More troubles! I'm wondering if I should just give up and enlist the help of a professional mechanic. I hate to double post, but I'm almost completely at a loss here.
Everything was fine two days go, the only thing was trouble getting the timing down pat and the strange pop we heard. Today, the car cranked up and ideled just fine... but when I tried giving it some gas it died.
Looking at previous posts with similar problems I've tried everything I can do without having to strip too much off. I think it might have something to do with the vacuum lines. The vacuum control seems to not be working, and I think the line comeing out of it might have busted. I'm not 100% certain how to check this, where the line goes, or if this is even the problem... but it's all I have to go on. There's also a strong fuel smell that wasn't there before.
Trying to get this fixed in the next few hours is very importaint to me, I was going to be taking my girlfriend out to dinner tonight to propose but I don't have transportation unless this gets fixed... hell, I don't even have a car to run to Vicks for parts right now either.
the timing shouldn't change unless the dist moves or the points/pickup unit spacing changes. Since you smell raw fuel, I'd look for a leak. If the accel pump diaphragm leaks, it will drain the float bowl as well as causing a stumble/pop on acceleration.
As for the vacuum control, if you mean the vacuum advance on the dist, it gets connected to ported vacuum on the carb. It really only works at high vacuum, i.e. cruising down the highway. It won't cause the symptons you describe
I thought I mentioned it before, but I have an '82 FI 2000. I'll have to add the info of my car to my sig or something so that this mixup doesn't happen anymore
I'm not sure if the vacuum causes problems on the FI, but I seem to remember reading that it's a bit more picky about things. I've already looked at my air-flow meter and the tubing into the throttle body, and it is all fine. I might have a problem with the auxiliary thing, but I'm not sure how to check it.
Thanks again for all the help, I'm a computer engineering student and really enjoy learning about the mechanical side of my chosen field aswell.
ah, FI! that changes things some. Fuel odor with FI is serious since the system uses such high pressure. Look down thru the gaps in the intake manifold at the injectors. The short connector hoses may be leaking. If you can't find any leaks, the engine may be getting flooded. The cold start injector could be leaking or staying activated.
Since the car doesn't seem to idle, does it run if you keep the rpm raised? If so, does it run well, or poorly? Have you checked the connection at the temp sensor in the coolant tee? That connection is crucial to starting and running properly.
I took a high powered flashlight and checked to see if the injectors were leaking first thing actually. I couldn't see any hint of liquid anywhere. I've pulled the cold start valve before, and it doesn't seem to work at all.
My problem isn't with getting it to idle... it does that just fine. It's when I give it gas that it dies. Untill just the other day it never did this. I've played around with the distributor, but no matter what I do the second I give it a bit of gas it sputters out. I've seen mention of the timing belt causing this, but I'm 99% certain that my timing belt hasn't slipped and it's a brand new one just a month old.
I assume that the temp sensor is the one that is mounted dead center front of the cam cover? If so then the connection is solid, I'll check to make sure the wires are good when I get the chance. The PO claims that he replaced everything FI related in the car, but I'm only 100% sure that he replaced the fuel lines, tank, filter (I actually have two down there right now), pump, and air-flow meter. I do have a sensor in the bottom of the radiator that had it's wires lose a fight with my alternater belt, I have some bare copper showing on both wires leading there. I'll either replace or splice the lines when I can figure out how to get to them without having to drain the coolent again and pull the radiator.
Once I get it running again maybe I can make headway into the strange hot-start problem I have on hills...
why the 2nd filter? the stock filter is more than adequate. Do you have a fuel pressure gauge to measure the pressure?
To really do much in the way of FI diagnosis, you'll need a volt/ohmmeter, pressure gauge and the FI troubleshooting manual
make you pluged the wiring harness back into the air box, believe me the car will idle with out the air box but does not want to do anything else (found this out the hard way) and the car will smell like gas just chech it
I have all three tools and the manual, but am still kinda lost. The PO put a filter between the tank and the pump because he thought it would keep more crap out of the pump so he'd not have to replace it.
I'll check all the connections again aswell. Thanks again for all of the help and advice.
those pumps don't suck very well, even though they make good pressure. Make sure there isn't any restriction to the pump. The suggestion to check the air flow meter connection is a good one, the connector may be corroded even if it's plugged in tightly. Take a look at the connectors and clean the terminals if needed.
I had a bad tensioner and had to replace it, so I went ahead and replaced th timing belt while I was at it. I followed this thread, except I did not set the rotor to #4. I will try that tomorrow. The problem is that it idled fine, so I took her our for a tour around the block. When I accelerated it was clanging and did not have much power. I hope I did not screw it up. It still idles fine.
