ontos Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 hi all, searched around a bunch, tried some things, now i'm stuck. was driving home from work the other day and my 88 DL (ohc, spfi) kind of half-way stopped running. engine was still going but sounded too quiet and had zero power. managed to coast downhill to a gas station, and the engine finally cut out after a few minutes of running funny. had things to do, got a ride home, came back a few hours later. engine started once, sputtered and died, then would not start again. after looking around here i became convinced it was a timing belt issue (seemed like only half the engine was running). ordered replacement parts, spent today disassembling and installing (old parts seemed fine, maybe just a little loose- bad sign). still the same problem, engine starts once, runs rough and dies within 10 seconds, then won't start again. my job is at risk because i can't get to work. anybody want to point me in a good direction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danzick Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 mine is doing the same thing. make sure your MAF sensor isnt all plugged up, and pour some fuel in the throttle body and put the intake back on and see what that does. cause mine runs fine for like 1 mile after i do that, and it dies. mine currently runs, but if you try to apply more than 1/4th throttle, it boggs out. also check your fuel filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 what confuses me is its decision to just stop running while i was driving. something went wrong, right? what is the MAF? it's not something i can recall dealing with before. also, i thought the ol' fuel in the throttle body was a carb trick. this is fuel injected. am i wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danzick Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 mines fuel injected, and it worked like a real champ. and the mas air flow sensor is on the intake tube, and there is a connector going to it. mine wont even run with this disconnected. it just dies immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 ok, i'll check those things out. i swear to god if i have to take the four nuts off of the clutch fan one more time i'm going to freak and and find some small child to yell curse words at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricearu Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Hey I feel your pain (i converted electric) To those who are having this issue, I had the same problem after installing my "new" engine last year. It died on the highway. It would run for about 20 miles then decide to peter out. It took 2 weeks of this, after jiggling junk while it was chug chug "idling" I found it ran good if I messed with the main engine wire harness by the left side of the engine (left from sitting in driver seat). when I got home, I unplugged it, sprayed it down with contact cleaner, plugged and unplugged it and hosed it with contact cleaner again. 18k later no more wiring or dying issues. only a starting to leak headgasket... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickolai Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 what is the MAF? it's not something i can recall dealing with before. Mass airflow sensor. If you look inside the air tube, there's a little wire where the connector is at. also, i thought the ol' fuel in the throttle body was a carb trick. this is fuel injected. am i wrong? The spfi unit is very similar in function to a carb. The only reason why not to put gas in a fuel infected car is that most don't have a place that you can without getting pretty creative. ok, i'll check those things out. i swear to god if i have to take the four nuts off of the clutch fan one more time i'm going to freak and and find some small child to yell curse words at. They are a pain. The best way to deal with them is to put a crescent wrench on the fan shaft which has two flat sides. Then you can turn the 10mm nuts without too much headache. A few suggestions if the other stuff mentioned doesn't work: 1. Check all your fuses and fusible links. 2. Check the inside of dist. cap for moisture. 3. It could very well be low fuel pressure which could be bad fuel pump, clogged filter, or bad pressure regulator. If you have a way to test the pressure it should be around 40 psi. 4. Weak coil? 5. If the batt. was losing charge as you were driving, suspect the alternator. Good luck. Let us know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Check and see if any of the intake boot has popped off, loose clamps, or loose hoses on or around the intake boot. The MAF will come out of its housing by removing the 2 screws. If you take it out, you will see 2 filaments on the end of the peg that fits in the hole. Sometimes one of these filaments will fall off due to age and vibrations. This is something to look for regarding the MAF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danzick Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 you might want to clean the maf sensor as well. i bought some special cleaner for not a whole lot, and they get covered in oil from that breather coming in from the valve covers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricearu Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfWX7T99kPw Is this what it does? check all wiring first and clean the maf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) wow, people. thanks for all the replies. as soon as the rain lets up i'll go take a looksee. i'll be sure to follow up. Edited May 20, 2011 by ontos typographical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) ok. checked MAF, all seems to be in order. o ring was a little sandy, which i cleaned up. air filter is pretty gunked up, which would help explain my gas mileage. fuses and