Starting issues - No / Doesn't / Won't Start - MERGED

[prodsm]

All "my car won't start" discussion threads are merged HERE. We've basically made it easier for those who insist upon not searching by grouping together all threads from those with similar issues so you can just scroll through and see some possible solutions. To search for info within this thread, use the "Search This Thread" feature in the black bar about 3" above what you're reading right now.

Could be anything from a loose battery terminal to internal engine damage, and literally everything in between which may involve the electrical, fuel, and ignition system...possibly even something that you screwed up while working on the car yourself. While it's unlikely we're going to diagnose and solve your problem over the internet, feel free to discuss any possible solutions.



I live in Canada and right now its not very warm out, about -30c
my car does not have a block heater too keep it warm.

I tryed to start my car this morning and it wouldent start, ive had this problem before but this time, the car doesnt crank at all it just makes a sound that sounds like an electric drill.

Whats wrong.

Thanks

 

[eatsleepboostin]

Check voltage at the starter solenoid when you crank. See if you are getting battery voltage there.

 

[Eagle96TalonTSi]

New (used) starter bolted in and she fires right up.

Also, the ton of wiring I pulled out fixed a mis fire I was having. I believe it was due to a mystery cable tied into the ECU that I restored back to factory.

Good Feeling

*resolved

 

[gsx50501]

The problem is the starter. I ruled that out early when I took it out (PITA) and had it tested at autozone and it passed. Put it back in (PITA) and looked at other things.

Of course the start got weaker and weaker until this point, when it only makes certain noises. All of the relays were located and I touched them as I cranked to feel a click indicating it was working. Also got EEEEEVERY ####ING ghetto ass wire from the previous audio system, alarm system, and gauge cluster (boost, exhaust temp) and got the cars wiring back to 0.

Have narrowed it down back to the starter where I used a wire with spaded ends to plug the power cable directly to the battery and it would not start spinning. A slight click, someones a little heavier click but it didnt sound like it should.

Going to rip the starter back out, put a new one in and pray thats the problem.

2 morals of this story. 1) Dont trust autozone's starter testing stations. 2) Dont sit around and wait for someone to help you out on the forums because if I did id still have a dead end car.

Haynes manual and google is your best friend, make sure you guys utilize them properly.

Oh and btw yes I found that I needed to test the power cable tot he starter with a test light to make sure the it was getting power. The problem starts after the power cable is plugged in. Either the starter's receiving plug, that little + ground thingy, or some component inside the starter is worn out.

Will update again tomorrow with the new parts in so this can be resolved and others can use this problem if they have these symptoms.

And I gotta give credit to my friend Clayton who helped me this whole way. DSM Wisemen are a god send, no joke.

maybe a little late but the bench test can work off the car and fail when put on the car reason being the bench test lets the start spin free with no real load against it so its not pulling the same amps so doing an off the car test is never accurate. sorry just noticed this post :/

 

[Eagle96TalonTSi]

maybe a little late but the bench test can work off the car and fail when put on the car reason being the bench test lets the start spin free with no real load against it so its not pulling the same amps so doing an off the car test is never accurate. sorry just noticed this post :/

See thats what I thought too! I even had a spare starter that I knew was good tested at the same time as mine and they both passed as okay.

I even said leaving the store, "Idk man, I have a funky feeling about that starter..."

My buddy Clayton said, "I promise you dude, Autozone is trying to sell you parts. If there were something wrong with it, the test would show."

But like you said, in that tester, its under no real load, not to mention a direct connection to a power source, vs the starter in the car going through a few cables/grounds.

Oh well, problem solved. Back to hunting down the idle surge and upgrading to 14B, getting a wideband and link in, and then on!

Might be going straight to a 16g if I can get the deal on it that someone is offering me. I like the idea of going 14b first because I want to install it all myself and would like the 14b (inexpensive) be the test run for the 16 or 20g (More expensive).

 

[gsx50501]

See thats what I thought too! I even had a spare starter that I knew was good tested at the same time as mine and they both passed as okay.

