evrytime. i have a switch and a relay going to the fuel pump, so i can turn it off and on. to start it i have to the throttle all the way down and flip the pump off and on to get it started and after it does start, i have to keep it reved up about 2000rpm or above for a couple of minutes and then it will idle without dieing. it also will not idle any lower than 1500rpm, any lower and it dies.

i hooked up a vac guage and i am only pulling 11in at idle and the needle is fairly jumpy. the car has a full exhaust from the maifold back, tb mod, a cone filter. and the rats nets, power steering, a/c, airpump, 6pi, omp, bac, acv, egr have all been removed and all of the block off plates have plenty of rtv on them and there are vacum caps installed on the intake mani. it has BRAND NEW plugs, wire, fuel pump, fuel filter, air filter, UIM and LIM gaskets. i have also sprayed tons of carb cleaner all over the intake and vac lines and i can't find a vac leak anywhere.

i have set the timing, were the leading 1 is aligned with the yellow mark with the pulley, but when i put the pickup for the timing light on trailing 1, its in the EXACT same place as it was on the leading, it is aligned with the yellow mark, NOT the red like i read it should be. i also did a fresh oil change on it. the motor also has 120,000 mils on it.

any ideas on what else i need to do to get this car running right would be a big help, thanks in advance for any help

 

Have you done a compression test yet?

They should be around 90psi or better on all three faces for each rotor.

 

I was about to say that.

 

i was getting about 80psi before i got it running, i can only inmage it is better now, i will retest it tomorow though

 

When you did the test, did you hold the releif valve down? Not doing so will show only the highest psi acheived instead of giving the individual bounces for the rotor faces.

A leaky injector could also be the root of your problem.

 

sounds like a posibly blown engine....

you say the vac gauge is jumpy?? like rocks back and forth really fast?? even at a steady rpm??then that is a sign of a compression issue and not just a vacume leak,


where as a vac leak vacume would stay consistantly low.

 

i did the compression test just like you would on a piston motor. i did have a friend hold the valve open one day and he said that they where all even bounces. the vac guage basically jiggle onle 1/2 to 1 at most. just jitters, it doesnt bounce too much, just enough to really notice on the guage. i can take a vid of the guage if you guys need it.

 

the bounces i was talking about would be like very rapidly bouncing between 11 to almost zero vac...

did you check both rotors??

 

ok. it jumps rapidly from like 10 1/2 to 11 1/2. compression test both rotor? if so yes i have, the back rotor has like 5psi more and thats the only difference

 

weird.... maybe you have a hung open injector?? does the car drive ok at all??

 

i think the torque convertor in the trans is fubar, so i cant really drive it much. this weekend i am doing a manual swap and i will try to drive around after that

 

also why would the trailing be sparking at the same timing as the leading? its not 15 degs apart like it should be. could my CAS be bad?

 

During CRANKING WHEN COLD, both lead and trail are at 5* BTDC.

At idle, when warming up, both are retarded.

At warm idle, the lead is 5*ATDC and the trail is 20*ATDC.

Maybe your water thermo sensor is not working? Or for some miswired reason the ECU thinks the car is still in the START mode. Pin 3B.

See the series five FSM and the Fuel section. Output Devices page.

Never check timing unless the engine is fully warmed up. Period.

Also the idle has to be under 1200rpm. Over 1200rpm the ECU advances the timing.

 

wow, good bit of info there. i think the cra wasnt all the way warmed up when i did the timing, so that could a reason, and the high idle.

 

You should be pulling 15 in of vaccuum. You've got a vaccuum leak.

 

all new gaskets and vac lines and caps, i know there isnt a vac leak, and if there was a leak, if would be alot lower than 11in. a firend of mine was also telling me that i just need to drive it around so that it can build some more compression. i will try to do that when i finish doing my trans swap

 

DUDE! thats so weird, i just checked mine with a timing light today and had the same result. i red in the book that the T1 coil should hit the red mark, but the light hit the same spot exactly for all coild exept T2... the car was plenty warm.

 

I saw someone mention the Water Thermo Sensor... Looks like the electrical connector to mine snapped off (The one on the thermostat housing, no radiator??)...

Could this cause hard cold start, bad bucking at cruise/acceleration, and lean running??