Car wont start...please help!!

[May0r35]

Brought a 97 eclipse rs a few months ago...ran well ever since but early this morning doesnt want to turn on...when i try turning it on you just hear it trying to turn on and it keeps hesitating to turn on...if i keep trying and give it gas at the same time it turns on but not on the first try...i would have to repeatedly try for like 10 minutes...can anyone help me to fix this problem???

 

[97-gst]

when you say you hear it trying to turn on, do you mean you hearing it turning over? On my car it will just crank and crank and crank and it will not start without pumping the gas. try this thread http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/new...ould-i-have-pump-my-gas-get-my-car-start.html

 

[May0r35]

yea i hear it turning over but i get nothing...

 

[97-gst]

Have ya had your plug wires off lately

 

[May0r35]

what exactly do you mean by plug wires? if you mean the wire thats connected to the spark plugs, then no i never took em off since i brought the car...im kinda guessin it could be my alternator...

 

[97-gst]

maybe maintenance is your problem. Maybe it's just time for new spark plugs and wires

 

[May0r35]

yea maybe...ima go and get it checked out in the morning...just wanted other dsm users opinions...

 

[bullettdsm]

...im kinda guessin it could be my alternator...

No.

maybe maintenance is your problem. Maybe it's just time for new spark plugs and wires

Yes.

Before you diagnsoe anything, make sure you have a base to diagnose from. Tune-up should be the first thing that gets done and then if you have a problem, we can work from there.

MB

 

[May0r35]

found out today its because of an oil leak from the main frame...so now i need to shop for a 420a engine...

 

[pgarland]

Whoa..."oil leak from the main frame"? Somebody is having some fun with you, and from the sound of it, trying to separate you from your money in the process. There is absolutely no shame in not knowing how stuff works (so long as you don't try to "fake the funk" about it), just be honest and ask questions, you'll find that the majority of people around here will go well out of their way to give you the right information. And the bonus is you get to learn in the process, which can only serve to help you in the future, right?

To start, you said the symptom the car is having is that it is difficult to start (turns over, but doesn't fire right up). To break it down in the simplest terms, your motor needs three things in order to run. Those three things are air, spark, and fuel. Like 97-gst and bullettdsm suggested, I'd recommend you start with spark. Did you change out the spark plugs and wires when you bought the car? If not, it would be the first thing I'd do...run down to Autozone (or Advanced...or O'Reilly...or Napa...whatever your preference) and pick up a set of new plugs and wires (I highly recommend NGK plugs, as do most others on this site). This should only cost you between 20 and 30 bucks at the most for all four plugs and wires, and if you bring along a 5/8 deepwell socket, you can change the wires and plugs right there in the parking lot. Absolutely make this your first step, and let us know if this fixes your problem...if not, we'll make suggestions for what to do next.

As far as this oil leak thing goes...have you noticed anything prior to taking the car to get checked to even point to an oil leak? Like oil stains on the driveway, low oil level on the dipstick constantly, having to add oil all the time, engine oil light on dash turned on, or evidence of oil splash under the hood? If there is an oil leak, there will be evidence there to find it. Look around under the hood, check the oil level on the dipstick, and if you find something you're not sure of, take a picture of it and post it here, someone will be able to tell what it is or what it should be.

Don't go shopping for a new motor yet, chances are the problems you are having are small and easy to fix. And whoever told you that the "main frame" is leaking oil and that you need a new motor, the best thing I can recommend is that the next time you see that person, pimp slap the hell out of them. And under no circumstances give them any money. Ever.

 

[BIGBLAZE79]

You probably meant rear main seal, right! Anyway the car will start with a bad rear main seal. That's not your prob if it's turning over. Prob lost fuel or spark, one of the two.

 

[May0r35]

ima pick up new plugs and wires in a few...yea i had to add oil the other day ### my oil light was turnin on for a few seconds then go away and i checked my dipstick and it was pretty dry so i added oil..this happened to me a couple weeks ago too...

I brought and put in the new set of wires and spark plugs(NGK as preferred) and im still having the same problem....

