I have an 86 GT that I has recently had a 2.8 from a donor GT installed. I tried to do a first start last week, but when turning the key, all I got was a higher-pitched whirring noise. Thinking that it was the solenoid gone bad and not kicking the starter to the flywheel, I bought a new starter tonight and tried that. I am on the second new starter, so that is apparently not the issue. Im out of ideas as to what could be causing this. Someone please tell me I'm not going to have to drop the cradle........
How's the battery? A long time ago I had a battery that was close to dead and there wasn't enough power to push the gear into the flywheel but enough to spin it. Long shot, but possible.
Slightly bad connections can do the same thing. Maybe the ground to your new engine?
Was just thinking that, my '73 Chev did that as well and it turned out to be the nut on the cable on the starter end. Either way, not getting enough juice will make a starter act that way.
[This message has been edited by NetCam (edited 01-20-2014).]
Sounds like bad ring gear, if you get the starter spinning without engaging try to turn the engine over a little by hand and try again. If the stater engages then it's a bad spot on the ring gear. Or pull the starter and roll it over watching the teeth on the ring gear.
I am having the same issue, it happened after the cold snap here.
when i try to crank it spins like what is being described here. mine will engage sometimes, and other times, not so much. I usually just hold the key while it spins, and then it "warms up" or something and all of a sudden I can hear it spin faster. and then I let off the key. and try to crank, and it engages just fine. i have a shim on there and the starter is a bosch one when advance used to sell them.
its time for a rebuild, but I am not liking the difficulty in relations to having to pull and re-install it with part of the cradle in the way...
Could also be bad starter drive. A lot of rebuilts are using cheap junk to rebuild the starters. Slipping drive ratchet will let the starter spin but not engage the drive.
The engine is turning over. I don't think I'm getting any gas, because I don't smell the engine flooding after holding on the key. I checked the fuses, ground, and even tried swapping computers, to no avail. Any chance it could be anything besides the fuel pump??
Could also be bad starter drive. A lot of rebuilts are using cheap junk to rebuild the starters. Slipping drive ratchet will let the starter spin but not engage the drive.
this is my problem, I just checked advance auto's computer they sell a complete starter drive gear-assembly for like... 20 bucks. its worth just buying that and repairing my bosch starter instead of dumping money into a whole new (or remanufactured) one.
that is worth an hour of my time to take it out, tare it apart, rebuild it, and install it.
I have spark. And I bought a brand new starter, not rebuilt. I'm getting spark, and the engine is turning over fine. Just no gas getting into it. Fuses are all good, and I'm getting power to the pump plug. I just want to exhaust every possibility to avoid dropping the tank, as where I live in KY, it is 14 degrees and an inch of snow in my driveway around the car.
When troubleshooting, it is important to verify what you think you know, even when you are sure you know it, especially when it comes to new parts on a Fiero. 'New' does not always mean 'good'. Can you hear the fuel pump when you turn the key?
[This message has been edited by Gall757 (edited 01-22-2014).]
Even if you can here the pump run it does not mean your getting fuel. The rubber hose on the pumps do not like alcohol in the new fuels. When I dropped the tank on mine the hose was gone, just little bits of black goo in the bottom of the tank.
It could also be a plugged fuel filter. May want to crack open the fuel line at the engine, and see if you are getting fuel to that point. (Use all the obvious safety precautions when opening a fuel line...since if you are getting fuel to that point, it'll go everywhere). If you aren't then do the same thing before the fuel filter. If you get fuel, then replace the filter, if not, then sounds like you'll have to pull the tank.
Ok I have a done a bit of work over the past couple days and this is where I stand now. I am getting gas to the injectors. I had one that had a crushed o-ring and was leaking, so I fixed that. Also had a bad o-ring on one of the hard lines that come off the rail. Fixed that as well. Now the car still won't start. I have re-affirmed that I have spark, and I am now positive that I am getting gas. The only other thing that I can come up with is the timing being way off? If I remember correctly, after we pulled the distributor, we decided to change out all the lifters, so I am pretty certain that the engine was turned over several times between changing lifters and installing rods. Could the timing be why my car won't start???
