The background is that, a couple of weeks ago, I had a problem with a persistent mis-fire. I could see nothing visually wrong but found, after a couple of days, that the distributor cap was loose. I tightened it and, surprise, surprise, the engine refused to start. I took the cap off and realised that there was some damage to it from running it when it was loose. I ordered a replacement cap and rotor and, having put them in, the car still will not start.
Symptom is that it will crank but not fire. I tried a spare spark plug, one at a time, in each of the 3 rear (trunk side) plug wires and can confirm that I am getting a spark. I pulled a couple of the plugs and noted that both were pretty wet. There is also a smell of gas around.
What should I do next to troubleshoot this? ------------------ '88 Formula '85 SE 2M6 (recently sold) '93 Eunos Roadster '00 Fiesta Zetec S (now sold to fund more Fiero work!)
[This message has been edited by Madscanner (edited 10-03-2017).]
Sounds like it's flooded. Try flooring the gas pedal (the TPS will put the ECM in clear flood mode and turn off the injectors) and cranking it for a while to clear out the excess gas. -Paul
------------------ 1988 Fiero Formula 25k miles, garaged since 1988
Look the low voltage connector on the coil pack, mine the wire was exposed at the connector level. When i kept them strait over the connector the engine start but as soon as i let it by itself the car died and won't start
OK - so far, I have replaced the distributor cap, rotor, coil and ignition module. I have checked the connectors for damage and found nothing. The pickup coil is about 18 months old. The battery was charged overnight, and is cranking the engine without problem.
The only thing I can find is that the spark does not appear to be particularly strong.
I'm having the same problem with 85 SE. A spark tester showed the spark was there but very weak. I replaced the 4-wire connector to the module because it was loose and the lock was broken. It turns out there was a lot of rust and a loose connection of the coil wire on the coil end. New coil wire has not yet solved the problem, but the spark is much better. The old school way to solve this problem is to remove the plugs and dry them off. The last time this happened and I did get it started I just cranked and cranked in the flood clearing mode. Lo and behold it did start. That was a few months ago. We might need new wires. I would really like to know how you get it started. BTW, does tach register the cranking rpms? If yes, module and pickup are likely ok.
Well...I am out of ideas....except for my usual....New parts are not necessarily Good parts.. Also.... There may be some damage to your spark plug wires...increasing resistance.
I have gone back to square one with all the original parts, and replaced them all again, one by one (the replacements are all MSD); this time I also changed the ignition module.
The only items I haven't changed are the pickup coil and the plug wires, all of which are about 18 months old.
I pulled the trunk-side plugs and cleaned them and put them back in, tried again a few times, and checked the plugs. They were wet with fuel (there is a half-tank of fuel, and you can hear the pump prime...). I'll check the fuel pressure anyway, in a couple of weeks, when I'll have a day off (and will pray it will be dry outside).
If you are working in high humidity there may be some arcing going on with the spark plug wires. Have a helper crank the starter and watch the wires in the dark.....maybe you will see what's going on.
Did another spark plug to ground test yesterday evening, and no sign of any arcing.
One thought I did have is the HT wire from the coil to the distributor cap - is there some way I can test it, e.g. measure resistance or something? I don't have a spare one lying about.
Does the engine have to be running to check the timing, or can it be checked while cranking? I suspect it must actually be running, but I could be wrong (I have been, many times before).
[This message has been edited by Madscanner (edited 12-08-2014).]
I pulled the trunk-side plugs and cleaned them and put them back in, tried again a few times, and checked the plugs. They were wet with fuel (there is a half-tank of fuel, and you can hear the pump prime...). I'll check the fuel pressure anyway, in a couple of weeks, when I'll have a day off (and will pray it will be dry outside).
You have spark and your plugs are still getting wet. I'd stay focused on the wet plugs till I knew what was going on there. Charge up the battery, disconnect the cold start injector, pull you plugs, (the 3 easy ones should be enough) spread a towel to catch the spray, have someone floor it and crank for a while and look for gas to stop spraying out the plug holes. If it never does your cold start injector is stuck open or there is a problem on the main injector side of things. If you weren't sure what was coming out the plug holes when, replace plugs, repeat and check for wet plugs.
3 cylinders and plugs dry now? Should be enough to at least get the engine sputtering. Leave the cold start injector disconnected and try to start. No go? Connect the cold start injector and try again.
I you are still not sure about the cold start injector, pull it and hook it up to something pressurized (air would be good) with the electrical connection left unpluged. If anything comes out of it, replace. -Paul
------------------ 1988 Fiero Formula 25k miles, garaged since 1988
Cold start injector are no longer available. is there a way it can be rebuilt
I have the same problem with my Jag. If the injector clicks when you give it a little voltage it will likely be easy to referb or cheap to have it done. If yours can't be brought back to life, look for a used one. Google "injector referb" for a bunch of info and links to shops that will referb it for around $20.
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or do you have a replacement part number?
I know little of Fiero CSIs but a cold start injector doesn't do anything fancy so any CSI with similar or adaptable fittings for an engine close to the same size should work.
If you have any wet plugs, your fireing order may be off. On rare occasions the metal connector inside the spark plug boot will rip out or become damaged, sometimes not snapped on.
