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

 

[Asenseofpurpose94]

I've searched and couldn't find anything, I have a 99 gsx and the engine recently went, spun a rod bearing. I just bought a new engine and put it in.. I believe its from a 95-96 because the cam position sensor is on the drivers side of the engine instead of the opposite side. I'm using my old wiring and ecu from my 99, I cut the plugs off for the cam position sensor and wired the wires together in hopes that it would work fine as long as the sensor is wired up to the ecu? So now I tried to start the car... it cranked but would not start (I also had a couple vacuum lines and sensors not plugged in because the intake manifold was different) so I swapped my old intake Mani over and plugged everything in. The car started but then stalled about 5 seconds later... it did this 3 or 4 times then would not start at all. So upon taking the plugs out me and my dad noticed that they were super wet with gas and it appears the engine is being flooded and that's why it would not start back up after a while. So tonight I just swapped over my old injectors in hopes that it would fix the flooding problem, and I put the battery on slow charge over night since its almost dead.
Anyone have an idea of what the problem is? Is it most likely the cam sensor or should that work as long as its wired to the ecu? Something with the fueling system maybe? Or could I have the vaccum lines plugged in wrong? Also the turbo that came with the engine had a bit of oil in it so I'll be replacing it or rebuilding it eventually (didn't want to replace it with my old one in case it has any shavings in it from the spun bearing) and by eventually I mean asap

 

[boost97gst]

If it ran for 5 seconds i dont think your cam sensor is bad. If you found a ton of fuel in there then youre on to the problem. Like you said, put the stock inj back in and give it a go. Triple check all possible leaks. Even tension on the throttle cable. Nothing like starting an engine for the first time and having it try to idle at 5k!

 

[Asenseofpurpose94]

Okay spark is good, I checked it with the obd2 and it didn't show any codes for a while then after a few failed starts it showed a code for fuel solenoid and I replaced it with my old one and still no start... the car has spark is timed right and is getting fuel?

 

[92AWDHX40]

Do you have compression?

 

[Asenseofpurpose94]

I was told it had good compression but didn't test it myself because I don't have a tester... I'm just gonna swap over the cam sensor tomorrow after work and see if that solves it.... I really don't want to mess with the timing while the engines in the car but ole well

 

[Chad1993]

I bought this socketed ecu from a dsmer from this site and was told it was pulled out from a running car. When I got it I put my ecmlink chip in, took it to my car and installed it in my 97 gst. Cranked it over and no start. Then I started with finding symptoms why it wouldn't start. Note I did do research on this. I installed it correctly. I found out after reinstalling my 97 ecu the stock boost gauge moved upward, as to the 95 ecu did not move it upward while turning the key to on. When the 95 ecu is in, the check engine light comes on then stays on. I've done more research to find the bottom of what's going on and all I found out is that if the stock boost needle doesn't move to "0" (1g I guess) then The ecu is fried, but also found out there is hope if the check engine light comes on and stays on or goes off after 4 sec. I have some pictures to provide. It may help or not. I just want to know if anybody can see anything that is the root of my problem. I have a guy I can have it fixed locally, I would just love to have the knowledge of what the problem might be. I'm sure this thread will help out more then just me as we'll.

 

[Dsmkauai]

Did you switch your plug wires around or enable the switch in link, since your putting a 95 ecu in a 97?

 

[Chad1993]

Forgot to mention, I could not connect to link. No response from ecu. It's not the cable or Reader. I made sure I had the drivers installed correctly too.

 

[Dsmkauai]

Dang bro sounds like you got screwed for the ecu. Did you contact the seller? You could try and send the ecu to ecmlink guys they might be able to fix it for you.

 

[Roberti 2G]

Yeah from all the info on the DSMLINK wiki that doesnt look like there work as far as socketing. You never said if you switched the plug wires though??

 

[Chad1993]

Yeah I switched 1 with 2 then 3 with 4

Anybody?

 

[omgitsbao]

So for the past 3 days i have been researching and researching endlessly!!
nothing can give me an answer and im in very desperate situation...
sooo few days ago i had the car running without a downpipe sounds shitty but ran?
then a week after i got the jpipe done, put it in and everything
go to start it and it will NOT start one bit!
I have fuel, I have spark, and air obviously. OH and battery is not dead.
when i crank it it cranks and the engine turns over but for a second or so itll
seem to start up, backfire and itll just die.... crank a few more times and just wont start.
what could be my problem?

ALSOO!!!!

as i look around my engine back to see if any plugs were unplugged i found another coil pack pack exactly the same unplugged but theres no plug for it?!
and for the can underneath the battery? not sure what it is but one of the lines is disconnected? where does it go just realized it was just sitting there today.

pictures are below

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http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w582/phampb/IMG_1297_zps60bfd55a.jpg

 

[Alex Brunner]

Well, the line under the battery going to the can is part of your emissions system. One line gets vac and the other goes to your fuel tank.

I'd put my money on spark being the problem, backfiring could mean the plugs are sparking while a valve is open, or a timing issue. Try new plugs, and get rid of the second coil pack if it isn't plugged in. Our cars only use one.

