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

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Ignore that. Car ran since my last post. Fraking plug was loose. But still killing coil packs. Just died randomly while driving. No spark at all. I'm just going to set it on fire. Since nobody knows.

Replaced PTU, Replaced Coil Pack. Car ran for 4 days and ran GREAT (on stock Injectors, around 6 or so PSI on a 46mm Wastegate and on stock ECU). I was driving into Sonic and the car just shut off, It didn't slowly chug off or anything like that, it was like I switched off the Key. Tested Spark got non directly from the spark wire.

The 20A Engine Moteur Fuse keeps popping the second I turn the Ignition to "On". So next plan of attack? Anyone got advice? One person said they replaced their MPI Fuse (what? Where?) and it fixed the problem. I don't see that as being likely. Reason for fuse blowing is because a Positive source on that line is grounding out. So how the frak to I find this without pulling entire harness to shit again?

 

[Infamous33]

When I got home tonight I rechecked the wires: no visible damage and no resistance on a meter check. Then I tested both signal wires the way you suggested with an LED light: 2&3 coil blinked during crank, 1&4 just goes dark and no blinking.

The wires from ECU to coil pack showed no resistance? That would be a problem. You need to test for resistance between them. I can't remember for sure but the 420a didn't use a power transistor if I recall, so it would seem that you may have overlooked something.
If you have a long enough piece of wire, you could try to overlay between the ecu and the coil pack to be certain that this isn't a wiring issue. Here is the schematic of the system.

The CEL and battery light coming on during cranking is normal.

 

[oreo4g63]

did u get the fuel pump straight yet

 

[MotoEclipse]

MOV01896 - YouTube



After i got my turbo back on my car. i had this issue. i can hear the fuel pump turning on, ive checked everything 4 times. there is nothing out of the ordinary. it ran perfect before i took the turbo off. not nothing. (the original fuel pump is still in the car)

im going to buy a fuel pressure gauge today and see. does anyone know how much PSI the tester should read?

 

[92AWDHX40]

do you have spark? have you checked for compression, http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-miscellaneous/217951-how-diagnose-no-start.html

 

[steve]

im going to buy a fuel pressure gauge today and see. does anyone know how much PSI the tester should read?

A simple google search netted this thread.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/359811-1g-base-fuel-pressure.html

 

[MotoEclipse]

yeah, the motor only has 5,600 miles on the rebuild. i have 176 across the board. and i have good spark..

i found the problem.when i was tightening the MAF, it slipped off somehow.

 

[Krayth]

Thanks for the schematic. What I meant about the wires is that with the connectors unplugged I tested the resistances of the two signal wires themselves and they have 0 resistance (good wires) they are not shorting to each other.

I did the primary and secondary resistance tests on the coil packs and they are normal. I tried using jumpers to swap the signal wires and the wire for coil 2 will make either one spark fine.

The 420a N/T does not have an external power transistor, the transistors are in the computer like in the diagram.

With the connector disconnected I did tests on the # 2 and 3 signal pins of the computer to see if it was triggering the coils: the #2 coil (2-3) is working normally, the #1 (1-4) does nothing during cranking. This is on both the old and the "new" rebuilt one.

I've got that diagram and see where the circuit is, but I don't know tests I need to do on the rest of it. There's got to be something that's preventing the ECU from grounding that coil circuit? I'm not sure what to look for at this point.

thanks for the help

 

[knappa]

I am also having cold start issues, I bought the gsx already built and i thought it was a fuel problem because there is a push button start so I figured they installed it to be able to crank the car to fill the fuel rail before hitting the push button for ignition...any thoughts.. and also did you figure out your solution

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Ok, so gathering, Nobody Knows Jack about the MPI Fuse or where it comes from or where it goes... In order to diagnose the apparent short that is prob the reason behind coil packs frying and the random blown fuse while driving.

More updates on this fraking fuse... With ECU/Coil/PTU disconnected. Turn key to ON position with a fuse in socket, no blow. Turn key off and insert the ECU, no blow. Turn key to ON Position with ECU installed fuse blows. I inspected the ECU and can not find any single bit of damage, burn marks or something melted touching another source or whatever. Looks fine to me. Plus this "just happened" so I'm going to stick with Wireing. Going to pull and replace the MPI Relay if I can locate the right one.

