robm Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 And I am 1400 km away from home and tools. It has been reluctant to start the last week or 2. Not every day, just sometimes, when cold. The last 2 days, it has been fine. Today, after driving 2 days to get to my mom's place, it won't start. Ran like a champ yesterday, 800 km, no problems at all. I parked it last night, and today it won't start. Turns over, but won't fire. It has: Spark (pulled the coil wire to check) Fuel (popped the FI intake to check, and it is full of gas from the busiest gas station in the neighbourhood, so the fuel should be good.) Timing belts are on, tight and turning. There is no reason why stopping the car would cause them to jump, nor is the distributor likely to have slipped. This is especially embarassing as my relatives all think it is a rusty POS and unreliable. Rusty I will grant, but it only has 326,000 km, burns no oil, and is otherwise in good shape. What am I missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Did you pull off the distributor cap? Make sure the rotor is in place and the screw holding it on didn't back out. I know you sid you have spark at the coil, but worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 A quick update: I replaced the plugs and air filter. They were due anyway. No effect. Still just cranks. Checked the rotor. Firmly attached, not wobbling loose. I pulled off the MAF and hosed it out with WD-40. I am now waiting for it to dry. I think I wil help it out with a little warm air from the vacuum cleaner. Getting desperate here. Why won't it run??! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I suggest you get a can of starter fluid and spray a small amount into the intake to prove this problem isn't due to the injectors not opening. If that doesn't get the engine fired up then you should check for a timing belt problem. Is the rotor inside the disty spinning when you crank the engine? It would also be a good idea to check for any ECU codes by tieing the black ECU connectors together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 ...I pulled off the MAF and hosed it out with WD-40... I think that this is a very bad idea. WD40 is likely to leave residue on the hotwire. Best bet is MAF cleaner on a completely cold MAF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 (edited) I will give it a rinse with alcohol, or similar. There is spark, so there is cam and rotor rotation. Extended cranking gets a smell of gas to the tailpipe. I may try to spill a bit of raw gas in to see if it helps, but I doubt it. To make it worse, I am now several thousand of miles away, and won't get back to it for 3 weeks. The battery will be low low low when I return. Edited February 15, 2011 by robm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) Even though the cam for the disty may be working ok the other side may have a broken belt. From the sounds of it, you will most likely find a broken belt is the problem here. Edited February 19, 2011 by Cougar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 I will check it. But I am pretty sure it is ok. No covers, and everything looks tight, and I know the driver's cam is turning to make the distributor make spark. Besides, I hear these things will run on 2 cylinders, if the other cam belt breaks, why am I so unlucky it won't? I will be looking at timing. I don't know how it has slipped, but that is the only thing left. Cam? Spark? How do I check, when my timing light is 1000 miles away, and everyone I know in Vancouver is car illiterate? I will try Deener. He lives somewhere near, and his willingness to take on the Loyale with blown headgaskets indicates his competence, and the amplenss of his tool box! PM coming. Rob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) To see if the valve timing has slipped do a compression test on the cylinders and see how the numbers from the test match up. After going over this again I now think the belts are ok since you say it ran ok the night before this trouble started. Bring a can of starting fluid with you the next time you look into this trouble and see if that will help get the engine running by spraying a small shot into the intake before starting it. I now wonder if there is a problem with the MAF sensor. Try disconnecting it and see if it will start then. I would also check the ECU for any stored codes that may bring a clue to light on this trouble. If you haven't done this already verify all the fuses are ok under the hood and the dash. Edited February 19, 2011 by Cougar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 Got back from NM late last night, and Deener and I had a go at it this morning. Actually, it started right up on the first turn of the key! After the grief I had 3 weeks ago, running the battery down, then leaving it, I didn't expect it to even turn over, let alone run. The best we can figure is it was the MAF. There was a lot of oil on the air filter, so I cleaned the MAF with what I had available, WD-40. I know this leaves a residue, but it was all I had. I figure after 3 weeks, what ever was left had evaporated and so it ran. The connector was a bit wobbly, too, so after hosing out the sensor with carb cleaner, Deener strapped it on tight with some cable ties. Having the tools handy, we also did a compression check, as I had noticed some oil on one of the plugs when I replaced them last time around. Numbers were OK: 150 120 ish (ouch!) 140 150 This was measured warm. I can't remember if the wet plug was the low one, or not. It was from that side, but I thought it was the back plug, not the front one. Anyway, it is back up and running. I will stick around town for a day or so, to check on its reliability. Many thanks to Deener, who came out with a big bag of tools, early on a Sunday morning to help someone he had never met before. Rob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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