 

[omgitsbao]

i just changed the plugs and because they looked foul and were soaked
soo i blew air into the cylinders and put new plugs in.
after that attempting to start it i pushed the gas pedal down to the floor,
and cranked and it would still crank, turn over for a second, and die.
this is soo frustrating .. any takers?

keep in mind i started and drove it two weeks ago and just put in a new down pipe today
go to start it and it wont start?
during those 2 weeks i didn't even touch the car

also, alex in my second picture
that hose is just sitting there in the open like that?
should it be connected to some?

 

[SICK SOCIETY DSM90]

With these cars you should not have to push the gas to get car to start this will do nothing but foul your plugs out again since your first ones where fouled in gas. With older cars that have carbs instead of fuel injection you pump the pedal to get them to start. You may have flooded it again so check them plugs again to make sure there in good working order. I would do a quick compression test just to rule that out because if the compression isn't there then you know you have a dead motor or one that is good to go and move onto maybe a bad fuel injector that is stuck open and is flooding out the motor. this happened in my buddys car bought used injectors and one would stay open and would flood out the plug for that cylinder. Just some food for thought on that part of your problem. If your getting spark then your coil pack is good and the other is just an extra or someone replaced it and just never removed the old one.

Also from my own personal experience working on cars in school was that if the plug was fouled out and did compression test 9 times out of 10 would be a dead cylinder.

 

[Alex Brunner]

You don't need to hold the gas pedal to get it to start, that was an old trick for carbureted engines to pump additional fuel into the engine, not needed with EFI.

As far as the line is concerned, I really don't know without routing it, but you can have this.

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[USAF 98 GSX]

Any CELs at all? Can you post a video of you trying to start it from inside and outside the car? I have an idea of what it might be.

 

[SICK SOCIETY DSM90]

First off you have to put clean plugs in and make sure the battery has full power. I usually run it to the store and have it tested since your trying to eliminate any possible problems to get to the root of the problem. Then check is plug for correct spark look to see if its a good conductor and not eratic or weak. then once all that's established then check compression if everything checks out fine and you know your getting fuel since your plugs are wet. Then try to start without pushing gas and see what u you get. also check to make sure you have the correct firing order from the coil to the plug and cylinder its hard to get the cylinder wires crossed up but does happen again your trying to eliminate all possibilities one test at a time till you get to where it runs again if all that doesn't get it running then check your timming marks and also if your plugs are wet without pushing gas then either your compression is not there or you have a fuel injector problem. Hope this helps its the way I was taught to diagnois from school not just a wild guess.

 

[blkgst97]

Possibly a broken track in the socket job. I would send it to ecmtuning to get it checked out.

 

[omgitsbao]

could it be possible that, since i have an aftermarket fuel pump the car wont start at a certain fuel lvl?
cause my friend had the same problem car wouldn't start, had spark fuel and air. also the fuel lvl on his gauge was half and when he had a full tank it turned over no problem.

 

[SICK SOCIETY DSM90]

what else is done to your car regards to the fuel system? do you have bigger injectors fpr? is this car being tuned or is it just stock setup with bigger fuel pump? If everything is still stock regardless what the fuel pump is rated at it will keep same pressures and the same amount of fuel will spray out injectors at a time. Bigger injectors the more fuel you can push at a time when you do this must be tuned because the stock ecu will not adjust at certain levels. Have you cleaned the plugs and try starting without pushing gas and see what condition the plugs are in if they are soaked you have fuel injector staying open and not cycling which will cause car to act flooded and will not start my buddys car did that it would try to start then nothing and could smell gas hope this helps I will continue to help if I can.

And the fuel level shouldn't matter to much unless you ran it out of gas and got air in the system then you would need to fill it up and cycle the car a few times to build your pressures back up and get air out of lines and fuel back into them. Might even have to make sure the car is flat to get fuel back into the pump ive seen this happen before

 

[omgitsbao]

yeah it has bigger injectors with a fuel pressure regulating system as well,
and yeah i have tried to start it without pressing down on the gas pedal
itll turn over sounds like its about to start and just make a back fire noise and dies.
well i was on a slant while trying to start the car but changed to a flat surface afterwards but still no luck

 

[Rock2610d]

Bigger injectors are flooding the cylinders...you need something to control the injectors or the computer at startup will still think OEM injectors are there and flood the motor.

Unless you have a Link or something correcting for the larger injectors...how big are they?

 

[SICK SOCIETY DSM90]

hmm sounds like its getting to much fuel. have you tried to mess with the pressures some?i I guess its probally in the tune also which im new at with these cars. check the spark plugs if there soaked in gas your injectors are stayn open and just dumping gas into engine.

Sorry didn't see the post above this one I would have to agree with your post

 

[omgitsbao]

not sure how much bigger the injectors are. because im a second owner.
and nope after not pressing on the gas pedal i once again took the plugs out to see if they were soaked
and they weren't just sort of covered in carbon?
and it was once tuned before for a better even burning mixture cause it was running to rich.