1G Car died, wont start, won't crank

[FonZ454]

hey all, new here, heres the story.
i just put my 91 talon tsi on the road today, bought it for $400, needed a head. i put a 2g head on and had it running fine for a while and finally got it on the road today. i drive it for 24 miles, and as i come up to a stop light i stop and the car stalls. I thought it was an idle problem, as i was always playin with the idle to get it right and i thoguth it just died, or maybe some line popped off(my bov recirc hose came off once or twice). so i try to start it back up, nothing, no crank, no nothing. luckily i was with my friend to push it to a parking lot to get it outa the road. k, heres a few things to know, to clear up. Battery is good, tried jumping it, does nothing. the car will not turn over, just hear a click from the ecu i think and one outside. never had a problem starting before this happened, and today it just went. when the car died, it wasnt a sudden stall or anything, the revs just dropped like the car stalled, not all sudden like a seize or anything. the car is a 5 speed, and has a 90 ecu in it, the car is a 91. other than that i dont really know what other info is needed. thanks, ryan

o yea,, sorry for all the lowercase, just mad tired and frustrated.

 

[huafist]

hey all, new here, heres the story.
i just put my 91 talon tsi on the road today, bought it for $400, needed a head. i put a 2g head on and had it running fine for a while and finally got it on the road today. i drive it for 24 miles, and as i come up to a stop light i stop and the car stalls. I thought it was an idle problem, as i was always playin with the idle to get it right and i thoguth it just died, or maybe some line popped off(my bov recirc hose came off once or twice). so i try to start it back up, nothing, no crank, no nothing. luckily i was with my friend to push it to a parking lot to get it outa the road. k, heres a few things to know, to clear up. Battery is good, tried jumping it, does nothing. the car will not turn over, just hear a click from the ecu i think and one outside. never had a problem starting before this happened, and today it just went. when the car died, it wasnt a sudden stall or anything, the revs just dropped like the car stalled, not all sudden like a seize or anything. the car is a 5 speed, and has a 90 ecu in it, the car is a 91. other than that i dont really know what other info is needed. thanks, ryan

o yea,, sorry for all the lowercase, just mad tired and frustrated.

Sounds to me like a grounding problem. Does it completely die electrically when you turn the key to start? If it does you've got a poor battery connection. If you turn it and you hear the solenoid on the starter click, but you still have power, you could have a bad starter. Double-check all of the starter wiring and if you still have nothing, pull it and have it checked (or if you're the industrious type, pull the back off of the starter and inspect the motor brushes).

Good luck.

 

[jofan]

I had the same problem a while back, i had a bad battery connection, The headlights, dash, and dome lights would stay on. but when i turned the key the lights would dim and i heard a clicking sound from my solenoid. So heres a quick test, Turn your key to the on position, and watch the lights on dash, ur dome or headlights, then try to crank it over, if the lights dim and get weak then its a poor battery connection, but if the lights and everything stays on without dimming, then its probably your starter.

Goodluck

 

[FonZ454]

When I turn the key to on, all the normal lights come on, then i try to start it, a little click, and some lights dim like usual. And if it was a starter problem, why would the car of shut off? I mean it could of been something with my idle, but I don't think so.. but I'm not positive. I'll try checkin all the grounds and stuff... damn car is at CVS...

 

[jofan]

Yea, it sounds like a bad connection, try taking a terminal cleaner and clean your terminals and connections, or take a wire brush to them.

 

[classic69]

bad ground or some other bad connection in the main circuit, had alot of those when i put my battery in the trunk..first one took me like 3 hours to figure out

 

[FonZ454]

Well I took my starter out, got that tested, its fine, while that was out i could get the the canister finally to remove that and some other stuff.... anyways Im not thinkin its something electrical. And i think the timing might be a bit off, skipped a tooth or something, i gotta check tommoorw. Oh yeah, when i was at CVS yesterday workin on it, i pulled the wheel off, and tried turnin the motor with a ratchet. All the sparkplugs where in tho.. i couldnt budge the motor. shouldnt it move a bit? see i'm thinking its something more serious, gotta wait till tommorow so i can really check it all out. I've checked all my wiring, everything seems good, cleaned up grounds and everything, i honestly don't think its anything electrical. When the timin goes, valves bend.. blah blah, what fashion does it go in? loud clunk, everything stops? will the engine turn over? cuz the car seemed to just die like bad idle, nothing exaddreated.

thanks guys,, please, more help!

 

[napkinthief]

did it die after u stopped or were u still moving, i was driving with my eclipse 2 weeks ago and i needed a whole new engine, 3 pistons seized and the 4th cracked, i dont know how it happened, and the mech says it just overheated and i kept pushing it, but i know for a fact that i wasn;t overheated unless my temp gauge is wrong, so maybe remmeber if u checked ur temp? good luck though, id say just get a mech to walk over or something and ask him to look

 

[FonZ454]

If i can rememebr, i was pulling up to a light, and i didnt want to downshift, so i just had it in netrual and it just like stalled it seemd, cuz i was gonna try to pop start it but i wasnt goin fast enough and didnt try, so i was rollin in netrual. Temp was fine, i was watchin it all day, never went a little over 1/2, and i wasnt beatin on the car by any means, i did maybe a few pulls just to set my boost at a respectable level, and this happened a while after i did them , so i'm really stumped on what it is.

 

[jofan]

The car should still crank over even if the valves are bent. could be something wrong with your crankshaft.

 

[Littlebeeper]

And the engine should turn over with the ratchet. Mine would turn until the second piston came up and crushed the valve that snapped off the stem. Then it would not turn........sounds serious

 

[huafist]

Just because a starter bench-tests fine doesn't mean that it is. If the motor brushes are worn down it can't generate enough power to turn the crankshaft, but it'll spin if it has no load on it.

Given that the car stalled out, you DID check your timing belt and related, didn't you? As someone else stated, if a valve is in conctact with a piston that would prevent the engine from turning over.

There are only so many things that can cause a car to not even turn over. Be systematic and you'll figure it out.

 

[Defiant]

as i come up to a stop light i stop and the car stalls.

Suspect a stripped timing belt. Stopping, idling and starting are the most common times for the crank sprocket to bite off the teeth.

 

[FonZ454]

took the head off today.... still can't turn the crank

edit: o yea, the head is still good tho