Down to two possible problems

Micahwc · 05-07-2008, 12:48 PM

After 4 months of work I am pretty sure that I have narrowed my "car wont start" problem to one of two possibilities. I'm thinking demon possession or poltergeists. I am sorry for the long post.

For starters, it is an 87 turbo with very minor upgrades. Car wont start, engine cranks and tries to start without success. EFI and all other fuses are good. I just replaced the spark plugs (gapped correctly), spark plug wires, coils, and the igniter. Every connector I can find is connected and I have found no loose or bad wires.

The first time it refused to start, the only thing I had done to the car was install a rear lisence plate, although, it was probably out of gas. The needle had just hit "E" when I parked it last.

I have filled it up since. I was not able to check codes because my battery died from trying to start it so much, and when I jumped it, the battery wouldnt hold a charge. After replacing all of the items mentioned above, and adding 8 gauge ground wires throughout, I installed a brand new battery three days ago. The car started on the first try.

I drove it to a gas station and filled it completely. Went to start the car and it was completely dead. I jumped it and it started on the first try. I drove home, let it run for a while, and turned it off. The car refused to start again, the battery was completely dead. At this point I figured it was a bad alternator.

My father, who was an electrician, noticed that some of my grounds seemed redundant, and so the next day we removed some of them. We tried starting the car without jumping it. I have power, my lights pop up and turn on, my radio works, and my windows will go down and up. But the car won't start. Does the same thing it did originally. If we try to start it for a while we can smell gas, so I am assuming that it is flooding. Since it started and ran two days ago I am assuming that my fuel pump, and injectors are working correctly.

My current thoughts are that there is something wrong with a ground, although a friend of mine suggested the starter could be bad, and my brother (who was recently a master Toyota mechanic) said that it could still be a faulty fuel pump.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

05-07-2008, 12:48 PM	#1
Micahwc Intake Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: johnson city TN Posts: 30	Down to two possible problems After 4 months of work I am pretty sure that I have narrowed my "car wont start" problem to one of two possibilities. I'm thinking demon possession or poltergeists. I am sorry for the long post. For starters, it is an 87 turbo with very minor upgrades. Car wont start, engine cranks and tries to start without success. EFI and all other fuses are good. I just replaced the spark plugs (gapped correctly), spark plug wires, coils, and the igniter. Every connector I can find is connected and I have found no loose or bad wires. The first time it refused to start, the only thing I had done to the car was install a rear lisence plate, although, it was probably out of gas. The needle had just hit "E" when I parked it last. I have filled it up since. I was not able to check codes because my battery died from trying to start it so much, and when I jumped it, the battery wouldnt hold a charge. After replacing all of the items mentioned above, and adding 8 gauge ground wires throughout, I installed a brand new battery three days ago. The car started on the first try. I drove it to a gas station and filled it completely. Went to start the car and it was completely dead. I jumped it and it started on the first try. I drove home, let it run for a while, and turned it off. The car refused to start again, the battery was completely dead. At this point I figured it was a bad alternator. My father, who was an electrician, noticed that some of my grounds seemed redundant, and so the next day we removed some of them. We tried starting the car without jumping it. I have power, my lights pop up and turn on, my radio works, and my windows will go down and up. But the car won't start. Does the same thing it did originally. If we try to start it for a while we can smell gas, so I am assuming that it is flooding. Since it started and ran two days ago I am assuming that my fuel pump, and injectors are working correctly. My current thoughts are that there is something wrong with a ground, although a friend of mine suggested the starter could be bad, and my brother (who was recently a master Toyota mechanic) said that it could still be a faulty fuel pump. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.