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Yet another 93 Legacy No Start Story


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The Basics:

No Start

Does Crank

Does have spark

every once in a while it stutters like it wants to start

Trouble codes(some may be old) 

11 crank angle sensor, 22 knock sensor, 24 air control valve, 31 throttle sensor, 32 o2 sensor.

The backstory:

Started up fine, sounded fine, moved it to the street, turned it off. Moved another car back into the driveway. Went to start it again, and it was sluggish to start(had been having battery dying problems) got a jump and the starter cranked and cranked but it never caught. I am getting a spark, the fuel pump turns on, I tried spraying some starter fluid in the air intake and still nothing. Every once in a while it will sound like it almost catches, but then nothing. Checked the trouble codes(see above) and I have a hard time believing all those sensors would die at the same time. 

Thanks!

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11 hours ago, Wax54 said:

12.6v standing ~10v while cranking.

Should be okay - I dunno exactly where the electronics drop out, but that's a reasonable drop for cranking.

11 hours ago, Wax54 said:

Could the timing have suddenly jumped? 

As mentioned, easy enough to check.  My only timing failure experience was a catastrophic one.  I can see the crank and knock sensors complaining, but the others strike me as less directly related.  That's where I'd be thinking about a wiring fault common to them, and the canonical answer tends to be "grounds".

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I cant seem to reset the codes the standard way since I can't start the car. So I disconnected the battery and am going to check again in about an hour. Maybe I'll finally work up the energy to take off the timing covers in the mean time. 

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19 hours ago, Wax54 said:

The Basics:

No Start

Does Crank

Does have spark

every once in a while it stutters like it wants to start.

Ok, this will probably sound like a smartass response, but are getting good fuel pressure? I noticed it wasn't on your list of basics at this point. When spraying fluid, use carb or brake cleaner not starting fluid, and spray it directly into the throttle body. Into the tube won't cut it on a sube. 

More likely the crank sensor, that controls the spark.

Main relay clicking on too?

There are many reasons for the crank forever, then a pop but no start. The reason I mention the main relay is because I bypassed mine on purpose while installing a wiring harness just for rerouting purposes, but when I tried to start her it sounded just like your problem. So I  now the sound of a bad main relay. The engine slowly builds speed during cranking, after 15 or 20 seconds, she runs basically if you hold the key in start haha! It's very unique and does not sound like your issue so far.

You might just need a new battery! But your problem seems electrical or ignition related at to me.

 

Edited by sparkyboy
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Right. Main relay and fuel pump two click one right after another when turning key to on.

Good luck man! Hope it's an easy fix. And give the spray one more try, open the throttle blade and give her a good squirt. Then replace the air tube and give her hell. If she runs for a couple seconds then you found your problem! 

Edited by sparkyboy
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Well, I managed to reset the codes by disconnecting the battery. Took a couple tries for any codes to show up. The only one that ended up coming up was the knock sensor. Then, the car magically started up... No idea why. Started off smoking pretty bad, but then cleared up. Maybe bad fuel? I finally ended up resetting the codes by leaving the battery off for a couple hours so maybe that had to do with it. Weird.

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Horray! 

This sounds like an injector or two hanging open, and leaking gas making for rich starting conditions. Hence all the smoke. More of a nuisance, but holding the pedal to the floor while cranking will trigger the ecu into clear flood mode and won't supply the injectors with gas, possibly making for easier starting for you if that caused the initial no start condition. 

As long as the fuel pump is wired correctly, mine is hardwired to the relay on my ej22 swap, so always rich starting for me, but just the tiniest bump on the key above freezing to start! I let her push fuel through the rails for a couple of seconds first :lol:

Edited by sparkyboy
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