I even said leaving the store, "Idk man, I have a funky feeling about that starter..."

My buddy Clayton said, "I promise you dude, Autozone is trying to sell you parts. If there were something wrong with it, the test would show."

But like you said, in that tester, its under no real load, not to mention a direct connection to a power source, vs the starter in the car going through a few cables/grounds.

Oh well, problem solved. Back to hunting down the idle surge and upgrading to 14B, getting a wideband and link in, and then on!

Might be going straight to a 16g if I can get the deal on it that someone is offering me. I like the idea of going 14b first because I want to install it all myself and would like the 14b (inexpensive) be the test run for the 16 or 20g (More expensive).

i got a small 16g made by god speed that just needs rebuilt has no damage id be willing to part with it cheap cheap. i can rebuild it for the right price too. i didnt re use it because i went right to a big turbo(hx40) no more messing with the little guys pm me if you want to know more

 

[kasumax]

I like the idea of 14b first then bigger after that. Doing the same. Godspeed huh? hmmm...

 

[gsx50501]

I like the idea of 14b first then bigger after that. Doing the same. Godspeed huh? hmmm...

yep i do have everything but the turbine shaft for a 14b i was taking it apart to clean it and the end of the shaft snapped id be willing to part with them both for cheap. the 14b had no play i was going to use it after my 16g let go. i just wanted to clean it out and inspect it but the shaft end broke when i tried to take it apart (yes i know left hand thread). so i got a good center housing and bearings and a very good compressor wheel and housing both hotside and compressor side. i cant see a turbine shaft being very expensive at all. like i said pm me and ill send pics of everything if you want

 

[JuGs]

Ok I dont think this is the typical no start thread. Prior to now my car ran and started no issue. I had v3 full 6 bolt swap holset 1050cc yada yada yada. Now Im back to stock. I sold the ecu and link. Im now running the flashable ecu. and Im getting no start. Now since in link I can invert the cas, do i need to rewire the cas or injectors to get the car to start? I still have the 6 bolt swap and i dont have software or anything to access the flashable ecu.

What I got the ecu I was told it was flashed back to stock and should be ok even though I have the 6 bolt swap. I was a bit leary but wasnt to worried. I have a buddy that has the software and cable to change ecu setting, can I have the changed be made with what he has or do i still need to rewire cas/injectors?

 

[Talyn]

Halfway down the page is the plug wire schematic, reroute the wires accordingly and see if it starts, I ran into this problem with my car because it was modified by a PO, I had the cylinder head off, put it all back together, wouldn't start and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, was because I routed the spark plug wires according to factory routing. Hopefully that is your problem, it most likely is if I understand your situation correctly.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-miscellaneous/217951-how-diagnose-no-start.html

 

[JuGs]

I never changed my firing order around. Its the same as when I had link installed. With link I was able to invert cas so I had no reason to rewire anything but the cas it self. I went over the 2 wiring diagrams for 95 to 96 ecus and the 97 to 99 ecus. since i have a 95 car with a 99 ecu im a bit confused. Im assuming since I no longer have link I just have to rewire the injectors since I cant invert the cas via link. But according to the wiring diagram for 97/99 ecus it doesnt require to rewire injectors, but the 95/96 does.

The only things I have changed are the turbo, ecu and injectors. a few other things too but that woundnt be my cause for no strart.

 

[crash89]

Just swap the plug wires.. Inverting the CAS signal in link is the same as just swapping the plug wires. Try this. instead of wires being 4123 try 2314 on the coil packs.