 

[pgarland]

Check the coil next. You'll need another person to help with this (someone to turn the key while you're holding the plug). Simple to do, follow the instructions from here (just ignore the bench test thing and follow the rest of the directions):

How To Test Your Coil - Ignition Coil Testing - Test Your Coil For No Spark - Ignition Troubleshooting

You'll want to check for spark on plugs 1 and 2 for sure, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to go even further and check all 4. Also, while you're doing this test, lean in and sniff a little around the spark plug holes after the motor has been turned over, you should be able to smell a little bit of fuel (post up whether or not you smell any gas in your reply...this would point us in the direction of fuel if you don't smell any). If there is no spark, then the coil pack will probably need replaced. If there is, we have eliminated spark as the problem, and can move on to fuel and air. Make sure you are holding the plug against metal though (I try to hold it against the block, but any bare metal ground source will do).

A few questions, how many tries does it take before you get the motor to start? Does it click at all when you are turning the key? Does it sound like it's turning slower than it used to when you turn the key? Have you tried to start it with jumper cables hooked up to another car that is running? If so, does it still take awhile to start, or does it fire right up? Do you know how old the battery is on the car? When you do finally get the motor to run, how is the idle (is it sputtering, or idling high? Should be between 800 and 1000 RPM if it is idling normally)?

 

[May0r35]

got it to fire up now without a problem...thanks alot for the help guys...

 

[pgarland]

No sweat...what ended up solving the problem?

 

[May0r35]

well i was with a friend of mine who use to own a dsm but is now a civic man z but he helped me out...told him what you told me and we checked it out and come to find out my oil leak is the problem ### somehow it got into where my 4th spark plug is at...we cleaned up the spark plug and the inside and the wire and then it started up no problem...so now i just gotta fix my oil leak...

 

[eSCAPEist_]

I'm having this exact same problem on my 97 GS N/T. There is a slight oil build up where the plug caps are, and I unplugged the spark plug wires and there was a rusty corrosion build up going on in the spark plug chamber, and my plugs had to have been fouled. You could look at my spark plug wires on the long tube part aafter you pull them out and there was just that carbon build up covering the whole thing... And the build up gets less and less as you check out the other 3 plugs going away from the oil cap, so it has to be an oil leak right? Shouldn't I just buy a new oil cap? I just bought a set of 4 brand new NGK spark plugs and a brand new set of Duralast lifetime warranty spark plug wires and I'm going to have to clean out those spark plug chambers of all that carbon build up. Does anyone have any advice on how I should get down in those spark plug chambers and clean them out? What equipment I should use, etc.? Thanks.
-eSCAPEist_

 

[ReyRocka]

I'm having this exact same problem on my 97 GS N/T. There is a slight oil build up where the plug caps are, and I unplugged the spark plug wires and there was a rusty corrosion build up going on in the spark plug chamber, and my plugs had to have been fouled. You could look at my spark plug wires on the long tube part aafter you pull them out and there was just that carbon build up covering the whole thing... And the build up gets less and less as you check out the other 3 plugs going away from the oil cap, so it has to be an oil leak right? Shouldn't I just buy a new oil cap? I just bought a set of 4 brand new NGK spark plugs and a brand new set of Duralast lifetime warranty spark plug wires and I'm going to have to clean out those spark plug chambers of all that carbon build up. Does anyone have any advice on how I should get down in those spark plug chambers and clean them out? What equipment I should use, etc.? Thanks.
-eSCAPEist_

I don't think oil will cause corrosion, but water will. If you were leaking from the oil cap it would have been all over your valve cover. It almost sounds like a overheated motor with a blown head gasket or jacked up valve seals.

 

[eSCAPEist_]

I don't think oil will cause corrosion, but water will. If you were leaking from the oil cap it would have been all over your valve cover. It almost sounds like a overheated motor with a blown head gasket or jacked up valve seals.

Yea, It may be water that got inside of it, but there was a tiny puddle of oil from my oil cap right around the top of my spark plug wires that I cleaned up.