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Car cranks, engine fires (a few times) but will not fully start!

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B-lackGSX99

15+ Year Contributor
112
2
Nov 9, 2006
Edmonton, Alberta_Canada
Okay, so I have been reading through these forums for a couple hours now, and have a bit of a feel for what I need to do. But prior to getting to physically involved, I figured i'd lay out the issue that I am having (for both posterity's sake, as well as to make sure I am not missing anything).

My car was running without any noticable issue, parked it over night, and the next day it wouldn't start up. When I turn the ignition on, the car sounds like it is trying to start normally, and I can hear the engine fire a few times sometimes (sounds like a couple times through the exhaust beat) but it never catches and fully starts up. The few times that the engine sounded like it was trying to fire up, I attempted to give it some gas while turning the ignition on, I have been able to (on one occasion) to get the rpms up over 2000, but then they drop back down to zero. While I am turning the ignition on, black smoke does pour slowly out of my tailpipe, so I do think I am getting fuel. I have only tried swapping the spark plugs out for an older set of NGKBRP7es's, but it didn't seem to make any difference (the old ones did come out pretty black on the tips and moist looking (probably from the fuel that I was flooding into the motor while on the starter?). Either way, they are likely firing, otherwise I can't imagine there being any other reason for the black smoke coming out of my tailpipe (the excess fuel must be getting ignited in some way...right?).

In any case, I am going to have it towed to the shop to be tested for spark, fuel, compression, and i'm going to ask them to ensure that the timing is correct.

On a side note, I had the head gasket replaced on this car just over a month ago...would the mechanic have touched anything in that process that could cause this no-start issue?? Any suggestions / comments would be greatly appreciated...otherwise, I will update as with new news as it happens.
 
Sound like blinker fluid is out to me but what do I know..LOL. No I think that maybe your coilpacks are out or on there way out. Maybe a grounding issue? Not sure to much to check and I am not there. Have you checked to see if ANY of your IC pipes are loose? When mine come off it does kinda like what you are describing. Good luck with it though.
 
I will check my IC piping, I know what you're describing (and have experienced it a few times when i've blown the j-pipe off at the track).

I will also have the shop check the coil packs, CAS and the CTS...let's hope it's the latter!

Oh, and by the way...when I smell the "dark grey / black smoke" that is coming out of my tailpipe, it doesn't really smell like gasoline, but maybe moreso like how an aerosol can would smell (kinda spray paintee). Maybe that's just how it is supposed to smell, but in case it is important, I thought i'd mention it.
 
Okay, so apparently my timing belt has jumped a notch or two, so I am being told that I will now need to replace it, the water pump, tensioner belt, and all the other wonderful things that go along with that. This is awesome because I just had the head gasket replaced, and it would have been lovely if I had just done all these things at the same time. Lovely in a $1000 saved way.

In any case, I am having them check to see if the guys that replaced my head gasket were responsible for my timing belt skipping like that (what do you guys think, possible?), because I had the belt replaced at the 60k mile mark, and the car is only at 83k miles right now.

Lastly, should I just go with an OEM timing belt, or would you guys recommend a kevlar or upgrarded one??

Thank you for your help.
 
um go back to the shop that did your headgasket and raise hell. There should be no way that a timing belt should of jumped timing especially if it was replaced properly only a month ago. When you replace a headgasket they should of inspected and checked the tensioner and the belt for wear. Im going to say that it was an install error that caused the belt to jump timing. The worst thing that can happen is they say no.
 
Its definetly possible, ive heard of shops not setting the tension correclty which causes the timing belt to stretch and skip teeth.

Happend to my sister a while back. She had the timing belt and everything replaced and a month later it ^ and the new shop called the old shop and let them have it :p
 
Okay, so apparently my timing belt has jumped a notch or two, so I am being told that I will now need to replace it, the water pump, tensioner belt, and all the other wonderful things that go along with that. This is awesome because I just had the head gasket replaced, and it would have been lovely if I had just done all these things at the same time. Lovely in a $1000 saved way.