 

[casperfast]

The ecu with link(95ecu) is a different fireing order than the flashable ecu(98-99) change your fireing order

 

[JuGs]

so its not injectors ill have to rewire jsut change the plug wires around?

damn i feel like a moron.......yeah it just was firing order....i rewired injectors for nothing . thanks guys

 

[ncdirtrider249]

Hello everyone. This has just started happening recently since it's started to get colder. I got a new ISC, and FIAV so unless they're defective parts, I've ruled those out. I just put a set of new plugs (BPR7ES gapped at .26). Any ideas? I'll let the video do that talking, but in short: on a cold start, it will turn on fine. Then, a couple seconds later it will idle like it had 280 cams in it and die. These are still the stock 2g cams mind you. Sometimes it will die, but most of the time it will lope for a few seconds, then it will clear itself out and begin to run fine and warm up. Here's the video.

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[Black-Out]

Does it have a C.E.L.? That sounds like it's running lean and when it gets a little heat into it then it runs ok- Could be vacuum leaks, faulty ECT sensor, faulty maf, or even a faulty primary O/2 sensor-
A scan tool and a look at the actual sensor values could help tremendously especially if you can understand the numbers your looking at, long term and short term fuel-trims being just 2 of a small list of sensors you can monitor that can point you in the direction of the problem.....

Will-

 

[ncdirtrider249]

Thanks for the replies guys! My CEL is on, but it's from the previous owner clipping the rear o2 sensor, and my egr valve being deleted. I did a boost leak test yesterday and fixed all my boost leaks too. It's running really rich on start ups. It has a brand new o2 sensor for the wideband as well.

 

[buddy3824]

have you checked the codes since the issue has started... it may have new codes that will help you diag the issue.
and +1 on the coolant temp sensor.

 

[ncdirtrider249]

I have not, I'll check it out tomorrow and see what it says. I'll go ahead and throw a coolant temperature sensor in it as well.

 

[jayson427]

my car did the same thing untill i changed the coolent temp sensor and the map sensor. we have different engines i know, just thought i would throw that out there.

 

[trboeclpse98]

I'm working on a 97 eclipse gst that has me stumped, the car is pretty much completely stock with only a 14b turbo installed. It's having problems starting and just wont run right, I can get it started after pumping the gas pedal a few times, once it starts it has a really rough idle which sounds like its misfiring and dies if you try to rev it. I got it started and let it idle for a few minutes to get it to operating temperature and it runs rough and sputters but stays on, once you hit the gas the rpm's drop and almost dies and if you hold the gas down, it backfires into the intake a few times and sputters a lot but revs if I rev it up slowly.

The person that previously worked on the car changed the fuel pump, swapped the MAF and put a new front O2 sensor and gave up on it cause he couldn't figure it out.

I have checked the timing and all the marks are aligned perfectly, I changed the crank position sensor, swapped the cam angle sensor, changed the spark plugs, wires and coil pack but no change was noticed, I have checked the compression and got 160 all the way across, I have tried 3 different 97 ECU's, I kept it running for about 30 minutes to see if anything would trigger the CEL to come on but got nothing. I installed my ECU with dsmlink v2 and seems to run a little bit better. I logged it and notice that the front o2 sensor was not oscillating and staying at .02v. I've already checked for spark and fuel and the made sure that the wires were in correct firing order.

I have searched and found a few other threads with similar problems but most have not been resolved.

 

[AK Maniak]

Do you have stock injectors? Boost leak test done? Possible fuel issue, are you positive that the newly installed fuel pump is in working issue? Check your alternator as well. That can cause all sorts of crazy issues.

 

[mitsumelgsx]

did you check the cts?

 

[dsmracing92]

I would say the MAF could be the problem. Make sure there are no boost leaks, do a fuel pressure test on it. You should be sitting @ 42.5 pounds at idle.

Also, is it a 6 bolt swap? if so you may have to change come injector trigger wires. I know alot of these cars appear stock but people tend to mess with them alot and I have seen some crafty hacking in my day.

 

[dsmracing92]

Cts!

 

[Riceburning101]

I had the same problem when my ICM/power transistor was bad. It was a real pain to start then it would run like the timing was off (backfire, rough idle, and touch the gas pedal while idling would either drop rpms or kill the motor).

here is how to test it but it still may test as working if it is intermittent.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-electrical-wiring/229419-how-test-power-transistors.html