Car is still giving me trouble. I brought it to the mechanic and gav e him $332.78 to "fix" it. He changed the pick-up coil, dist. cap, and computer. Ran ok yesterday after I picked it up but the same trouble persisted today. The engine would not start. Waited about 15 minutes and it started. I'm giving the mechanic a call tomorrow to see if he will fix it this time. If it doesn't work, I'll be selling the car. But at least I still have my 91 project to keep me a thirdgenner.

PS, if any of you have any ideas what it might be, let me know. I've changed the fuel pump relay, and almost all the ignition except the distributor. I doubt it's the ignition switch or assembly, or the fuel pump, but I'm fresh out of ideas. Thanks.

 

i was just like that last summer. the mechanic redid the wiring to the starter and put a larger fuse on it somewhere( i dont know he said something about it couldnt handle the current load or something)

 

you could go carb and not worry about it thats what brody did and i might be soon

 

When it doesnt start does it crank? Or just do nothing.

 

Yes, it turns. It's a fuel delivery problem. Not the pump, not the relay, not the injectors.

 

GO TO CARB.
It's hard to expect an electronic system to work for 15+ years, while getting beaten by high temps, vibration, and regular use. Carb makes for less things to break.
Don't give up.

 

OKay we will need more info I think. Like are the injectors spraying at all?

 

i had the same problem although not the main reason i switched to carb it was one of them. with a carb the fuel is in the bowls and all you have to do to prime it is pump the gas once. my car starts faster then either of my parents car which are both new cars.

 

Actually EFI is more durable to high temps, vibration, and regular use than any carb. Solid state parts with less moving mechanical parts is always more reliable. Carbs are not "simple", they are more complicated and involved than any TBI system. I'd rather diagnose a problem with electronics but that's just my nature. I'm not big on having to rip apart another carb to rebuild.
I will give you this, electronic parts are more frustrating when you don't know how to diagnose em. I feel bad for people that don't have winaldl and don't have the experience to pin-point their troubles .
I'll say it again if I must, if you can't hack EFI and aren't very good with electronics then don't use it, go carb. Carbs are easier to tune and they get the job done. If you want more and have the time, keep the TBI and do some learning. You don't need to be rich to play with eprom variables, you just need to weight your options and see if a carb is better in the long run for YOU, not just your car. Heck, I KNOW that it would be near impossible for me to tune any double pumper to get the kind of gas milage I get on my trips too and from school!!! I KNOW that I've already saved enough money in gas to justify the $200 I spent on the eprom burning equipment. BUT, if you aren't good with computers then take a back seat or get your *** in gear, it's the future like it or not!
I hope you get the problems figured out. I just wish more people would borrow their friends laptops and build the SIMPLE $5.00 interface cable to run the FREE Winaldl software! You don't know HOW much this software has helped me in tuning my car and just diagnosing problems. I can even tell if there is an exhaust leak just by looking at the logged data. Oh well, good luck

 

Yea, I know what the problem is but I can't seem to pinpoint it. When it doesn't start, the injectors do not get a pulse at all. Today it ran fine. Tomorrow? Who knows. I will get around to building the interface soon. I already bought the components. The laptop will come soon as well. If not, I have plenty of friends with them.

 

That's the kind of attitude that gets **** done!
Build the cable, very simple, have a friend overlook it if you haven't build circuits before (so as not to fry the serial port on the computer with a short). Be careful building it so none of the transistor leads bypass the resistors when you shove it all together. I would build everything inside the case, don't build it outside of it and then try shoving it all in. It takes some skill but it's easier in the long run.
Winaldl with logged data of when the ecm has that starting problem would be VERY benifitial. Understand that you CAN run winaldl and THEN start the car, it's a great piece of software so that you can datalog the full starting, too bad it usually only captures a few bits of useful data but that's 160baud for ya.

 

Did you try your ecm or ignition control module?
I had the same problem