Found the MPI Relay.... Well this car doesn't have the same from this link. It has two small relays. Well one has 3 red wires and one blue wire.... When that one is connected the fuse pops. During the time it takes for the fuse to pop the wire gets hot right off of the relay. I switched the plug to the other relay since they are the same kinda relay and it did the same, so I know its not the relay.

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Relay on the Left. So I got more of a idea. However I would still like not to strip the harness. If I could get an idea of what this relay goes to it could help me out a bunch!

Anyone have an idea yet? Bounce things off of me please, Give me idea's to try out or look for. I've given a ton of info on the past threads that were left unanswered.

Found it! Was some two wire plug that isn't being used anymore and was Zip Tied to the firewall under the intake, zip tie broke for some reason and let the wire fall to the exhaust and melt.

 

[bdrake49]

ok here is what happened: a friend and i replaced the head gasket on my 4g37 1.8 l and had to take the timing belt off... when the head gasket was put back on and everything was torqued down and the timing belt put on to what we thought was the correct timing we tried to start the car and it cranks but does not turn over and backfires out of the exaust. we towed my car to his house and pulled the timing belt back off double checked the timing, compression, fuel and spark all of the above worked except that we are not sure if the timing is on because the car still will not turn over... i desperatly need help as this is my only car for my self my girlfriend and my newborn son... so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Spark, fuel, and compression what were those numbers, congrats on the baby.

 

[tmaxx411]

OK. Couple things.
1. check to make sure the wires are in the correct order on the plugs. It should start at the bottom and go clockwise around (looking at the distributor) 1342 The cylinders on the engine are 4321, with 1 being closest to the timing belt.

2. If that checks out, next up is to check the distributor timing. Warning you ahead of time, its a pain. You need a long screwdriver. Ppull the #1 spark plug out, (closest to the timing belt). Put the screwdriver in, on the top of the piston. Now you need to find TDC. Turn the crank by hand until the piston is as high as it will go. You are now at TDC. Next, remove the distributor, completely. (mark the wires with tape so you put them back right. I label them top, bottom, left and right) pull the distributor cap off. Now is a good time to change the cap and rotor if you havent done it, or dont know when its done last. Turn the rotor by hand until it is pointing where #1 cylinder wire would go. Now turn it 1/8th to 1/4 turn counter clock wise. Reinstall the distributor without the cap on, The rotor should turn when it seats fully. When it is fully seated, it should be pointing right at where #1 wire would be. (This could take a couple of tries) Once its in, bolt the distributor down somewhere in the middle, and put the cap back on. Replace wires and see if it starts. If still no start, proceed to 3.

3. To double check the engine timing, the cam gear should be straight up and down, with the mark on the gear (it should be a little dimple) the oil pump sprocket should be lined up with the mark on the engine, same with the crank. the crank mark is at ~ 11 o'clock.

hope this helps

 

[bdrake49]

when we replaced the head gasket we didnt remove the distributor and before we started it i replaced plugs and wires a month ago and it ran just fine. we did retime the distributor just to be sure that wasnt it. we tested to see if it was getting spark by pluging the spark plugs into the wires and cranking it they all had spark the timing issue the cam gear is lined up correctly so it the oil pump and we have it set to tdc is there any way that it can be out of time by being on the wrong stroke of the engine ie intake compression power and exhaust stroke? also about a year ago the timing belt broke and was replaced and the mechanic who did it had it timed correctly... and there is a mark 180 degrees off of the timing mark could this have any affect on it? my friend who worked on it with me has only worked on the 4g63 so we are both new to this

all cylinders compression tested at about 11:1
we unpluged the gas line to the fuel rail and it spit gas when cranked

 

[mmm1137]

I solved it! Man i feel pretty stupid bout this. i was working on 4 different cars when I was overhauling this engine and I acidently got the transmission position sensor and a junction block connectors mixed up. If you look on a 95 eclipse gst by the transmission position sensor youl notice the connector is identical to the junction block connector that happens to be only inches away from it.