Questions:
Does this sound like the rotor setting will correct this?
When I set the crankshaft it had a mark on the pully that went to the water pump and the alternator. I set that at 12:00. Was that right?
There should be a metal piece with teeth on it at about 10 to 11 o'clock if I remember right. The teeth are where you need to set by. 0 degree is the rightmost tooth I think. I was also told that you could just remove the #1 plug and put a screwdriver in the hole. Watch the handle move up and down and you are set right when the handle is at it's peak.
Someone that's done this more than once please correct any mistakes I've made, I've been working on the brakes for the past 6 hours and it's just past 1 in the morning now
You are saying that the car "popped" and now it won't run above an idle? Replace the cap, rotor, wires and plugs. Check that the distributor shaft does not have a loose bearing. Set the reluctor air gap to .016". If the engine is backfiring you may have crossfire caused by bad ignition components (wires, cap, fouled plugs, etc.). The vacuum advance does not need to work, mine is out now and the car runs fine! It Is best if it does work, don't get me wrong but is is not critical. Set the timing at 10 deg BTDC and forget it. If the car idles evenly the timing is not moving around too much you are OK. Once you are sure that the ignition is OK you can go to step two. I believe that your "pop" may have been a backfire through the intake system and through the air meter, which may have jammed the air meter flap or blew off some hoses creating an intake leak. The air meter must be plugged in for the pump to run and the flap must be free to move in response to the varying airflow through it as you open and close the throttle this is how the ECU (Engine Control Unit) finds out how much air is going through the engine and determines the Injector pulse width. If the flap won’t move the pump may run and the car will do nothing but idle. Obviously your car is running so the pump has to be running. Once you are sure that the air meter flap is OK you could have a bad TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) when you open the throttle. You move to the throttle plate and the TPS this tells the ECU how far open the throttle plate is. If the TPS is not working correctly the ECU has no idea how much fuel to inject, the car will be very lean (another cause for a "pop" in the intake). Since there is no accelerator pump on FI cars the TPS controls the enrichment as you snap the throttle open. The TPS is a variable resistor and is checked for two functions, first a specific amount of resistance with the engine at idle speed and second that the resistance rises and falls smoothly and without "jumps" or "breaks" in continuity as the throttle is slowly opened and closed. You must have a specific resistance with the throttle plate at idle speed, which is set but moving the TPS on its slotted mounting screws. Get an FI manual and VOM to test this. Check the fuel filter(s); you only need the one, so if the PO put two on there he may have had a rusty or otherwise dirty fuel tank. Pull the first filter in the line (closest to the tank) and CAREFULLY cut it open, look for massive dirt/rust buildup. If no or little dirt is present then the fuel system is clean and the second filter is useless. You should only need one filter on the FI cars the second could be problems if it is not the correct capacity or if improperly located. NEVER put a filter before the fuel pump. This causes all kinds of other issues. The OEM filter is after the pump. Look at the high pressure fuel hose and line on the left side of the car near the master cylinder, we had a huge leak from a piece of standard (non-FI) fuel line that the PO had installed. When we started our 82 Spider this line would swell up like an orange and ooze fuel! It is a wonder the car did not explode! FI fuel supply lines ARE special materials and construction NEVER use standard fuel hose or clamps on FI systems! Also check the fuel pressure regulator return line and vacuum reference line to the manifold, the return line could be cracked or leaking. The reference line could be off or leaking. Also check the vacuum reference line for the presence of liquid fuel inside, this could indicate that the regulator is leaking internally. The auxiliary air valve being stuck open would not allow the car to idle down; it would run at "fast" idle. This valve stuck closed is no biggie; you just do not have "fast" cold idle. That whole circuit on my car is blocked off due to the high cost of replacement components, it runs fine, even starts fine w/o the whole cold start system. Hope that some of this helps you find your problem.
Before My huge post,I should have stated that you should, of course, have the cam timing correctly set after changing the belt. Then, if it still won't run, check some of the things that I suggested.
The car is running again, I just never had time to post. I had pulled the distributor off again and broke it down to go over each part in detail. Everything checked out fine, so I put it back together being extra careful about the air gap this time.
I pulled the ECU and ran through checks of all of the sensors I could, and everything came out fine. I made sure my throttle plate and AFM weren't sticking. It all seemed to be well off.
I put everything back together and had someone over to help me listen a bit closer to see if we could detect any strange noises when I tried to rev it and it dies... imagine my suprise (and our discomfort... we had our heads inches from the engine) when it reved just fine. It's not given me a problem since then.
The backfire through the intake manifold seems to fit. I got some smoke from the bottom side of the manifold when it happened... would that indicate a bad seal?
