90 gsx starting problems

[frankenstein406]

hi i have a 90 gsx that was sitting for 4 years. gas tank was dry so i put 93 and 89 in it, 3-4 gallons roughly. im getting spark but it cranks over slowly. alt looks pretty bad. i smell gas on plugs not a lot. any ideas?

 

[awd4g63turbo]

I would start with a battery that you knew was fully charged if it is turning over slow. Also see if you can hear the fuel pump coming on when you turn the switch.

 

[lacroixdp]

You probably have little to no compression. Before you try running it again, you need to change the timing belt (no telling how bad it is from sitting unused - best not to take any chances), water pump, all the timing belt related equipment (pulleys, hydraulic adjuster), oil and antifreeze, belts, hoses, and check the fluids in the diff tcase and tranny. Pull the fuel relay, put a quart-sized oil cap amount of oil in each cylinder and crank it for 30 seconds with all the plugs pulled out - this will free your sticky rings and lubricate the cylinder walls, as well as lubing your bearings as slowly as possible - this will return your cylinder compression. After that put the plugs in gapped at .28, put the fuel pump relay back in and it should turn over.

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

+1 to making sure the battery is fully charged

Make sure the battery is good and charged or you are using a known good one and make sure the plugs are new and clean. You need it to turn over normally for it to even think about starting after sitting for that long. Good luck.

 

[frankenstein406]

well the battery i just took back out of my subie that i picked up so it might be low but its new bat. i listened for it but i heard a whining sound more from the engne bay so im guessing it might be the pump then?

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

WTF

You lost me there

 

[awd4g63turbo]

Take the gas cap off and put a screwdriver in the hole, get some one to turn the switch to the "ON" position while you listen at the tank. You will not hear the pump under the hood, it is located in the tank.

 

[frankenstein406]

oh sorry to many voices in my head . theres a new battery in the car it was just in my subaru i bought for $200 just so i could diagnose it. theres a whining noise coming from the engine bay i dont really hear a pump noise at least not like my other 2 cars. i'll get on that list but if i have to do that it will be sitting longer since my other car needs a headgasket.

thanks guys for the help

 

[lacroixdp]

Just make sure at a minimum you do the last few sentences in my post up top. I've had to revive many cars that have set for years in barns and almost all of them had no compression to begin with since they'd sat for so long. The oil trick will fix it right up if that's your problem

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

ok Now when is the whining noise happening? When the key is in the on position before cranking? Is it when you are cranking the car? And can you tell at all where under the hood the noise is coming from?

And yeah, your're right lacroixdp, the oil trick will help him if his problem is low/no compression.

 

[frankenstein406]

whining im pretty sure is when its starting theres just a loud like door open noise i wanna say inside the car when it goes to the on position.

Also the guy told me it would die at stoplights so im thinking bad throttlebody cause he said it had a new timing and balence crankshaft belt but he said he had 3 mechanics look at it and the timing was off but he never took it back to the shop or had it fixed so i think it was bs.

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

I don't know what to make of that noise, but it sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done. If it were mine I'd put some oil down the spark plug holes and put in some new/clean plugs with a fully charged battery and see what happens. If it is cranking at normal speed and still won't start and you pull the plugs to find them soaked in gas again you need to find out if your getting spark. If you've got spark, fuel, and compression she should fire.

 

[awd4g63turbo]

"he said it had a new timing and balence crankshaft belt but he said he had 3 mechanics look at it and the timing was off but he never took it back to the shop or had it fixed"

That could be a problem, . If the timing is off you need to get it fixed before you do anything to it. Hopefully nothing isnt messed up already.

 

[frankenstein406]

im getting plenty of spark. well im gonna do the oil trick tonight and check the timing tomorrow. i'll report back tomorrow. hopefully no bent vavles cant afford it right now with my two other cars and g/f. thanks everyone. im hoping its a bad throttle body since he said it died at stoplights and in traffic but its only got 110,000 if that helps anything cheers

 

[kp116]

If timing is off even 1 tooth it will probably barely run. You need to get your valve timing verified and or fixed. From what I remember your fuel pump will not run until it sees a rpm signal.

 

[frankenstein406]

wasnt able to check the timing today but the fuel pump isnt kicking on or its bad how do i go about troubleshooting it? if its bad should i do 190 with rewire or 255? i'll be checking the timing tomorrow

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

Your fuel pump won't come on until you are cranking, so you can't just key it on and hear anything like some other cars, if you didn't already know that. But here's a good link which shows you where you can test your fuel pump from under the hood at a connector located on the firewall near the battery. This will let you turn on the fuel pump by giving it power from the battery with a jumper wire.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/new...heck-connecter.html?highlight=check+fuel+pump

As far as which pump to use if the one you have now is indeed bad, I would say to go with the 255 and a rewire just to give yourself some room to grow.

 

[frankenstein406]

still confused on what harness it is on the 1g.
when i went to do the timing i found i have a sezied alt. but i cant get the bolt out i even dremeled off the ridge so i could turn the bolt, but it turns barely either way any ideas? im all bleeding