Advise needed... '88 Rt4wd no start

ratchetratchet New Wagonist
in Engine & Drivetrain
Evening guys! So, I thought I would finally chime in and let you guys know what my problems are...

I recently bought the car, 1988 rt4wd, the previous owner was the original owners son. The father was a mechanic and rebuilt the motor top to bottom, and i believe it because everything i take apart looks new. Engine has less than 40k on it, the car has 260k. I don't have a compression gauge at the moment, but will be borrowing/buying one this week.

Back in 2010 he was having clutch problems and stopped driving the car, and it sat until the day i picked it up. It was running great back then, but it won't start now. Which brings me to today...

I am getting fuel through the rail and plenty of spark at each plug, but it just cranks and cranks... Injectors not pulsing? I pulled the plugs and they are all tan, but don't smell or fuel. Fuel pump is good, gas still ignites (I poured some out and lit it on fire, thus concluding my test) I'm going to go check for voltage at the injectors now that the battery has charged, any other ideas?

Thanks in advance fellas!

Comments

  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    I meant advice not advise... Damnit, way to start my first topic...
  • NZ-DB8RNZ-DB8R Moderator
    Resistor pack plugged in and not fried?
    Injectors blocked?
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    ratchet wrote:
    I meant advice not advise... Damnit, way to start my first topic...

    Next time just edit your post.
  • fast freddyfast freddy Wagonist
    check injector pulse and fuses. Also try spraying starting fluid into throttle body to see if that ignites. Your gas may be sh#T.
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    Charb1618 wrote:
    ratchet wrote:
    I meant advice not advise... Damnit, way to start my first topic...

    Next time just edit your post.

    My bad! I didn't know I could edit the title... Thanks
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    NZ-DB8R wrote:
    Resistor pack plugged in and not fried?
    Injectors blocked?

    Resistor pack? Is that the silver box behind the driver's side shock tower? Has cooling fins? I'll check it...

    I pulled out the rail and injectors and everything seems spotless, however I don't know how to check injectors, and new ones are $50 each. Could all 4 be blocked? The motor doesnt even kick while I'm cranking, just keeps making rotations. I'm also going to completely drain the tank since I just noticed there is a convenient plug underneath :)

    Thanks for the replies fella, keeps me motivated!
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    fast freddy wrote:
    check injector pulse and fuses. Also try spraying starting fluid into throttle body to see if that ignites. Your gas may be sh#T.

    I'll run to the store and pick some up, at this point if it at least kicks I'll be happy...
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    A year shouldn't be enough time for the gas to completely lose its volatility. You say you're getting gas through the rail- good flow out of the return at key on? If so, main relay and fuel pump are OK.

    You can turn the engine over with the injectors stuck in the fuel rail but out of the intake to see if they are spraying

    Pull back the passenger footwell carpet and see if there are any flash codes.

    Check base timing and firing order- 1-3-4-2 clockwise from bottom left when looking at the distributor end-on.
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    Ok back to this... I'll go out and pull the rail back out and see if their spraying, great idea Bam! Went to pick n pull this morning and grabbed another resistor box off a wrecked crx si, does that box need to be grounded to work? I just plugged it in and set it down. No difference, no start. I'm going to throw it in the bracket and bolt it in properly as soon as I get the screws out of the old one... Thanks for looking out guys! Much appreciated
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    Ok so it must have been the resistor box, I just didn't crank it long enough previously. It cranked it and she started to spit, kept crankin and floored the pedal and the rpms slowly crept up til she revved!!! Then idled at 1500 for a little while, got warmed up and dropped to 750. Runs great, revs fast. Hits the limited at 6500 without hesitation. I'm excited like a school girl! Now to fix the pedal assembly, then drive her!
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    She is now my dd! Check the build thread
    viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14034&p=161740#p161740
    Thanks again guys!
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    Ok fellas, so I'm back to square one... I was driving the rt4 and she would randomly bog. The harder I press the pedal the worse it got. Made it home, went to start it the next day and it wouldnt start. A friend said to disconnect the tps, and sure enough it started and ran (badly) but I made it to work. Was driving home and she did it again, same as before, bogged more as I pressed the pedal down, if I backed out and drove lightly it ran. I made it about 2/3 of a mile from home and she shut off and wouldn't restart. In a busy intersection. So I pushed her home by myself and drove my not road legal ae86 corolla to work and back the last few days. I checked the basics and nothing looks wrong? Getting good spark and lots of fuel out of the rail. Any ideas? I'm growing tired of this, I know these d series motors are reliable, I'm just having no luck. Could it be another resistor box? From what i read online they usually dont have any problems. Thanks fellas -Ricky
  • SiWagonSiWagon Council Member
    A)Does the ECU pull any codes?
    B)Since the motor was rebuilt.Go into the engine bay & recheck all the electrical connectors .Could be when they put the eng. back 1 or more connectors are NOT making good contacts so your sensors are not recieving or sending good signals.
    C)It could be your ignitor:
    Iginition upgrade
    and read the following:
    How to test/rebuild dizzy & alt

