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

 

[spitfiredunk]

I drove it home from work, parked it, wouldn't start again. I rolled it down my driveway and could pop start it, so I know a compression start works, Everything powers up when I turn the key, Car just wont turn on, I hear a small click that is it. I looked up on here similar experiences but its just to hard to pin point, Alternators new, starter is fairly new it should still be well, New battery, Took out my sub and amp just in case, No loose wires. I am lost, I need my car this weekend. I saw starter relay its under my radio so could that be it? its a 97 420a Gs. Help is greatly appreciated.

 

[hamidun9]

Like pupdeck says check all your ground wires and check your battery terminals. I would also consider checking your alternator. It could have gone out.

 

[hamidun9]

I'd say check your battery terminals. But question is, when you give the car a jump, does it run fine?

 

[95twinturboawd]

thanks for some info ill double check all of those things

looks like you have an auto transmission maybe the problem is your neutral safety switch located on your linkage on trans .

yea its a awd auto, and how would i know if thats bad

 

[green97gstspyder]

I swapped out one 6 bolt for another in my gst and used all the electrical parts from the old motor since i knew they worked and now i have no spark. I used my timing light to check for spark while cranking and it never lit up. I have 12v at the plug of the coil pack so it seems to be getting power. Next I did a resistance check on my coil packs primary on both coils are 1.5ohms and secondary is 13,500 ohms. I noticed the primary is out of spec but I did drive the car to where I swapped the motor. Is there anything else that controls spark that I should look into or do I need to replace the coils? Its frustrating to understand since I was able to drive the old motor there. It smoked alot but it did run. when I unplug the cam sensor or crank sensor plug I can hear the fuel pump kick in so it seems that those are sending the signals right? I am running a 90 style cam sensor since this is a 6 bolt swap into a 97. All wiring was already done before swap and ran old 6 bolt. any ideas would be very helpful I dont wanna go spend 200 bucks on new coils if I dont have to. Thanks in advance.

 

[MitsGray97]

Let us know what you figure out.

 

[92AWDHX40]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/421353-6-bolt-swap-no-start.html


http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-miscellaneous/217951-how-diagnose-no-start.html
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/electrical-tech/440378-6-bolt-swap-wiring-question.html

 

[S Bizzy]

Those two big lines run to the thermostat housing and to the coolant pipe that feeds the heater core in the cabin. They heat the throttle body part that's called "fast idle control valve..(ficv for short).
The hot water heats up wax in the cylinder that houses the ficv and opens
the valve. When the car is cold it is in the closed position, which will richen the fuel mixture by reducing the amount of air allowed through the throttle body.
I would suggest you hook them back up and see if that fixes the idle/start issue. It normally affects both during normal operation.

I looked at both lines and it appears that they were bypassed and removed when the turbo was installed. My starting problem isent when the car is cold, but when the car is warm. Usually when it's been sitting for an hour or so after the car has been driven.

What I believe is happening, is oil or fuel is getting on my spark plugs causing them to "flood" which is why the car wont start. I pulled the plugs again today and noticed oil on the threads of the plugs. After looking down in the chamber, I noticed a small ring of oil where the head meets the block. So im wondering if its the head gasket dumping oil into my cylinders and flooding my plugs?

 

[dboyle23]

So, I had blown my 14b in my 99gsx. I swapped in a 16g today and now the car wont start.
On first start up after the swap, the car would just whine a little like it wanted to start, but no cranking. Now, absolutely nothing happens when I try to start it, but the car has power, the lights work etc. Im not sure what to look at. Tomorrow I need to go get a voltmeter to test things, but any ideas?

 

[MitsGray97]

Does the starter click?

 

[dboyle23]

It was before, but now its not. Now that I think about it, the car has been sitting a couple of days and it has an Everstart battery from walmart that Ive had problems with. Ill have to check that.

 

[Fehrion_sit]

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

use this as a guide and give us more info as you get it

 

[Magrud3r]

Okay the pump has arrived and I have the jist of installing it, I just haven't had a proper opportunity.. I've been ripping out unnecesarry wires for the amps and subs but then I found a leak up front. Turns out my radiator hose is leaking, the rubber seal is beat. Where's the cheapest place I can replace this with? Maybe this explains the tempature light, I don't know but I have less than 9 days left with my car and I need this running so I can get the wheels off.. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ThunderChild]

sounds like the starter took a poo. id pull it and bench test it, or try to push start the car. if you can start it on a roll, then im thinkin you have a bum starter or just a solenoid (thats where the whining sound can come from, starter motor spins but solenoid doesnt kick the gear into the flywheel)

if you have lights and they are bright (headlights etc) i doubt the battery is bad. id check the connections and the starter itself, and if the starter turns out to be fine, then id look at ign. switches etc.

 

[cheapracer]

Update: car still does not start. i pulled the connector off the fuel injector and tested for voltage. both contacts in the connector show 12v. my understanding (please correct me if wrong) is that one wire should have 12v and the other should be open, or short to ground when the injector fires. i tested #1 and #2 injector connectors, both read the same.

does this indicate a short in the ecu?
please help

 

[92AWDTalonTSI]

Measure the resistance between the injector connector terminals. at 68 degrees F, the resistance should be between 13-16 ohms.
(All models except 2.0L Vin U.) For vin U it should be 2-3 ohms. That will tell you if your injectors are faulty.

