She went from running great to not at all, 85 xt turbo

[sparkyboy]

Alright a short story I suppose

I got my xt from another board member, she wasn't running 100% but came with some extra parts.

I drove her home and did a tune up and tried another maf and got her running quite nice, although at times after accelerating hard she would stall as if not having enough fuel, but would sometimes continue to sputter and clear up.

I suspected a fuel issue but it also seems electronic in nature...

I drove her about 100 miles yesterday no problem

I went to pull her around to do some body work today and she stalls after getting around the block, acting the same way she has before. Only this time she didn't start right back up as she used to

 

I did a fuel pressure test and am getting 35 psi when the pump cycles so I assume no spark

I will test real quick once I get a helper.

I have always had code 12 from the ecu indicating starter switch so maybe that is what was failing and causing problems and could have just failed completely at this point?

The timing belt looks good, The marks are 180* apart

I will follow the procedure in the service manual, I see in the diagram there is an inhibitor switch, can that be bypassed? Is that for auto trans though? I have the five speed

 

Any suggestions? I checked the ground at the intake manifold by the way, seems to be in order...

I have been wanting something to do an ej22 swap, but I was having so much fun with the ea82t

Help me get her running again boys!

cheers

Edited February 5, 2018 by sparkyboy

[sparkyboy]

Update: just tried to start her and she started right up.

Would a bad ground somewhere cause an intermittent issue such as this?

I also looked for the brown and white wire on one of the connectors from the ecu according to the fsm, but don't happen to see it

I also noticed that the digital dash just happens to never be working when she is acting up, in some case it turns itself on and off while the car is running. For the most part the dash works fine.

Any ideas?

Edited February 5, 2018 by sparkyboy

[john in KY]

Check for spark.  Have spark then my guess is the injectors aren't firing. Need to be grounded on the 85 model. One of the intake manifold bolts passenger side.

[sparkyboy]

I'll check for certain if that ground on the intake manifold is good

Silly me that wire is black and white

Edited February 5, 2018 by sparkyboy

[Dee2]

 

after accelerating hard she would stall as if not having enough fuel, but would sometimes continue to sputter and clear up...Update: just tried to start her and she started right up.

 

Intermittent problems sounds like fuel pump going out.  Sometimes it will run fine then gets worse and frequency of problem will increase.

[sparkyboy]

Yeah this is indeed a strange one

The fuel injector ground is good, triple checked

 

Will these cars start by hot wiring the switch? I'm thinking it may be the ignition switch itself causing some wackiness, although the fsm states that the control unit should be replaced. I do have a spare that I can try.

 

 

This seems to be a pretty common thing for old xts

I can take the fuel pump off my GL if/when she does this again.

 

I did find some wiring going to the coil that needed to be taped   

 

I like these ea82t engines, they are pretty neat. How much longer until I put an ej22 in this car is up to her I guess but I want to either have the engine fail in an epic fashion that would leave me with some wall art, or just keep going until I can't resist any longer and sell the engine hopefully the latter of these theoretical situations. But parting ways with the factory engine for some boring reason like no spark or a bad ground is kinda lame.

I'll get back to you guys cheers boys

 

On the other hand...I do hear a rod knock on start up on occasion

Anyone around CO want to buy a running ea82t? Haha

Edited February 5, 2018 by sparkyboy

[el_freddo]

Your GL will have a low pressure pump if carb or a matching high pressure efi pump if MPFI EA82.

 

I had a similar issue on my ej’d L series running the same efi pump. Once the fuel got hot during sand 4wdn the engine would fade out and stall, it wouldn’t start for at least 5 mins depending on weather.

 

Swapped fuel pump for new and no issue since.

 

Cheers

 

Bennie

[jono]

a 30 plus year old beast of unknown origins likely to have corrosion crud inside many terminal connectors. No fun trying to do them all to get beast going but gonna pay of in the long run.

 

You need to do all the obviouses that we always seem to be writing up rather than someone allow a sticky what do I do thread.

 

You know, funny thing ...seem to recall if I have pulled my EA81 anal dash out and try to start - nuffin' !! Need to hook it up at the back to start. No idea why though. Wonder if similar dodgy connection back of your digi dash causes similar ?

Go The EA82 !!

[jono]

Can you get hold of a basic dizzy from a carb EA82?

 

In theory it should be possible to use it, hooked up just to the coil or a coil just not drive it hard - no knock sensor working this way

 

If you read blurb on the new part modulke inside dizzy they said much more superior due to better heat protection, better more modern components. Your module might be playing up. But, you have the manuals. Well written. Should help diagnose

[sparkyboy]

It's pretty odd

I went to start her up this morning and she was running fine. Then she started idling low and stalled.

She started back up but after struggling to do so. Then ran rough for about a minute, then drove fine once again.

 

So it does seem to be the fuel pump, still no check light or new codes.

 

I'll look at the digi dash and see if i can spot the problem. She does run with the dash not working. The back lights up just no info is displayed at times.

I'll try a new pump and look over some wiring, and get back to you guys

Jono i have a spare efi dizzy that i can try, I'll have a look at the module as well.

Edited February 6, 2018 by sparkyboy

[jono]

needs to be same dizzy part number with vac can not just an efi dizzy, as this is the series one with flapper style afm and separate knock sensor module system which is great for donor bits   I intend to stick this type dizzy with its sensor and control box on an NA LPG set up just for its knock control, Dunno how internal advance will go on non turbo but as soon as detects pinging get some retard instead

 

How does it go under boost? I had a 25 year old pump that started fine gave 36 psi then on any load or boost would drop to ten psi, falter, wanna die until idling ok and 36 psi again ! There is nothing to throw a code for dead or dying pump or low pressure. Sometimes think an oil pressure gauge wired in would do the job ! Your code 12 is common and hard to detect. Maybe a race car style switchboard with new relays for ignition on, pump supply might resolve it ?

 

I dont think anyone ever quite sorts code 12

[Dee2]

 

I went to start her up this morning and she was running fine. Then she started idling low and stalled.

 

She started back up but after struggling to do so. Then ran rough for about a minute, then drove fine once again.

 

So it does seem to be the fuel pump, still no check light or new codes.

 

Really does sound like a fuel pump problem to me.  As others said, you won't get a code from it.  If it stalls again, try rapping on the fuel pump with a screwdriver handle a few times.  If it starts up then it's almost certain it's the fuel pump.