My 94 fd will not start after replacing my 2 turbo coolant hoses. The first thing that comes to mind, is maybe the Alternator belt is slipping? But the tension feels fine. I can flex the belt 1/2 inch if I press hard with my thumb. Should I tighten some more?
When I start the car..(cranks normal speed)after replacing the famous turbo hoses it sounds different..sporadic noises, almost like sporadic slipping(sporadic quiet moments) and slight roughness but never starts. And when I turn off the key it feels rough as the engine comes to a stop.


I had to take off the air box, intake hoses, crossover, and air pump to get to these hoses. Putting the parts back on: I put the air pump back on first by fastening long the top bolt. Attached the hoses and wiring harness. Then I worked the belt back on the alternator by moving the belt. (like putting a chain on a bicycle) The belt is positioned correctly on the pulleys. Then with the alternator fully loose, I pulled the air pump up as hard as I could, I tightened the bottom two bolts. But the adjustment bolt, despite how hard I pulled, isn't near the end of the bracket. But I figured I would make this up with the alternator adjustment. I was able too adjust the alternator screw with ample thread for more tightening. Tightened the two mounting Alt. bolts. Also, when pulling off the top turbo hose, I accidentally broke the vacuum tube going from the turbo to the air chamber. I replaced that as well with the green filter's arrow towards the air chamber.

Any ideas why I can't start my FD? Thanks so much.

 

Did you change the location of the air pump on its bracket? Usually I will note the position of the air pump bolt and tighten it back to that spot, then take up final slack using the alternator jack screw. If you moved it, I would be concerned that you're rubbing hard against something, or there is a piece that has fallen against the belt. If you find this to be the case, replace the belt. You don't want that failing on you.

Check your ECU codes, too. Maybe there is a clue there.

Dave

 

Thanks Dave, The air pump adjuster bolt shows I don't have it where it was no matter how much I tired.. I can see a little rust on the bracket where the bolt was, but no matter how much I pull the airpump I cannot get it up any further and thats with the alternator fully relaxed. I'll check tomorrow. But would a slipping belt really prevent startup? Thanks.

 

I don't know. That's why I wonder if something fell down and is blocking the crankshaft position sensor, for example. And why the ECU codes would be of use.

 

I replaced my turbo hoses a couple of days ago , and I also heard squeaking when i started the car. The noises went away after like 10 minutes. I think it was because the belt was a tad bit off. I would take the air pipe and airbox back out and check to see if the drive belt is on right. Dave G is the turbo hose guru. If you need any help, I would PM him.

 

I'm almost positive the belts are properly on the pullys. I checked them carefully before tightening the airpump and alternator. I'llcheck again. Thanks. Is Dave Gs' username DaveG?

 

i think you should realign your airpump. i had a hell of a time trying to get it on myself, but after i got a buddy to help, it was pretty easy. one person has to hold the airpump in place perfectly aligned in space (try tilting the rear of the airpump posteriorly so that the pulley is straight up). the other person needs to put the housing bolt in first (but not all the way in so you could still tilt it) and then the bracket bolt. make sure you tighten the f out of them in the end, obviously

 

I don't think there's anything to re-align. The airpump fits into the engine block only one way. I can pivot it to tighten the belt but thats it. Or am I wrong? I was just outside (good weather in the NE to work on a car with no garage) to see how far I could flex the belt. The belt might be over tightened because it flexes less than a 1/4 inch. I thought it flexed about a 1/2 inch today but feels stiffer now. I'm really pissed because I didn't do much work to the car:intake hoses and airpump so the problem can't bethat far-fetched....I hope

 

If you can't press more than 1/4" of deflection I'd guess you've overtightened it. The jack bolts will certainly provide enough leverage to do so. Without a belt tension gauge, or a crusty old mechanic to say 'just right' it's hard to describe. But the FSM says it's something like 1/2" deflection on 25lb of pressure or something like that. You should be able to look it up.

And what I meant when I said about positioning - I meant I put the airpump pivoted to the same position on the slider bracket when I reinstall.

 

I read that one should be able to roll the belt by hand and if all pulleys are moving then that's ok. True? I tried to start the car 3 times for no longer than 5 seconds each. I hope I'm not looking at further damage in the case of an over-tightened belt. My fingers are killing me from the cold and all the tugging and pulling. Guys, thanks for your infput so far. I appreciate it. First thing tomorrow, I'lll talke off the crossover pipe and loosen the belt. I hope it works. Also check for obstructions and trible check the belts are on the pulleys.

 

I tried loosening the Alt. belt and still cannot start. When I turn the key, I get a flat sound, just the starter sound....almost like no compression or ignition..winding sound. Maybe the Alt belt isn't tight enough? I'm so depressed.

I checked all of the vacuum hoses, intake clamps, the air pump wiring harness is connected.....I really didn't remove much on the car to change the turbo coolant hoses. Hoses and air pump.

 

I'd guess one of three things:

1) vacuum hose detached, etc., so the engine can't get the right mixture to start?
2) electrical connector knocked loose?
3) engine flooded due to running a very short time before shutdown (this is very common, lots of thread on this forum on unflooding)?

