distibutor problems

[pizzaboy]

hi everyone. i'm new to this, so bear with me. i have a 1987 gl10 turbo wagon which is currently not running. the problem appears to be related to ignition timing. the car will start and run for about 45 seconds, then die. upon reseting the timing by turning the distributor, the car will again start and run, but only to die again in 30-45 seconds. then you have to reset the timing again to get it to start. the timing appears to be moving around schizophrenically. can check the computer codes, and will try to do that tomorrow. i've never done it, but my buddly in south dakota, chef tim, has coached me on the process somewhat. has anyone got any ideas or experience in this situation? would appreciate greatly any advice...

[chef_tim]

Glad to see you made it. Can someone help my buddy out, I just don't know the turbos at all. Thanks in advance, Tim

[Hank Roberts]

If you want to pay Alldata the $25, you can get the Technical Service Bulletins for a year, for your exact model -- I've just done that for my 1988 GL.

 

One of these has a procedure (presumably also in the shop manual) for testing the distributor ("crank angle sensor" problems.

 

It looks like it works like what's often used inside a mouse or trackball -- a little LED light shining through slots in a wheel that turns, except the result indicates where the engine is in its cycle.

 

The bad news is, there's no fix for internal hardware failure but a new distributor.

(My Berkeley shop just called me with this diagnosis -- another reason I paid Alldata for access to the reference files.)

 

Before you throw in a new distributor -- this is what my shop did NOT bother to tell me, and did not check --

 

There is a flowchart specifying which electrical points to test (warning to use a digital not analog meter, and never just connect battery voltage, to protect the car computer). There are three lines to the computer, for crank angle position, reference and power.

 

Looks from this like if you are lucky you have a bad signal/electrical connection Again the tech service bulletins give details on exactly what to check.

 

The TSB also make very clear that any intermittent code may be due to bad electrical grounding and advises finding, removing and cleaning all the ground wires, looking for disconnected ground wires between components specifically in several places.

 

Be real careful. You've basically got a computer, sensitive to far less static shock than you can feel or notice as a human being -- and it's spread out all over the inside of the vehicle via its sensor wiring. Electrostatic discharge (ESD) usually does NOT "blow" a computer -- instead it simply changes the threshold where some semiconductor changes from insulator to conductor (passes or doesn't pass a signal) -- putting it out of spec. Most computer techs don't give enough care about that, it's cheaper just to swap parts than protect them.

[Cougar]

It seems to me that this problem is either with the CAS in the disty that is having a problem reading the pulses after it is on for awhile or the ECU has a problem. Changing the disty may be the best first step. This is a strange one.

[pizzaboy]

thanks to you and cougar for replying. how do i contact alldata?

If you want to pay Alldata the $25, you can get the Technical Service Bulletins for a year, for your exact model -- I've just done that for my 1988 GL.

 

One of these has a procedure (presumably also in the shop manual) for testing the distributor ("crank angle sensor" problems.

 

It looks like it works like what's often used inside a mouse or trackball -- a little LED light shining through slots in a wheel that turns, except the result indicates where the engine is in its cycle.

 

The bad news is, there's no fix for internal hardware failure but a new distributor.

(My Berkeley shop just called me with this diagnosis -- another reason I paid Alldata for access to the reference files.)

 

Before you throw in a new distributor -- this is what my shop did NOT bother to tell me, and did not check --

 

There is a flowchart specifying which electrical points to test (warning to use a digital not analog meter, and never just connect battery voltage, to protect the car computer). There are three lines to the computer, for crank angle position, reference and power.

 

Looks from this like if you are lucky you have a bad signal/electrical connection Again the tech service bulletins give details on exactly what to check.

 

The TSB also make very clear that any intermittent code may be due to bad electrical grounding and advises finding, removing and cleaning all the ground wires, looking for disconnected ground wires between components specifically in several places.

 

Be real careful. You've basically got a computer, sensitive to far less static shock than you can feel or notice as a human being -- and it's spread out all over the inside of the vehicle via its sensor wiring. Electrostatic discharge (ESD) usually does NOT "blow" a computer -- instead it simply changes the threshold where some semiconductor changes from insulator to conductor (passes or doesn't pass a signal) -- putting it out of spec. Most computer techs don't give enough care about that, it's cheaper just to swap parts than protect them.

[pizzaboy]

i can get both a distributor and an ecu. would a coil cause this problem? also, how do i check the codes on the ecu, and what is the code for the cam position sensor?

[Cougar]

I can't see how a coil could cause this kind of problem. If you have a spare one I suppose you could try changing it since it is easy to do.

 

Here is a link for all data.diy

 

http://www.alldata.com/products/diy/index.html

 

 

Here is a link for code explinations.

 

http://www.troublecodes.net/Subaru/