 

[Batmobile 1G]

if a fuel pump starts to go bad it would cause a hard start going for the ecu is skipping too many steps if it starts with spray then its most likely a fuel problem. an easy way to test is get a fuel pressure gauge and hook it up if you shut the car off and your fuel pressure drops its either your fuel pump or your fuel pressure regulator. if it was the fuel pressure regulator it would explain why it starts when you heat the throttle body

 

[amballer82822]

Last night i spent a few hours installing braided SS lines with walbro 255 so my doors were open a bit before I pulled my battery so I expected it to die. Everything went well battery was dead so we gave it a charge and started right up pump worked, no dim lights or anything. Arrived at gas station and I shut the car off, battery died again but my dad was following me home so he jumped the car. Arrived home and slowly charged it at 5 amps over night for about twelve hours. I woke up this morning jumped in car tried to start it and it didnt crank, my head unit turned on for a second and shut off and this usually happens when my battery is dead. So i put the battery charger back on and it really wasnt taking any voltage and it read battery was at 14.8 which is like full I suppose and car just clicked then stopped again. i checked battery terminals and wiring, realy confused and frusturated that it ran for a hell of a long time last night and now I cant diagnose the problem.

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

Make sure your alternator is putting out enough juice. With the engine running at idle you should see 13.5-14.8 volts at the battery on a good charging system. I would also have your battery load tested to see if it's any good. It sounds like you might have a bad alternator though.

 

[BrokenTsi]

What does the battery voltage read when you are cranking the engine? A bad battery can still read 14.8v while sitting in the car, but if it drops a significant amount of voltage while under a load (cranking the engine by key), it will have a hard time starting the car.

Pull the battery and load test it at your local parts store.

 

[amballer82822]

Alright, so if the battery has a bad cell it will still hold voltage till I crank the car?

 

[DSM1G90]

to test is get a fuel pressure gauge and hook it up if you shut the car off

There's a lot easier test that only takes a jumper wire about a foot long: (I know this for 1G's, but don't know for 2G's...) behind the battery, in the harness, is a small plug that is wrapped in the electrical tape.

This plug's wire connects directly to the pump along with 12v wire input from the key.

You take this jumper wire and put it in the plug, and get ready to touch the other end of the wire on the positive post of the battery...first, you squeeze the fuel line from the filter to the rail.

When you touch the wire on the battery, you should feel pressure build up in the fuel line to the rail since this runs the pump directly without the key. The fuel that was built up by the pump then returns back to the tank past the regulator on the other end.

Thing about stock pumps is the check valve that is built in the pump can go bad. When they start to go, the fuel pressure suddenly drops in the line since the fuel goes back into the tank when you turn off the key. Then, when you start up, the pump has to build up pressure in the line to fuel the injectors - why you have a bit of cranking until it catches.

 

[PFC_CiarlilloM]

So after I replaced both the ASD and Fuel pump relay along with the fuseable link, my car just started up fine. I thought all was good. I drove it to work a few days(2 miles away) and short distance places as I was afraid it wouldn't start again. Well, I finally drove to 3 different places (roughly 10-15 miles) and when I got out of walmart my car wouldn't start. It wouldn't even turn over again. I blew another engine fuseable link. I replaced it and it still wouldn't turn over. I didn't have my volt meter so I couldn't test the relays but I'm confused why this happens. It shows no signs of anything wrong then just dies. I removed an active fuseable link for the power windows because i dont have them. I highly doubt that has anything to do with it (curious why I have a live fuseable link for that when i don't have power windows. It's not like i have one for fog lights even though I don't have those)
Also I'm wondering if it's a short. I don't hear my fuel pump "whirl"anymore even with the two brand new relays. I'm confused.

I have replaced;

Battery
Terminal post connectors
Starter
Spark plugs
ASD/MFI relay
Fuel Pump relay

I have a Wally 190 yet to put in. Would that plus a re-wire help at all?

 

[danielbo91]

Have you check your alternator yet that could be the problem check your alternador plug maybe your wires are toching. Since you said your car is getting really hot with that header..i had that problem with my old 97 gst but it was because the alternator plug wires were touching cousing that fuse to blow.

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

Alright, so if the battery has a bad cell it will still hold voltage till I crank the car?

Your battery can show enough voltage until you try to start (load) the battery then it will drop way down. That's what yours sounds like it's doing. You need to have the battery load tested.

 

[camas90gsx]

I just got my engine rebuilt in my car,and now it wont start There is compression, I just put in new spark plugs because the other ones got fuel fouled, so thats working as well. It turns and turns and turns but wont fire. Anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? There is spark and there is fuel, so im not sure if its a vaccum line or something else. Im totally lost