newbie needs help

[BigG]

so ive had this car for two days now.drove 8miles home and parked it. next morning it started, ran a minute then died, restarted ran crapy then died. lost the check engine light, now just turns over and doesnt even try to start. today i put the key in to roll down the windows( was going to push the car in the driveway)and i noticed some new clicking sounds. i popped the hood, removed the key from the ignition and the clicking continued, sounds like from under the intake plenum (coil maybe)it sounded like a hint of life to me so i cranked it over and it fired right away.i let it run for a minute then pulled it in the driveway and it died, i started again, ran ok for a second, then died.did this a few more times,then heard some more clicking,lost the check engine light again and everything is quiet,no more clicking from anywhere. the engine will turn over but not fire. any ideas?
thanks in advance for your help, Gary
P.S. '90 turbo laser

 

[ChvyKc]

My car makes that clicking noise whenever it is having problems with the battery being low. I have no idea what it is or what exactly causing it but I would like to find out as well.

 

[BigG]

bump

 

[DSMcamaro]

Take a spark plug out and crank it over to see if its firing. If its not, try new wire & plug, and/or maybe look for a new or used coil pack. By the way, bumping is not allowed.

 

[BigG]

as of tonight there is no spark. i bought a repair book today so i'll ohm out the coil tomarrow. has anyone seen this before? it appears that im losing power to the ECU.

 

[ereckerdeet]

i'd check for a bad ecu. it's an easy test to do there is a connector by your fuse box/hood popper on drivers side. put a probe on those and it will read out your ecu codes, if you get no power out there the ecu is not getting power or is no good. these ecus are famous for going out for no good reason, i think they used some cheap internal parts which would wear out and start corroding all over the board.

good luck!
~Eric

 

[BigG]

today i removed the ecu. no smells, goo, corrosion or wet capacitors. reinstalled it .as for the coil, i had trouble understanding what the book was tring to say. it was very vague.(chilton ). so i tried to find a scan tool today with no luck. i need OBD I right? ok, so i'll read the book another 27 times and see if i can figure out what terminals to ohm to get the correct readings. if anyone can tell me where to get a scanner or the proper procedure to check the coil and transistor, i would greatly apreciate the help, until then i'll keep at it, thanks , Gary

 

[ChvyKc]

Yes, you do need an OBD I. For some reason they are really hard to find. There is only one Autozone in town that has one that they will pull codes for free on. I have to drive all the way across town to get them to do that. I wish that I could figure out what is wrong with my logger so I could pull codes with it. It would make life a lot easier.

 

[BigG]

hmm, not getting much here. maybe someone can help me with this question. I have no spark and no CEL. my question is if the coil is bad or the transistor, would it cause the CEL not to come on or cut power to the ECU? i do know that the light only comes on for a few seconds when you first turn the key to the run position. but not in my case and yes the bulb is good

 

[BigG]

The CEL was on today so i cranked it over and it fired right up. Drove around the block, it ran fine.pulled in the driveway, let it run a couple minutes then it died. i restarted it and it sputtered a bit and stalled. i noticed that the factory boost guage was going up a little, then down, very eraticly. this was happening after it stalled with the key in the run position. if i turned the key off, then on it would do the same thing.also lots of clicking under the dash. i assume it was the ECU cutting relays and what not.i also smelled fuel very strong, after the car crapped out. ordered a logger from ebay, it will take over a week to get here, so please help if you have any insight concerning this problem thanks, Gary

 

[Coder24]

these ecus are famous for going out for no good reason, i think they used some cheap internal parts which would wear out and start corroding all over the board.

good luck!
~Eric

3 words...ITS A DSM!!!! HAHA all parts are cheap..just try to take out bumper bolts...they break...haha.
Could it quite possibly be you alternator?but i might be wrong.

 

[GTM]

The CEL was on today so i cranked it over and it fired right up. Drove around the block, it ran fine.pulled in the driveway, let it run a couple minutes then it died. i restarted it and it sputtered a bit and stalled.
...
i assume it was the ECU cutting relays and what not.i also smelled fuel very strong, after the car crapped out. ordered a logger from ebay, it will take over a week to get here, so please help if you have any insight concerning this problem thanks, Gary

I think you are in the right area of diagnosing / troubleshooting. It could be relay(s) or the ECU, it seems as if it's temp related for it starts and then once things start to get warm they open up. This can be a simple connection problem to any number of electronic components within the ECU with the most common is a particular capacitor or group of capacitors.

You may find some more information on vfaq.com concerning repairs to ECU. I'm working from a temp hard drive thus all my DSM material is not available.

You have a couple of good Pick Your Parts type wrecking yards out your way that are known to have DSMs where you may find parts and spares.

Let us know what you find.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[BigG]

Is there a relay on or very near the coil, under the intake manifold? at one time i could hear rapid clicking, almost buzzing. i dont think i can wait for the logger, i may have to go to pic a part and see what i can grab. im to excited to wait. i want to drive this car! hehe Any way , thanks for taking a look at my post GTM, Respectfuly, Gary

 

[GTM]

Is there a relay on or very near the coil, under the intake manifold? at one time i could hear rapid clicking, almost buzzing. i dont think i can wait for the logger, i may have to go to pic a part and see what i can grab. im to excited to wait. i want to drive this car! hehe Any way , thanks for taking a look at my post GTM, Respectfuly, Gary

I'm not a DSM expert and can't give a direct answer to the question. In generalities 2 or 3 thngs come to mind, a low battery will cause some relays to buzz, a bad ECU can do all sorts of tricks including firing injectors or coils. Lastly a fuel pump pressure regulator and/or check valve can buzz but I usually associate this with a low battery. Do make sure the battery is charged and showing 12.6-13.2 volts.

It wouldn't hurt to grab some spare parts, make sure you get the right ones for your car.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[BigG]

i went to the local grab ## part place yesterday,they had 4 '90 models but they were all N/T and 1.8L automatics. sucks for me, oh well, i did get a driver side door handle that i needed. im still waiting on the logger cable the pda came last week, ordered both the same day.

 

[lilalex86]

I had similar problem of turning over but no start and it ended up being the CAS. If you find a known good one give it a shot. Yeah under the coil is a transistor.

 

[BigG]

ok, i got my logger today, put it on the car,turned the key to the run position.the logger read, 8k hz for several sensors. the TPS was at 9%-10% with no foot on the petal and 99.6% at WOT. I checked for stored codes and found none. Before i even started the car the CEL started going on, off,on, off. also the factory boost guage was going up and down, from the bottom to the middle, 0 i think it is. all of this happened in less than 5 minutes without ever starting the car. If i go out in the morning and just start the car, it will run great for a minute, then all the stuff i described above starts happening. i always thought that the motor temp was causing something to go wrong but now i dont think so. Is there anything that could cut power to the ECU besides the ECU its self?

 

[BigG]

well i decided to to break down and buy a ECU and guess what......it purrs like a kitten . and now i know why there isnt any boost, the impeller is siezed up. i ordered a new turbo. thanks for the in put everybody.