No Start, Cranks, Sputters, Smokes.

[Leonthefaded]

Mitsubishi just called me "We put your car on a jumpbox and the car fired right up, and ran perfectly smooth. Your accessory belts were loose, we are gonna tet your battery and charging system to see what the problem couldve been."

Now When I had the car connected via jumper cables to my truck for half an hour and it did nothing what does that mean?

Maybe the timing was still bad. I know I killed the battery during all my testing and working on it. After I was finished all that remained was the dead battery?

Who won in the pool?

 

[Seamus]

Now When I had the car connected via jumper cables to my truck for half an hour and it did nothing what does that mean?

That you don't know how to jump a car, so it is a miracle that your timing belt job was successful.

 

[Leonthefaded]

Haha true. After getting the full report from the dealer, the battery was indeed fine. The problem was the loose positve cable from the battery, bad grounding connection and alt not being tight enough to properly function.

But I'm glad I stopped, took a minute to realize that outside help and direction was needed, and sought out that help and sense of direction from others. I appreciate you guys.

 

[crazyquik22023]

Haha, of course it would be some kind of battery issue.. typical.. At least you got it figured out

 

[gofer]

Well, I'm glad to hear the good news Leon.

 

[romeen]

Ditto^^. I'm glad they figured it out.

 

[99gst_racer]

That you don't know how to jump a car, so it is a miracle that your timing belt job was successful.

Its funny three different employee's warned me they might not be able to get parts for my car after they diagnose it, and it might be up to me to fix or get them the parts. I always forget our cars are old .

It's got nothing to do with being old. It's because you live on a volcano. The rest of us in the continuous 48 don't have issues locating parts.


Glad to hear they figured it out. Now that it's running, go back and do another compression test. If your numbers are anything close to "90, 95, 110, 80", you still have major problems that need to be addressed. An engine in that condition won't make any power and won't be running for very long either.

 

[jtmcinder]

Who won in the pool?

Nobody. As surprising as this may be, we all assumed that you knew that a charged battery or otherwise good source of power was needed to start a car. Our bad.

 

[Seamus]

Nobody. As surprising as this may be, we all assumed that you knew that a charged battery or otherwise good source of power was needed to start a car. Our bad.

Could you imagine what it would be like to own a REAL shop that specializes in DSM service/repair/modification. Some of the phone calls and customers are probably AMAZING!

 

[Hesh724]

Is it any diffrent somehow now?

 

[Leonthefaded]

Is it any diffrent somehow now?

Havent done it yet, I will though Hopefully after work before it gets too late. Got alot of other maintence concerns too like

Slow cranking
Water pump pulley rubbing timing cover
Clutch engagement

As soon as I get the results I'll post them here.

 

[romeen]

Havent done it yet, I will though Hopefully after work before it gets too late. Got alot of other maintence concerns too like

Slow cranking
Water pump pulley rubbing timing cover
Clutch engagement

As soon as I get the results I'll post them here.

Slow Cranking: Did the dealership fully recharge the battery? I would check using a voltmeter or something.

Water Pump Pulley: Make sure you didn't install either of the pulleys backwards after doing the timing belt.

 

[Leonthefaded]

I'm gonna pull off the pulley tonight and secure the lower timing cover down more and check and see if I did put that pulley on wrong. It shouldn't rub as much as it is.

The dealer did recharge the bat but I think it might be done. I never liked interstate batterys. I've always used optimas.

 

[Leonthefaded]

The pulley is on right, but the cover is not bolted in all the way FML. Hopefully I can remedy this without taking off the motor mount that took me 4 hours to get back in. I fear getting that old busted motormount back in will be the hardest thing on my list of things todo, along with getting the car to idle lower.

 

[romeen]

Not sure how you went about installing the motor mount. But I use the jack/wood block under the oil pan to raise or lower the engine until I see the hole in the mount lining up with the hole in the bracket. Put the large bolt in as far as it will go and then make small adjustments with the jack until you find the spot that the bolt will catch the threads on the other side. Put the two nuts and one bolt at the edge of the mount LOOSELY in place before doing the large bolt in the middle.

If you want, you can remove the the rubber pad that's on the firewall side of the mount. This allows you to see down into the crack between the mount and chassis where the tip of the bolt will be coming through.

In addition to using the jack for vertical movement you can use a pry bar between the mount and chassis to move the motor side to side a little bit. However, this might scratch your paint inside the bracket.

The part I hate most about doing the timing is reinstalling that damn AC tensioner bracket.

 

[Leonthefaded]

Not sure how you went about installing the motor mount. But I use the jack/wood block under the oil pan to raise or lower the engine until I see the hole in the mount lining up with the hole in the bracket. Put the large bolt in as far as it will go and then make small adjustments with the jack until you find the spot that the bolt will catch the threads on the other side. Put the two nuts and one bolt at the edge of the mount LOOSELY in place before doing the large bolt in the middle.

If you want, you can remove the the rubber pad that's on the firewall side of the mount. This allows you to see down into the crack between the mount and chassis where the tip of the bolt will be coming through.