The alternator belt tension (I think) should have no effect on starting unless it was dead loose. If the battery were way discharged it wouldn't crank. How fast is it cranking? I think I remember that the ignitors won't work if the voltage is really low.

Good luck.

 

Thanks Dave, Because of my original problem (which I still haven't figured out) I think I might have flooded the car. But then again, I never did have the car running and I must have tried to start it 5 times at different belt tensions but never tried to crank it more than 3-5 seconds. I will double check all my work. Another thing comes to mind...When I was trying to fully relax the Alternator to get the belt on, I was bearing down on the vacuum chamber.(under the Alternator? Maybe a tube got freed there.
I'm not a big mechanical person so this was a big job for me. I'll check the engine for the things you suggested. Thanks so much, Dave.

 

Check if your rig is still stabilized, as the other Dave suggested

 

Graziano,

BTW, you mentioned that you couldn't get the air pump back in the same position as indicated by rust on the bracket. Rust doesn't usually form under a tightened bolt - it forms where paint is scraped off and the surface was left exposed for afew days or more. I'd suspect that the rust on the bracket is from an air pump location sometime in the past with a more worn (longer) belt.

 

Hmm, maybe its just me, but i cant see how the tightness/looseness of the alternator belt would have ANY influence on the engine starting or not starting. There is nothing the alt belt turns that is critical to the engine STARTING. You should be able to completely remove the alt belt and the car should start just fine, although you would not want to run it for long that way as i believe the alt belt also turns the water pump.

 

First of all, thanks guys for all of your input. Good news and bad news. Good news: I got the car started. Turned out when the pressure chamber was knocked around a little, one of the two hoses(the one not going to the turbo) had snapped underneath...they're very brittle because these are orig. hoses. I replaced it. Will a little battery jump, it started. Tons of white smoke came out of the exhaust but cleared in 7/10 minutes. Engine ran smooth the whole time.

Bad news, I STILL see the smoke coming from the front passenger corner of the UIM where the pressure chamber and crossover pipe meet.. That was the original reason why I changed both turbo coolant hoses. The orig top hose, all swollen and thin, was the one leaking on the water pump side. I used emery cloth to clean the pipes and put the new hoses on using worm clamps.
I put my nose right in the smoke and it smells more like burning rubber than coolant. Then the smoke subsided like it always did. What else would smoke in that area and then subside when the car warmed up? Thanks again gentlemen.

 

Is it possible that there was a leftover puddle of coolant from before the repair? Antifreeze really doesn't evaporate at room temperature, and would maybe still have been there on start-up. If this repeatedly recurs now that you've run it, THEN maybe you still have a problem.

 

Thanks so much Dave, that's what I'm hoping. I drained the coolant system prior so there wasn't much coolant around but I'm still praying that was it. When I changed the hoses, I could blatantly see the leak was on the top hose. Those hoses were so hard going on I almost feel they would have stayed on without clamps. If a wire harness was touching the manifold, would it melt? Do those hard lines get hot near the turbo get hot?

 

That whole area around the turbos is hot enough to melt almost any plastic or rubber. Hope you don't have anything touching the exhaust manifold, turbos themselves, the pre-cat, or even the Y-pipe (turbo pressurized air out pipe), although that is not quite as hot.

 

you need to get the system pressure tested if you think it is still leaking. if not when the car is cool get a hose and rise it off. if coolant leaks onto the manifold it can cause a fire

 

After the initial startup (when I noticed engine smoke AGAIN), I took the crossover pipe back off and noticed a wiring harness(lite blue?) touching the lower manifold (non polished half.) I repositioned it under the pressure chamber and restarted the car about 1.5 hours later and noticed no smoke so far. I'll keep you guys posted if I see new smoke after a cold morning start. Gotta keep my fingers crossed. Thanks SO much for all your suggestions.

 

Well Dave...I ain't got no more smoke! You were right; it was mostlikely left over coolant that didn't burn off yet. On m way to work, I pulled over after 5 and then 10 min. of driving, popped the hood and no smoke!....I'm proud of myself...It doesn't seem like much but it was the biggest job I did so far. Thanks for everyone's help. This forum ROCKS!

 

Hey, that's how it starts. I took 1:45 (that's in hours btw) the first time I worked on the car - only replacing the air filter. I guess I spent 1:20 f'n with it until I realized the whole airbox comes out. (My other car was different). Yes, we all waste time and make mistakes in the beginning. Once you get better with the car, the 'mistakes' get blamed on elaborate circumstances beyond your control

Today, 2 years after the fits the airbox gave me, I'm finishing a complete transmission rebuild. As you can imagine, when I raked the gears tonight I had a big cheesy smile on my face. Now I'm going back down to button it up and take it for a spin.

Another Dave

 

Graziano -

I'm glad it was something simple.

Dave G -

I've been working on cars, doing most of the work myself for over 40 years, and I still sometimes do things the hard way and kick myself afterwards when I figure out how I should have done it. It's always easier the second time.

This really is a great forum. I'm about 20 times as smart about my FD today than I was 2 years ago, and most of it's due to the info I've seen here! And I still know just enough to be dangerous!