GRANDLOYALE

UPDATE: I had the alternator tested. It is fine. So I think I've come to a dead end. If you live in the Portland Vancouver area and are looking for a wagon which has plenty of good stuff on it, please check out my craigslist ad, 1994 $700 obo. I dont want to send this car to a yard. I'd rather it go to someone who would likes finding needles in haystacks, or who needs a complete wagon. This wagon has the grey interior. also, the seat belts have been converted to Outback, so they are the regular shoulder belt which must be manually pulled into place. END OF LINE.

Thanks for the suggestion, but this car has no alarm, and it not hydro locked.

OK, I located my ground wires on #4. My wires are not brown, they are a black/yellow and a green. Might be a few more in there, but I did not cut the shrink wrap away too far. The ground at that point is in great shape. Running through the wires one last time, I came to realize that the odd clicks and injector noises stop when I unplug the IACV or the Alternator. I've ruled out the IACV, so I'll take the alternator in to get checked out. I did recently replace the Alternator, about 3 weeks ago. Perhaps it is internally dead. If that does not pan out, then I'm going to sell the wagon and move on. Unfortunately I have run out of time and need a daily to get to work. I'm currently driving my classic truck back and forth and it's killing me. Thank you for all your help. If the alternator is bad, I'll update this thread.

So on a 1995 the ECU grounds are on the intake manifold. What do thoes grounds look like. Am I looking for small gauge wires screwed down to a bolt, or am I looking for a multi pin connection??? Please let me know what I might be looking for. Thank you.

UPDATE: I took the separated fuel sample to work. There we used a simple tool which shows how much water can be absorbed into fuel. Ethanol can absorb much more water than a gasoline/ethanol blend. IMG_20170119_093843492 by R H, on Flickr This photo above shows the results. This sample was taken from the upper portion separated fuel. We all assumed that this was gasoline. We were all right. The result shows that this sample has about 10% ethanol. IMG_20170119_094253988 by R H, on Flickr This photo above shows us the results from sampling the lower portion of separated fuel. None of really knew what it was, but I'd assumed it was alcohol. Turns out this assumption is right. Ethanol will combine with water. In this shot we can see that most of the water joined with the ethanol. This means that the lower section of separated fuel was about 70% ethanol. Sort of weird that I'd get really bad fuel that has separated that drastically. FairTax4Me asked if Oregon has access to E85 (85% ethanol fuel). The answer is yes, but in limited locations. Only one place is a gas station, the other 4 places are shops and garages. Electrical issues are still with me. Here is a youtube video of my fuel pressure fluctuating with the electrical glitch. Normally I think the fuel pressure should range around 30psi. When my motor is running, the fuel pressure stays at a constant 30psi. When I rev the motor, the fuel pressure increases to 32psi then quickly returns to 30psi. https://youtu.be/XEmITMiNTrk And here is another video showing you various areas of my engine bay and under the dash, so that you can hear and see the odd electrical chatter. https://youtu.be/Tuzmx_LPI_s Finally, I cant recall if I mentioned this. But last weekend, I got a used ECU from the bone yard. I installed the ECU and I still have the same issues. So I dont think that it is an ECU problem. I also checked all the grounds that I could find and each ground looked fantastic. I did clean the contacts on them and made sure they were nice and tight. I know there is a simple fix for this, I just dont know where it is hidden. I was hopping that someone else might have run across something similar. Thank you.

Look for my update, coming soon. I tested the fuel and discovered the lower fuel was 70% ethanol. E85 is available in Oregon. I see a map at AltFuelPrices.com shows 5 places carry it. Only one of thoes places is a gas station and that station is not the chain which I got my fuel from. I did disconnect the alternator. Disconnecting it did not effect the electrical glitches, nor the miss fire when motor reaches operating temp. Thank you for your thoughts.

UPDATE I did have the green terminals connected. But the fans & solenoids will cycle and randomly click regardless of if the green terminals are connected or not. I had the greens plugged in to try to get some codes. No codes came up UNTIL I got the motor running. Please read my update, I'll post soon. Downloading video and photos now. Thanks for your thoughts.

I dont think so. I just posted some new info (above). My problem is an electrical glitch. You can see the video on my YouTube link. Or read my description of the issue. Its weird and I dont know what to do about it.