links all look good. cleaned wiring harnesses. the two efi harnesses were covered in motor oil. the big and little guys next to the battery seemed fine but i cleaned em anyway. didn't check distributor, but everything looked ok in there a week ago. any viable way to check fuel pressure without a guage? any way to see if fuel filter is clogged? before i checked this stuff i tried to start it one more time and now it's not even kicking on for a few seconds. here's what it sounds like: http://fyels.com/W1r00p which doesn't sound normal to me. i should mention- after several replaced seals and the engine still leaking oil, i found an inch and a half long hairline crack on the front/bottom of the driver's side head. somebody who isn't me had tried to fix it with epoxy. i cleaned it up and put on more epoxy. still leaking some :-\ also, i broke down on my home from work, but when i got to work that morning i could hear the coolant boiling. edit: a couple teaspoons of gas in the throttle body didn't have any effect. Edited May 20, 2011 by ontos gotta add the infos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danzick Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 the fuel filters on these things are pretty nice to get to, its just right by the firewall on the driver side, and just take it off, and make sure you can blow through it fairly easily. and people have been telling me to check the coolant temp sensor? does the engine light come on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 just checked the fuel filter and it is not clogged. no warning lights of any kind have come on, and the car has never overheated. i am very much out of ideas. please tell me people haven't stopped replying because it's all bad news from here. she's not dead, is she? :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Have you checked to see if this is a fuel delivery problem yet? If not I suggest you spray some starter fluid into the intake and see if the engine fires up then. If you don't get any response from that then check to see if there is spark getting to the plugs. If that is ok then check the compression of the cylinders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 Have you checked to see if this is a fuel delivery problem yet? If not I suggest you spray some starter fluid into the intake and see if the engine fires up then. If you don't get any response from that then check to see if there is spark getting to the plugs. If that is ok then check the compression of the cylinders. i did try putting a little gasoline in the intake, and that didn't do anything, but i'll try starter fluid and check for spark. compression test a year ago was fine, but who knows what's changed by now. thanks for the help everyone. working from 2am to 8am so i can get my sister's car back for my wife to use is not going to be this much fun for very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Those numbers for the coil seem resonable to me. Since you are getting spark I would check the compression next if starting fluid doesn't cause any reaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danzick Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Have you checked to see if this is a fuel delivery problem yet? If not I suggest you spray some starter fluid into the intake and see if the engine fires up then. If you don't get any response from that then check to see if there is spark getting to the plugs. If that is ok then check the compression of the cylinders. im still having trouble with mine, but it runs, just wont run past quarter throttle and the engine light pops up. what i did to check the fuel pump was leave the filter off, and see if fuel comes pouring out, and for it not to run with putting fuel in the throttle body, i would say spark or compression for sure. cause mine fired right over even tho my dad threw way way too much fuel in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 (edited) Don't worry about having a warmed up engine for the compression test. You don't need to do that for what you are checking. The numbers may not be as good with a cold engine but they still should be within perhaps 10 percent of a warm engine. Since the starter fluid trick failed and you have spark getting to plugs the only possiblities of trouble left is low compression or the ignition timing is way off. Just another thought, have you checked for any error codes in the ECU? Edited May 25, 2011 by Cougar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 ok, i'll do the compression test today. can i check error codes without some sort of error code reader? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 To read the codes I think you tie the black connectors together and look at the LED through the viewing hole in the ECU. You count the long and short pulses to come up with the code numbers. Five short pulses is normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jboymechanic Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Sounds like a problem I had with my '87 GL-10 I used to have, ran fine one minute and then died and wouldn't restart the next. Seemed to decide at random when to run and when not to. Any way, I eventually found the problem after doing all the checks you are and replacing a lot of parts. Do this quick check, underneath the coil bracket there is a resistor or some other kind of electronic component with the coil wiring running to it. Mine was kind of blown open like it over-heated and burst. You have to remove the coil bracket from the inner fender and turn it over to see this resistor. When I finally saw this I went to get a replacement from the junk yard and my car was finally good to go. It's a quick check any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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