    D)Otherwise try swapping another Si ECU in.
  • gresh125gresh125 Band Wagon
    be careful guys with that either it is extremely harsh on you cylinder walls
  • crxedcrxed Band Wagon
    Check the timing belt?
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    Just an FYI, before this the car was running great, had no cel, ran perfect, idled well..

    Pulled the carpet back and no CEL code
    Checked all plugs, everything was hooked up but I unplugged the majority and checked them all, everything looks nice, no corrosion.
    I am getting great spark across the board, all it was running perfect so I'm sure the wires aren't out of order, checked them anyway and all good
    Timing belt is good, appears newer, minor slack

    I'm stumped. Really leaning toward another resistor box, gunna grab one tomorrow at the pnp and hope that fixes her. If it does I may be going obd1 injectors/bypass the box.

    Any other thought guys! Thanks -ricky
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    update! she lives!! sorta... bogs like before, but she does start and run now. i did develop a cel, code 7? checking into that now. i had the tps unhooked at first so im sure that is what code 7 is, and i need to reset the comp. i just unhooked the battery before walking in here. the bog occurs at any rpm, it is all based on pedal position. i can lightly press the throttle down and she will hit the limiter without hesitation, press it a little harder and it gets really loud, bogs, and the rpms drop. the harder i press the pedal the louder it gets, if i hold it down it will die. when driving, same thing, i can drive it very easily, but put your foot into it at all and she falls on her face. i miss driving my car guys! and my 89 4runner blew a headgasket, and dealing with that last night i broke a damn headbolt! luckily i always have an extra car or 2... or 3.

    as always, thanks in advance! -Ricky
  • JDMWago666JDMWago666 Senior Wagonist
    Glad you got it somewhat figured out.
  • crxedcrxed Band Wagon
    Sounds like a faulty distributor or wrong timing...
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    ok guys, update time! I swapped in another ecu, same problems... unhooked and rehooked the tps and that seemed to cure the CEL, (yay!) then I went on and checked the timing, it did appear to be off, so i slid it over a tooth and it did the exact same things at a lower rpms, and worse. So, took it 2 teeth the opposite direction and she lives! Today I let her idle for about a half hour, drove her around and oh man she is running great! I do have a stumble right off idle, but I'll figure it out. I have missed my car soooo much!

    So, as a treat to myself, I installed my tokico blues, eibach adjustables, and skunk2 rear LCA's (i was told they are s2's). needless to say, I am very happy! Also got my free cracked broadway mirror installed, tomorrow on goes my volvo lip, possibly my front tow hook, i haven't decided if i like it or not... and either my era correct yellow '80s Hella fogs, or some lights i took off my quad that i think would look great in the front bumper. I'll put up some pics first of both mocked up, get your opinions. watching SOA and crashing out now. thanks for all your help guys! -Ricky
  • crxedcrxed Band Wagon
    Did you also reset the ECU?
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    Yes, after redoing the tps plug. Nice to be putting some miles on her. Polishing starts tomorrow, and yes there is pics I'm just lazy... I'll get them up, it's a pain on my iPhone... thanks for all the support guys! I have a show in Santa Cruz soon that I'm going to soon, so I need to get my ass in gear.
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    I am getting a random hiccup, from idle, if i stab the gas real fast it bogs and almost dies. But if I roll into the throttle then floor it she will bounce off the limiter easy, it only happened once today, right after I had let her sit and idle for about 15 minutes while maneuvering my other 2 cars around. so I drove onto a big road and opened her up through all the gears, hasn't done it since? Cleared out the injectors? I bought a bottle of Lucas to throw into the tank.

    I blew the passenger rear brake line earlier too, lol. The car is fun to drive, needless to tell you guys.
  • ratchetratchet New Wagonist
    I'm thinking it's the fuel pump screen, or something clogging up the pump because it gets worse and worse the closer I get to E. I'm going to pull the pump out and check it out, probably go ahead and drop the tank and clean it out. Anything I should know about dropping it? Thanks guys
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2025