Other than that. I think Steve should chime in here as he knows more about this. The ECU grounds the injector causing it to fire. It's called a "Saturated Switch".

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[cheapracer]

thanks for reply. the injectors themselves were about 2.6 ohms

 

[JulioTavares]

Sorry for the wait, I'm really busy lately.

Well, I got the starter out of the car, here's some pics I took with my celphone.

The "bendix" looks fine to me, but i don't know much about starters
The area close to the bendix (with the holes etc) looks really grinded to me, is that normal? What could cause that? Could that be the metalic noise while trying to start?


Edit.: Flywheel/crankwalk maybe? ):

Sorry for all the questions!
Thanks!

I've searched the forums and this could happen in a crank walked engine, is that correct?

Tomorrow i will try to check for CW using this tutorial:
Check your FWD for crankwalk

 

[levendy12dsm]

hello everybody and anybody this is my first forum post on this site. i bought a 1992 Laser RS turbo AWD from a guy for $500 over two months ago. I immediatley drained the fuel and cleaned the tank as well as blew out to fuel line and installed a brand new fuel filter. I also traded out my MAF and injectors for ones that came off of a running car. after that it would start most of the time and i was actually driving it to work everyday for a while without out any issue.

I replaced the fuel pump with a Walbro 255 and reintalled the thing probably 5 times just to make sure that the O-ring was seated properly seated as to not let pressure bleed by. i also invested in a Mallory adjustable FPR with the thought that the 255 might be overrunning the stock FPR. i also smell fuel very strongly everytime i crank it over for a good min. Now it will VERY RARELY start at all and when it does barley sputters tl life as plumes of white smoke that smells like gas come out but if i keep the RPM's up after a min it will level out and even idle and drive pretty much just fine. sorry for the long post, just wanted to give as many details as possible. oh and one more thing it has an EPROM ECU in it that the guy before me put in and i havent been able to check what kind of chip it has in it.

 

[Dsmkauai]

Since you installed the 225 and fpr, did you check base fuel pressure. And if so what do you have it set at?

 

[Mitsubishigst1999]

My friend I like the fuel pump you went with but you may need to go with bigger than stock fuel injectors because your pump is a good size bigger than stock so its sending alot of fuel up to the injectors and it might not be distributing the fuel correctly mabye it sends it back to the pump and not to the injectors fully.

 

[Mitsubishigst1999]

Did you replace your crank position sensor and cam position sensor.and test your starter and can you turn your crank by hand to make sure its not locked up.

 

[bryanwheat]

Did you replace your crank position sensor and cam position sensor.and test your starter and can you turn your crank by hand to make sure its not locked up.

Well it is a 6 bolt in a 2g, so there is no crank sensor. He also said that he checked for spark, if he was able to test it for spark the engine is turning over.

I swapped out one 6 bolt for another in my gst and used all the electrical parts from the old motor since i knew they worked and now i have no spark. I used my timing light to check for spark while cranking and it never lit up. I have 12v at the plug of the coil pack so it seems to be getting power. Next I did a resistance check on my coil packs primary on both coils are 1.5ohms and secondary is 13,500 ohms. I noticed the primary is out of spec but I did drive the car to where I swapped the motor. Is there anything else that controls spark that I should look into or do I need to replace the coils? Its frustrating to understand since I was able to drive the old motor there. It smoked alot but it did run. when I unplug the cam sensor or crank sensor plug I can hear the fuel pump kick in so it seems that those are sending the signals right? I am running a 90 style cam sensor since this is a 6 bolt swap into a 97. All wiring was already done before swap and ran old 6 bolt. any ideas would be very helpful I dont wanna go spend 200 bucks on new coils if I dont have to. Thanks in advance.

If the coil worked on the old engine i don't see any reason for it to just go bad all of the sudden. I would go thru and verify that you have the cam sensor wired up properly. Also to properly test for spark you need to pull one plug, put it in the boot and lay it on the valve cover while cranking the engine over. The timing light method will work, but there could be an issue with the light. I would also verify that you don't have the ac plug swapped with the coil pack plug, they use the same pigtail.

 

[green97gstspyder]

All wiring for the 6 bolt was already done before this swap since i pulled a 6 bolt out to put another in. I did make sure i didnt have the ac plug but i had another that matched which was the old crank sensor plug and switched that and fried my coils. One exploded a lil. The test on those were
primary resistance. 1.5 ohms
secondary resistance 13500 ohms
i ordered new ones that i hope will be here tomorrow. I knew better than to mess with the plugs because i checked which was which before i was ready to start the motor but since it didnt start i was willing to check to be sure now it cost me my coils. I also had to switch my cam sensor from one head to this one so i flipped it to make sure and now it sounds like it is trying to start instead of backfire.. hopefully the new coils will help and now i have the dsm link set up for my laptop since the one that came with the car crashed.

 

[levendy12dsm]

so first of all i priced fuel pressure gauges and i cant afford to get one atm. i did however snag an ECU from my brother from a 90 AWD Talon. I switched the 6 and 14 pins and it would start but barley and would not idle on its own. So i put my old ECU back in and she started right up and idles just fine. I went to do a quick test drive and any time i would boost it would plume out white smoke and be very laggy unless it was all the way to the floor. also forgot to mention that i took off my adjustable FPR and am currently just running the stock one again due to the fact i dont have a fuel pressure gauge i figured this would be a better way to make sure it is getting the fuel it needs.