In addition to using the jack for vertical movement you can use a pry bar between the mount and chassis to move the motor side to side a little bit. However, this might scratch your paint inside the bracket.

The part I hate most about doing the timing is reinstalling that damn AC tensioner bracket.

The ac bracket wasn't as hard as the motormount was. Just after spending all that time getting it on there. The idea of taking it off again either tonight or thurs seems sickening . That pry bar thing works amazingly well.

I hope using one of my sparebolts works something great in my favor

 

[gofer]

You don't know how hard that driver side MM is to install until you have solid mounts, front and rear included. It comes out easy enough, unfortunately I can't say the same for the re-install. I've got to loosen up every MM to the point that they are just being held in by a few threads, line it up and torque the driver side mount in, then tighten everything else back up.

If the car's up off its wheels you can also use a flashlight in the driver side (front) wheel well and see how far off you are from lining up that MM bolt as it threads into the wheel well.

 

[Leonthefaded]

You don't know how hard that driver side MM is to install until you have solid mounts, front and rear included. It comes out easy enough, unfortunately I can't say the same for the re-install. I've got to loosen up every MM to the point that they are just being held in by a few threads, line it up and torque the driver side mount in, then tighten everything else back up.

If the car's up off its wheels you can also use a flashlight in the driver side (front) wheel well and see how far off you are from lining up that MM bolt as it threads into the wheel well.

I discovered that accidently with a buddy helping me, as I was nearing insanity. It was a HUGE help. Having a person wiggling with the pry bar as your raising and lowering the engine helps out alot too. I think when I take the motor mount off I'll mark it with some paint or something that way I have a point of reference when lining up my bolt

I better replace that Fuel pressure solenoid before I drive it next.

 

[romeen]

Corey, I have solid aluminum mounts front and rear and haven't really had any problems. It's most likely because I have stock rubber mounts on the sides unlike the Prothane's on your car. FWIW, I used to have "Window-Weld" side mounts. When I swapped back to stock on the sides, vibrations in the cab noticeably decreased but I didn't really notice much, if not any, loss in performance. The car might have felt a bit tighter around curves with the stiffer mounts but it was very subtle (or in my head).

Although, now that you mention it, I do loosen the two bolts that screw in from the bottom of the front mount when doing my timing.

 

[Leonthefaded]

Woohoo got the rubbing fixed! Just as I thought applying a replacement bolt cured my water pump pulley rub.

I found through searching that the fps doesn't do really much, but it could be apart of the rough start. I don't think it has anything todo with the high idle. The smoke however is caused by the exhaust leaks I've found both under the hood and car. Which could be contributing to my high temps under the hood.

 

[Leonthefaded]

Exhaust leak fixed. Vacuum lines might be the problem.

 

[Leonthefaded]

So tracing vaccum lines and making sure they are all connected proved nothing. Any thoughts on there being a pinhole in a vacuum line causing such rough starts? I know that the FPS being out is known to have an effect on starting on hot days as well as after extended driving. But ths FPS being out does not explain such a high idle.

After careful consideration I beleive that because of the high idle is is effecting clutch engagment and disengagement. Any thoughts on this either?

 

[gofer]

The high idle is most likely a vacuum/boost leak around the TB/IM/injector seal area, so now I pose the question, when was the last time you did a good boost leak test?

Having a high idle should have nothing to do with clutch engagement, that just tells me that you're pedal needs adjustment and the clutch is dragging. Watch video. What's your definition of "high idle" by the way?

Proper Clutch Adjustment - YouTube

 

[Leonthefaded]

The high idle is most likely a vacuum/boost leak around the TB/IM/injector seal area, so now I pose the question, when was the last time you did a good boost leak test?

Having a high idle should have nothing to do with clutch engagement, that just tells me that you're pedal needs adjustment and the clutch is dragging. Watch video. What's your definition of "high idle" by the way?

Proper Clutch Adjustment - YouTube

My definition of high idle is this: Stock - 900 to 1000. Alot goes into play like bolt ons and engine modifications but I feel I should be around 900-1000.

Instead I have an unsteady idle between 1000-1400. My transmission has been making sqeakying noises I've dismissed as clutch chatter, maybe I looked too lightly at the clutch pedal not being adjusted properly.

Tonight I'll check my injector seals which also reminds me to put those two fuel rail spacers in place where they belong. That could case the injectors not to seat all the way when I think about it now

 

[gofer]

Now that you're mentioning a "chattering" I don't suspect a in-proper adjustment on the clutch pedal, sounds to me like the TOB is damaged and causing disengagement issues. What's shitty about this is the fact that if you FORCE the transmission into gear, because the TOB isn't allowing the clutch to completely disengage, you'll do syncro damage to the transmission as well.

Yea, those fuel injector spacers are there for a reason man. It also helps, at least for me anyway, to put a THIN (and I stress thin) coat of gray RTV around the injector seal. This will seal the injector up in the head better and usually won't lead to a boost/vacuum leak in the future.

EDIT
Forgot to include how to check, quick, if its a TOB issue or something else. Just slide under the car and try to move the clutch fork up/down (not side to side with the slave) and see if it's sloppy.