UPDATE: Over the weekend I've done the following. Drained fuel tank. See photos of separated fuel. This is not my main problem, contributed to one of the problems. IMG_20170114_161710956 by R H, on Flickr IMG_20170115_102932293 by R H, on Flickr IMG_20170114_155557503 by R H, on Flickr https://flic.kr/p/Q2FxLa IMG_20170113_102432514_HDR by R H, on Flickr This fuel is brand new. I filled my tank on Thursday morning and just after that my car ran like crap. Both fluids burn!. Top layer of lighter colored fuel burns. It catches flame fast, burns with a tall yellow flame and puts off a black sooty smoke. The bottom layer of caramel colored fuel burns too. It catches flame a bit slower, has a short yellow flame and puts off no soot or smoke. I wonder if this batch of fuel is old and the ethanol is separated from the gasoline. The real problem is a glitch with my cars electrical system. Please watch the video I uploaded to YouTube. The audio is light, so you might want to turn up the volume to hear all the sounds. https://youtu.be/EmD6QFJwcQA 1. When the key is put to the RUN position nothing is really suppose to happen on a normal car. Some lights on the dash should light up and the fuel pump should prime the system. 2. When my key is in the RUN position the electrical system glitches out. There are repeated relay or solenoid clicks, the injectors chatter open & shut, the radiator fan (pass side) switches on and off, the fuel pump cycles on and off, the check engine light blinks in unison with the fan and fuel pump, and the starter even switched on briefly lunging the wagon forward because it was in gear. 3. I can get the motor to start. And when it starts it runs good, but with a very high idle. In the past two days I could not keep it running. But now that the tank has clean fuel with HEET added, I was able to get the motor to keep running until it got to operating temperature. 4. Right when it got to operating temperature the check engine light came ON and the motor began to run light it was only operating 3 cylinders. 5. I switched it off, plugged in the diagnostic wires. Switching the IGN. to RUN I was expecting a code, but instead I got the same glitch (recorded in the video) then I started the motor. When the motor started the check engine light began to flash the code 2-4. Idle Air Valve. 6. I went to the bone yard and purchased a used ECU from a '93 Legacy NA 2.2L wagon. I know ECU's can be swapped because years ago I lent my brother my ECU when his '92 Legacy wagon was having problems. His car ran great with my ECU. But the used ECU I installed did not remove the glitch problem, so I know it is not an ECU issue. (or the used ECU has the same exact glitch as my wagon) If the images and video on this thread do not show up, bear with me I'll get them to work, I'm a bit rusty with this new set up. Thanks.

When it runs it runs good, so lack of spark would be controlled by something? Fuel pressure, when I rev the motor it runs good, but when I let it idle, it dies. Lack of air, or too much, like a vacuum leak should be constant, right. So it would effect things all the time. And it does not explain the wild tach needle boucing and fluttering around, even when the motor is not running (key in run position). Thanks for the ideas though.

Hi, The motor will fire up on its own from time to time. When it does run, it runs great. But wont keep running. I've added some new updates to my thread. I'm at a loss at this point.

Thanks for the feed back. I have no codes to share. I plugged the self diagnostics in and switched the key to run. The check engine light turns off in a second but never turns back on. No codes. I tired this a few times. The station has no complaints of bad gas. (Or so they say).

UPDATE: No Codes to share. I plugged in the diagnostic plugs, switched the ign. to run. The check engine light remains glowing for a split second then goes off. I waited for a minute and no code. I did this more times and still nothing. So I disconnected the cables. Then I turned the motor over. The motor fires up, and runs, then promptly quits. Then I tried it again, the motor ran longer. I could rev the motor up and let it fall back to idle, several times, but then when I let the motor return to idle and allow it run on its own, POOF it dies. The fan is no longer running??? Weird rump roast electronics.

UPDATE: With the key in RUN position & injectors clicking open close, the radiator fan (pass side) has come on. The motor is ice cold. Tested each injector. Each injector connection has one wire is getting 12 volts & the other wire is getting 0 volts. Just as it should be. So I know that the electrical connections are good. I plugged the fuel injectors back in, re connected the power to the fuel pump, and tried to start the car. It turned over then fired to life. It ran on its own, perfectly, for about 1 minute, then simply stopped running. Sort like switching the key off. After that, the injectors went back to clicking and the fan continued to run. I wonder if this is a brain issue??

UPDATE: After paying attention to the electrical relay sparking sound, I realized that it was my injectors opening and closing super fast. I put the stethoscope on them and sure enough, they are opening and closing for no apparent reason when the key is in the RUN position. Thank you for your replies. I'll follow up with a phone call to the fuel station. As for the fuel pump. I have done two things. 1. switched the ignition to run, and felt / heard the fuel pump engage and a pre pressurize the line. 2. Unplugged the fuel pump and then felt the fuel line upfront, from the fuel filter to the injectors. The sensation of erratic pumping is gone when the pump is unplugged. I think this is because the fuel line is not pressurized, telling me the pump is ok at this time. I'm going to look at the electrical for the injectors and try to see if some ice has effected the area. Thank you.