In any case, I am having them check to see if the guys that replaced my head gasket were responsible for my timing belt skipping like that (what do you guys think, possible?), because I had the belt replaced at the 60k mile mark, and the car is only at 83k miles right now.

Lastly, should I just go with an OEM timing belt, or would you guys recommend a kevlar or upgrarded one??

Thank you for your help.

Hey man, sorry to hear about your dsm woes.... I'm in Edmonton too, nice car you have there, i dont think i've seen you cruisin b4.. what shop are you taking your car too???
 
um go back to the shop that did your headgasket and raise hell. There should be no way that a timing belt should of jumped timing especially if it was replaced properly only a month ago. When you replace a headgasket they should of inspected and checked the tensioner and the belt for wear. Im going to say that it was an install error that caused the belt to jump timing. The worst thing that can happen is they say no.

+1 on the install error. If they are a half decent shop they should re-do the timing belt free of charge (except for the new belt). I would go OEM for the belt.
 
Okay, so here's an update:

I did call the shop that did the head gasket work for me, and they did say that they would tow it over to them to take a look at it and possibly help me out with my issues. Unfortunately the dealership had already started working on my car (despite telling me they wouldn't be able to start till the parts come in t'row) because they "mysteriously" found an aftermarket timing belt to put on my car (funny how they mention this only after I tell them I want to get the car to the other shop...putting a super cheap solution into my car while letting me believe they are going to put an air frieghted $150 timing belt in...sketchy bastards).

Anyways, they got the new timing belt in and are now telling me that my "PCU" is blown...they describe the PCU to me as my powertrain control unit, so I figure they mean that my TCM (transmission control module) is not working. They priced it out for me (brand new) at about $1075 plus shipping (another $120 if I want it air frieghted in).

$1075 sounds like an awful lot for that part, I thought you could pick them up for WAY cheaper than that...any thoughts?? I checked the classifieds section on here and haven't been able to find one. So I will check the salvage yards next and hope for the best. Let me know what you guys think about this TCM business, and I will keep you updated. Thank you all for your help.

** Edit: Found a guy with some TCM's for sale for $50 a piece...how can it be so cheap?? Please let me know if the TCM is the same as the PCU...the part the dealership is telling me I need is part #: MD359403
If the TCM is the right part, will it work on my AWD if it is coming off of a GS-T??

** Edit: When I search out that part #, it tells me that it is the part number for my ECU...could the dealership be this stupid?

** Edit: Yes, they have confirmed for me that I should just go with the part #, and that they must simply be referring to it by a different name...off I go in search of this part, or hopefully someone who can repair it!
 
the part the dealership is telling me I need is part #: MD359403
If the TCM is the right part, will it work on my AWD if it is coming off of a GS-T??

MD359403 is the ECU for 99 AWD cars. Finding a used one will be a challenge since there weren't that many made.

There is no way in hell I'd pay a grand for one. Buy a 2G EPROM and DSMLink, swap the plugs on the coils and have fun. At that price your getting into the 2G AEM price bracket.

I'm not getting a warm trusting feeling about the dealership the car is at.
 
Sounds good! You're right, i've been having trouble finding my exact ECU...I had no idea mine was different from other non '99 GSX's. I'll likely try to get into a dsmlink...i've always wanted to, but have never really looked too hard into it!

Just wanted to check one thing though...the dealership is telling me that once they have an ecu in the car, they will still have some more things to check. Given the events of the past week, would you suggest against putting dsmlink in the car...as i'd hate to have them install it, and because there is something else really wrong, they can't figure it out because the car hasn't been tuned yet. OR, does it not really matter, and the ecu+dsmlink is just as good as putting in a stock '99 gsx ecu??
 
RGdsmNewb, always good to see someone local to me on this board. I have my car at the dealership still (Northside), it'll likely have to be there for the duration of the work that needs to be done. Are you planning on any modifications?? I'm always curious to know/see what the other Edmonton DSMers are up to!
 
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