I have this 85 GL 4x4 and it runs great all the time. I was out wheeling testing some of my mud/water precautions (Snorkel for airbox and snorkel for distributor) and the car was running beautifully.

 

Was coming down the homestretch splashing through some puddles and the car turned off. Gave it gas, but nothing would work. Tried to restart and got lots of backfiring.

 

Pulled the distributor cap- it was wet so I dried it and put it back on but still could only sputter and backfire.

 

Assumed it was a skipped timing belt, so took it home and disassembled- the belts were loose but otherwise the valve timing was fine. Pulled the carb (stock hitachi) and rebuilt it with a kit. Put it all back together and the car still won't run- doing the same thing as before. Installed a new fuel filter.

 

Checked for fuel coming in and it's a good flow, also there's tons of spark at the plugs and through the cap/rotor.

 

New Cap/Rotor and it will putter putter, glub and backfire but will not run for more than a few seconds at a time (that's only sometimes)

 

One thing I noticed was looking down the #2 & 4 spark plug holes it seems like there's fluid in there. Dipped a cotton string down- gas.

 

Any ideas on how to fix my baby or at least what's wrong with it. When I crank it over for a long time, fire shoots out of the top of the carb..

I would do a compression check to see what that shows you.

Just to test as it sounds like the second and forth

cylinders have lost the fire in the hole

 

swap plug wires 2 and 4 at the cap

also

your plugs may be gas fouled and you may

have a spark plug wire problem

 

I hope they are not Chumpions

My 91 Loyale may have a different disty, but if water gets down deep in the distributor itself, it will do pretty much the same thing. Before I figured it out, it once took about 3 days to dry out.

 

... splashing through some puddles and the car turned off.

Just to test as it sounds like the second and forth

cylinders have lost the fire in the hole

 

swap plug wires 2 and 4 at the cap

also

your plugs may be gas fouled and you may

have a spark plug wire problem

 

I hope they are not Chumpions

 

one thing I noticed soon before this happened was that the accelerator was sticking. After I'd killed the battery trying to restart it, we towed it home and parked it. next morning when I went out to check it, there was gas dripping down the center of the carb- that's why I rebuilt it.- like something was stuck causing it to flood.

when u checked the t-belts did u change them or just inspect?

- Pull the disty, turn it over and dump out the water.. Then dry it out with a blow dryer.

 

- Change your plugs

 

- Double check the timing.

 

- Check the compression. You may have cracked a head if the engine was submerged when it was hot.

 

- Check the oil for signs of water.

 

- Hitachi carbs are pretty reliable for the most part. If it seems to be dumping fuel, forget the kits and let a shop rebuilt it professionally. I once did the kit thing twice before I sent the carb out to a shop. No problems with it since. Some problems just can't be fixed with a kit.

when u checked the t-belts did u change them or just inspect?

 

inspected tightened and verfied the timing was set correctly.

- Pull the disty, turn it over and dump out the water.. Then dry it out with a blow dryer.

 

- Change your plugs

 

- Double check the timing.

 

- Check the compression. You may have cracked a head if the engine was submerged when it was hot.

 

- Check the oil for signs of water.

 

- Hitachi carbs are pretty reliable for the most part. If it seems to be dumping fuel, forget the kits and let a shop rebuilt it professionally. I once did the kit thing twice before I sent the carb out to a shop. No problems with it since. Some problems just can't be fixed with a kit.

 

went through it all again today to check the distributor for water down deep. found that the rotor got somehow stripped and now spins on the distributor shaft. also have tons of plastic and metal shards inside the distsributor. this is probably my problem- that and major flooding while trying to start it.