ontos

have fuel and spark, but as mentioned before, spark seems weak to me (and this is entirely subjective). have errorcodes for something in the maf circuit, but maf looks good visually. yes, i used the timing marks, not the tdc marks. problem predates timing belt replacement. that's just something i did "for fun." engine has 260ish thousand miles on it, leaks oil from a hairline crack on the underside of the engine (head? block? whatever, it's cracked), and has poor compression in cylinders two and four. new ignitor was a last ditch effort to revive a dying car for a little while longer. but honesly, i'm about halfway to gave-up and i'm not putting a ton of effort into it for now. unless anyone has a spfi ignitor module they want to sell me. thanks for helping out so much, evverbody.

i didn't get a chance to hit up a junk yard when i was in salt lake last, so i'm on hold for the moment. as soon as i can find an ignitor, maybe a distributor, maybe a new maf, i'll let you guys know. thanks for all the help, everyone.

i did try starter fluid again, and that didn't help. i agree with you that this engine is very worn out. i was just hoping to get it running for maybe a little while longer because it's about my only option right now. i still plan on trying to find an ignitor. i'm not expecting much, but i need a little more time before i don't have a car at all.

sure did. notch on driver's side cam sprocket was pointing down, notch on passenger's side was pointing up. double checked. it's possible one or the other was off by a tooth or two, like Cougar said. but it wasn't starting before i messed with them and it's doing exactly the same thing now. don't think it's timing.

i so do not want to take that all apart again.

i found 12v on one pin of the MAF, i'm assuming the others are common and ecu connection? i'll look the wiring over and on tuesday i can drive to the junkyard and try to find an ignitor and MAF. engine sounds awfully odd when it's trying to start. it almost kicks on and kinda sounds like it's starting to run for a few seconds if you're giving it gas, but then it cuts out. from the engine bay, centerish, but i'm not sure where exactly is a high pitched whining noise that goes up in pitch for a moment when it almost starts and then drops again for a second before the engine dies again. at the very end for a second there's a rattling noise (pinging?). i can record the sound if it's worthwhile. i'm not sure how my timing could be off after double checking the timing belts. i didn't mess with the distributor. i guess i'll try to find/replace the ignitor and MAF and see what happens. sorry, long winded. thinking out loud.

ok. things are happening, but i'm not sure what. put everything back together from the compression test, recleaned a bunch of electrical connectors with a fresh can of cleaner (high pressure), replaced a couple fuses even though they looked fine, double checked that the fuel pump was working. nothing in particular, really. but! she's actually almost starting now, or at least trying to kick over instead of the weird whiny cranking i was getting before. and the error code 14 went away and 23 came up instead. 23 is air flow meter circuit. so i'm going to get some MAF cleaner right now and clean the sucker even though it looks like it doesn't need it. also noticed one of the harnesses for the fuel injector has a wire that's lost it's insulation, so that may explain the occasional fuel injector code? even though it's annoying that it might be something that was covered on the first page of this thread (sorry folks! :-\), oh please god let it be something as simple as that.

quick update. i said the ecu showed code of six short lights. after actually looking into how to get the codes out of it, i realized it was in technician dynamic diagnostic mode or whatever. previous owner had left both connectors connected. my bad. actual codes are: 14- fuel injector abnormal output 34- egr solenoid or circuit same codes in normal (starting/driving) mode and read memory mode. don't know if any of it is relevant, but now i'm looking into it. bonus! i finally got rid of that annoying relay noise with the key on. edit: after plugging the fuel injector back in code 24 went away edit edit: egr wouldn't be the problem, as far as i can tell. but a clogged or faulty fuel injector seems like it might be a problem, what with no fuel getting into the engine using starting fluid/putting gas in the throttle body would not work if there was no injector, correct?

anywhere that still sells this? would it be listed as an Electronic Ignition Module, or is that something else?

yes, the oil raised the pressure in that cylinder, but now it doesn't start at all. after it first died, it started then died two more times and now no longer starts. i didn't bother to clean it because it appeared to be in perfect shape. shiny and clean, nothing bent or wobbly or otherwise indicating it wasn't working. thanks for the input and the link, i'll look through your thread.

what really irks me is i had a 87 gl parts car that i just sold to some dude for scrap. it was "just an eyesore" and i had taken very little from it. i bet it didn't have a cracked head or a bad igniter.

ok here goes. code from ECU was 6 short pulses. electronics below the coil look fine. no heat swelling or anything like that i could see. compression check is as follows: cyl # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |test #|------------------------ 1 | 115 | 95 | 125 | 55 | 2 | 125 | 100 | 125 | 70 | 3 | 135 | 105 | 125 | 70 | 4 | | 115 | | 225 | <-- after adding a little oil to #4 5 | | 115 | | 225 | (probably a little too much) i can't tell from that whether i'm looking at a head gasket or a piston/cylinder problem. but that's enough to stop my engine from running at all, eh?

ok, i'll do the compression test today. can i check error codes without some sort of error code reader?

today i: tried starting it with starter fluid. no go. installed a new air filter, just because. installed a new coil, just in case. no go. tore apart the front end of the car again and made absolutely sure i hadn't messed up the timing. i hadn't. thought about doing a compression test, realized i can't because i can't warm up the engine. pulled the spark plugs anyway. thick black crap on em. cleaned them up and regapped. still no go. anyone still listening out there? i'm stuck!

checked for spark, seemed weak and sickly (midday, but overcast). checked coil and got 1.4 ohms for primary and 9.56k for secondary. that's a bad coil, is it not?