This has happend before and is more then just a lil annoying.

Stats:
87 gt 5speed
138k
all new ignition components, new alt and battery.

Whats happening:
I drove the car today to the bank then to the gas station as the gauge was reading very low. started the car to leave and it sputtered and stalled, started right back up but stutered for a second. I drove it 5 miles as I pulled into a parking lot my oil gauge dropped about halfway and then back up. I let it run for a min to see if it was going to do it again. nothing happend so I went inside I was inside for about 15 min came out and the car would turn over but not start. no back firing or anything I could hear the fuel pump run when I turn the key. poped the deck lid and it smelled like gas so it seems flooded to me. thing is it had happend to me a few times last winter too. start and drive but then after a quick stop somewhere would flood.

I took a cab to work and once i get out tonight i'll be taking a cab back to the car and see if it will start then. Any ideas what would cause the car to act like this? Would it just be that I sucked up some crap from the tank after i filled the tank?

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S.A.R.S. Drive it like you stole it

Leaky injector ?

You can test with a fuel pressure gauge, turn the key on to let the pressure build and turn it off and see how long it holds pressure. If it starts dropping right away you probably have a leaky injector flooding a cylinder.

The ECM has a "flood clear" mode like a flooded carburated car, hold the throttle to the floor while you crank and it should stumble choke spit and start if its just flooded.

[This message has been edited by Mike Gonzalez (edited 01-11-2010).]

Ah yeah a buddy of mine had told me that trick last winter. Sorry I forgot to mention that I did try the foot to the floor trick today to no avail. would a leaky injector only cause the flooding in the winter when its really cold?

Not really, it would be a year round issue.

Is the ECM setting any codes ? It could be the IAC, but the symptoms dont really seem right for that.

Disconnect the MAP sensor, does it start (and run horribly? LOL)?

didn't check any codes. Was in a rush to get to work at that point... will look up how to pull codes and see if i can do it when i get back to the car tonight after work. would like to avoid taking a cab to work tomorrow. sorry for my ignorance what is IAC?


I thought it could be an ECM signal issue since the oil guage danced around for a second as I turned into parking lot. I had just added oil 2 days ago so I didn't think i was so low on oil that the slow turn would have sloshed oil away from the oil pump. does the oil pressure signal some to the gauge by way of the ecm or is it seperate?

The oil sender goes direct to the gauge. Does your car take a long time cranking to start normally or start right up ? I ask because if your fuel pump relay is bad your oil sender tells the fuel pump to run, that is the only way the oil pressure dropping would stop fuel delivery.

IAC Is the idle air control, a small stepper motor with a pintle that opens and closes an air passage to allow the right amount of air into the intake at idle.

[This message has been edited by Mike Gonzalez (edited 01-11-2010).]

Car usualy fires right up never crank it more then 1 sec. If its the fuel sending relay thats bad do I need to drop the tank to swap it? really hopeing not as I just filled it. if so I guess I'm going to swap out the fuel pump and filters while its all out. not looking forward to working on this right now, it was 9 degrees the otherday. If the car is "limping" with the oil sending unit telling it to pump fuel could that cause the oil sending unit to burn out quicker, with the extra load on it? or am I just thinking too much on that.

If the IAC were bad I would still get a pop or backfire if I had the foot to the floor right? I just cant believe it would be ignition based since I just did all the ignition around 2 months ago.

Your fuel pump relay is on the firewall right behind the drivers seat, but thats not your problem if it normally fires right up. If the relay were bad you would have to crank till the oil pressure was high enough for it to pressurize the fuel rail.

If its not even sounding like it is trying to fire it probably is ignition related. When you replaced the ICM did you use heat sink compound on it ?

No heat sink compount came with it nore do i know where i would have put it on the ICM. atleast the icm isn't one of the more expensive pieces to replace. and alot easier then the plugs were lol.

You use the heat sink compund on the bottom of the ICM where it mates to the distributor base to draw the heat out of the ICM. You should be able to get it at the parts store if it doesnt come with the ICM. Although they may look at you with a confused look and blink a few times when you ask for it.

If it was your ICM that has fried, you may want to check function of the trunk fan, it should come on at the same time as the radiator fan, and is meant to keep fresh air moving around the Distributor and alternator.

Well verdict is in. NOT FLOODED.


still wont run... it is not making a sound aside from the motor turning over. no pop or backfire still its either getting no fuel at all or no spark...

The ICM is under the Dist. cap, held in with two small screws and a 2 wire connector. Just pull the cap and you will see it, the wiring to the coil connects to it on the side of the Dist. I thing the two screws ar 5.5mm heads or something like that.

Not sure if they can test them or not, but it is very common for them to go bad on the 2.8's, it one of those spare parts you should have on board !

Autozone, Advance, O'Reilly's, etc. all test the ICM for free. Heat Sink Compound is available at Radio Shack. Not the same as Dielectric Grease so don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise.

Perform this little diagnostic test. Do you have a check engine light at the key on position? If not, you need to check ECM fuse or the weather pack connector (orange wire) off the main power terminal. That's the power to the ECM, if good proceede to next step.

Does the tachometer register anything as you are cranking the engine? Should be about 200 to 400 rpm's as you are cranking. If not, then your pick up coil, ignition module or the wiring to them are bad. Sometimes you can pull the pick up coil wire off, clean the ternimals of corrosion and reconnect and that may clear up a problem.

Always have auto parts store test the ignition module at least 3 times as they like to fail when hot. Always use heat sink compound.

In regards to the check eng light, I've never had it come on. I'm sure its either burnt out or not there. I will still check the PCM fuse and orange wire.

As I remember the tach did move when I cranked the motor, tomorrow I dont work so I'll take a cab over to the car and pull the ICM to have it tested. closest parts store is VIP then Napa both with in walking distance of the car. hopefully they can test it. If for some odd chance it does test fine what should I look at next?

Ok it's the pickup coil. The only movement from the tach is when I turn the key and it moves up to 0. Now to shop around for a shop to replace the pickup coil. I would do it myself but I screw it up I would not know if it's my screw up or not the problem.

Did you get the ignition module checked ? It also will cause the tach not to move.

Lol no. i wasn't aware that it would have the same effect as the pickup coil. guess i'll try and get to it before I have to be into work tomorrow. atleast thats relativly easy to get to. run over there. pop it out head to work and then hit up advanced auto between jobs. sounds like tomorrow will be a long day.


On a side note. when I did the plugs in the car the front bank near the firewall were the stock ones and just about fused to the block. took me 3 days to get the front ones loose enough to do. I'm guessing that the pickup coil has never been changed and wouldn't be a bad idea to get that swapped out some time soon even if it isn't the problem right now.

ok heres 2 pics.



So honestly how bad does this look to everyone ellse