I replaced the clutch today. Plugged everything back the way it was. Won't stay running now. It turns over, starts but won't idle for more than 2 seconds. If I hit the gas it dies immediately. I tried the yellow connector jump, still dies like it was. Ran fine before but won't now. Suggestions?

 

How's that tranny-to-firewall ground?

 

This is gonna sound funny but... where would that be?? I don't remember one. I put everything back where it was.

 

Should be a wire running from the small grounding "clip" just to the right of centerline on the firewall down to the top of the tranny bellhousing (small ring terminal there).

If it wasn't there before, then you had exceptional tranny-to-rear housing and starter-to-tranny electrical "bonding", and since you've pulled it and reinstalled it you don't anymore...

If you can't seem to find a black wire anywhere in that firewall area, fabricate a wire (12 gage will be more than adequate) and bolt one end to the firewall (plenty of bolt holes to choose from), and the other end to the threaded hole on the top of the tranny (use ring terminals at each end).

 

is that on the actual transmission housing itself, or on the starter? i'm just curious...

 

Well, I found that when I unplugged the AFM I could maintain a shaky idle when I feather the gas pedal. I was under the impression that jumping the yellow plug jumped the AFM. I tried the yellow plug jump 3 times and it still hasn't worked.

 

As a second thought, there is one thing I think I changed. The bolt that goes through the block-tranny-starter, the one that has a bracket and the large ground wire... I think instead of putting the ground wire on the front end of the car I put it at the rear because it was easier to put the bolt through. Would this effect anything? Also, I added the ground wire from the slave cylinder bolt to the firewall; didn't help. Suggestions??

 

Can anyone help me???

 

First, you're not "jumpering" the entire AFM when you jumper that yellow plug, your just giving the fuel pump circuit opening relay a ground (that is usually accomplished with the AFM door switch- as soon as the door opens due to airflow, the circuit opening relay's ground is the door switch)

Second, I actually prefer the big starter ground on the back, directly on top of the starter body, otherwise all that current is flowing through the rear housing-to-tranny junction, and if the surfaces are dirty then that will create some unintended voltage drop problems for your starter.

You didn't do anything silly like RTV the tranny mating surfaces (or starter-to-tranny surfaces), did ya?

Sounds kinda like an AFM problem, but you didn't "play" with that, did you?

I still think you have a grounding, or "bonding" issue here. Just for $hits and grins, put that negative cable back under the head of the bolt. If that solves your problems, then your grounds are in need of repair...

 

If you are talking about the bracket that the negative battery cable attaches to, put that back the way it was originally. The negative cable needs to bond to the chassis and the engine block. I changed mine and stuff didn't work right.

 

I'll try putting the ground back on the head of the bolt. HAHAHA!!! No way did I RTV it... that was funny. I didn't mess with the AFM at all. It drove in the morning to get the clutch, once everything was done and reinstalled, it won't run.

 

Project84- if all of your metal-to-metal contacts on the tranny & housings are clean & sit flush with each other, it really shouldn't matter WHERE the neg cable bolts to, as long as it's on the engine. I've been running mine with the cable terminal bolted under the upper starter bolt nut (right on top of the starter body) for years with no ill effects. Like I said, if you move a ground (especially that one), and things start getting screwy, your bonding is shot (particularly that tranny-to-firewall ground, and your housing-to-housing contact).

87racer- if you'd like, and you have the materials to do it, run a 10 or so gage jumper (with large enough ring terminals for the bolt shank diameter) between the back of the bolt at the starter (under the nut) and the head of the bolt up front- that should give you great bonding between the tranny/starter and the housings. This is if you want to leave the big boy at the back of the starter...

 

I switched it and got the same thing... won't run. To me it's gotta be the AFM... it must have just ate $hit with perfect timing. Anyone living in Southern California got a spare S4 TII AFM I can buy off you? ....Anyone???.... Is there any way to use one off of an N/A? or one from an S5 TII? Preferably off the N/A. Anything else I should check?

 

Someone please help me... I'm sitting here pulling my hair out on 4th of July trying to fix this. Is there anything I can do??

BTW... Happy 4th of July

 

Hmmm, if you don't have a spare ECU handy, you might as well take the time to troubleshoot it at the ECU to verify if it's even it...

First off, do you have access to the wiring schematics and FSM for your turbo? (possibly the same as my n/a, but I don't want to give you any bogus wires to check)

There is an AFM check in the FSM that takes care of the internals, and the inputs/ outputs can be read at the ECU with ease (somewhere in section 4 of your FSM).

I guess first thing you should check will be the 5v input voltage from the ECU...

If you don't have schematics/ manual, I can try to take you through it step-by-step using the n/a schematics, I can't see that they would be that different for the AFM...

If you have a spare n/a AFM, go ahead and try it...If the plugs are the same, they should be compatible...

 

Well... I don't have a FSM or a little voltage reader (but I could go buy one). I do have an N/A AFM but I was told they aren't interchangeable. Something about different reading or signals or something. Anyways, when it was running I tried it just to see, and sure enough, it didn't work. That's why I was wanting to see if I could rewire something. I do have a S5 TII AFM though... can't I rewire that? S5 doesn't work in the search but I looking one by one. Thanks for the help so far.

 

Anyone... Anything??

 

I'm pretty sure the S5 and S4 AFM's are different, different plugs, different pins...

Hmm, no meter, no FSM...

What about a 12 volt bulb with a couple of wires hanging off of it? A test lamp, if you will...Preferably something that doesn't use more than 3 to 4 watts...

Without a meter, you're kinda stuck with the "swapping parts" thing, because you have no way to troubleshoot...

Recheck all your wiring connections on the starter (and that tranny ground, if you ever found it) make sure the big ground terminal is bolted against clean metal, and check all of your fuses (cabin and engine bay), stuff you can do without a meter...

 

Well, I can go buy a test meter. I do have a little bulb one. I just want to figure out exactly what's wrong and not go around buying new parts that I don't need. Plus I think finding a new AFM is gonna be a PITA. There aren't any TII's in the junkyards around here.

 

hmmm...well, if you have the internet, you have an FSM:

http://www.teamfc3s.org/main/factory...ual/1986_1988/

check under "fuel and emissions control systems turbo", section "control unit".
but from reading that section, it says that at the AFM terminal you should have ~4 volts with the ignition in the ON position, and 2.5-3.5 volts at idle.
terminal is 2E

 

Buying a meter will be one of the best investments you can make in your car, because it will save you mucho bucks down the road in parts...

Once you get the meter we can help you with the steps necessary to troubleshoot the AFM...

Downloading the FSM will also help ya, try teamfc3s.org to download the parts of the manual you need...

 

lol, you posted where to get the FSM exact time i did^

yeah, if you click on the link i gave, you can download/view the parts of the FSM you need, instead of getting the whole thing...helps if you are on slow-a$$ dialup

 

Which terminal do I test from and how? Do I ground the negative test cord or is there a place to put it also? I'm downloading the FSM now and I'm gonna go pick up a multimeter.

 

Ok... i got one of these little multimeters. Now I got another stupid question... how do I use it? What setting do I put it on to test this thing? Ah!!! I'm getting even more frustrated.

 

take a look at the ECU pinout in the FSM (section i told you). it is terminal 2E. i tried to attach a picture, but the forum won't let me...

as for the multimeter, there is usually 3 ports, you want to have the ground going to the COM (ground), and then to test voltage go to whichever one says V. then you want to set it to DC voltage, which should be a V with a straight line, NOT a wavy line...i guess you didn't buy it new because they come with manuals...