Hey guys, I'm new here. Im going to look at a '89 rs saturday. it will start, but will cut off shortly after. You can hear the fuel pump running, and all that good stuff, it just wont start. I was wondering what I should take a look at. I had a '89 rs 5 years ago. I started it one day, and black smoke started to boil. I sold it for $1,500. The teenager who bought it came over the next week. The camaro was purring nicely. He said it was a sensor. So, I sold my baby, over a dang sensor. Well, now ive found a exact look alike of my old car, and am going to look at it saturday. If we can get it to stay running, its coming home with me. Heres the craigslist ad for it. Nice forum, and thanks for having me. -Cody

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/car/461513755.html

 

There are lots of things it could be.............

Is it fuel injected?

Figure out what you're losing: spark/fuel ect..... go from there

 

well, the owner said it starts, and runs fine, but it will shut off after about 10-20 seconds. this was in my email: does this sound like something that could cause this? just needing a direction to look, im gonna be 2 hours from home, so, yeah.. thanks a lot guys/ girls

 

No, not really. Sounds like he's the typical believer in voodoo and black magic who doesn't understand FI and just wants to blame everything on something he can't grasp.

But it only takes a minute or 2 to change. Pick up a coolant temp sensor at your local parts store, and pack the tools and materials to change it, and see if it fixes it.

You got a 50% chance.... either it will, or it won't.

If it does, case closed. Don't bet on it.

If it doesn't (which it probably won't), then you'll need to figure out what's REALLY wrong with it.

Engines need 3 things in order to run: air & fuel in reasonable proportions; spark at about the right time; and compression. All you gotta do, is determine which of the 3 magic ingredients is missing, and then track down the cause. Pretty simple really, if you approach it with logic instead of voodoo.

One can reasonably rule out compression being the cause. That doesn't exist just fine for 30 seconds, disappear suddenly, then reappear after sitting for a time.

That leaves fuel, and spark.

Fuel is easy. Shoot starting fluid into the intake. If it starts and then dies again when the starting fluid is all gone, ... well then, it's got a fuel problem. I'm not convinced that that's what it will be; fuel doesn't ordinarily just go away after 30 seconds, and come back later, either.

If it DOESN'T start, then it's probably a spark problem. That's where I think you'll end up. The single most likely cause of that, is the ignition module. You might want to pick up one of those as well, and take those tools with you too.

The ignition module is the high-probability culprit, IMO. If I was in your shoes, I'd come prepared to change it out. If it was me, I wouldn't even bother with the CTS. But, that's your call.

 

alright thanks, you dont know how much i appreciate the help. I might as well pack both of those, just to be sure. better safe than sorry. thanks a lot for the help!

 

Temp sensor isn't the problem, I'd have to agree it sounds like the module.

 

thats what i was thinking. if i didnt include, which i dont think it will be any different, its a 1989 rs with a 305 tbi.

 

if a module is bad it won't start to begin with, or that's true with carb motors, not sure about FI. does it have any SES lights?

 

she never said if it did or didnt. she has a computer at her house, so ill most likely get on here from her house if need be. this is confusing. but if i can get it to where i can drive it home, ill get ahold of it good.

 

NOT TRUE, They do exactly what he says it's doing, they will start the car up, then a few seconds later they get hot and kill the the car.

 

if you notice the craigslist ad, you will notice 2 cars. the car im trading, she was willing to give both cars for, but i only want the camaro. i told her if i let her keep the other car, she had to help me get it going. she agreed. so shes going to buy the parts to get it going. ill be sure to get the module. thanks a lot guys

 

i may sound like a total noob, which i am, but isnt this under the distributor cap? just trying to scope everything out. thanks guys

 

Yep, its under the cap. It would be a good time to replace the rotor too since they are cheap and its prolly needs to be replaced too. Make sure You apply that heat resistant gunk that will prolly come with the module. If You don't, the module won't last that long.

 

dielectric grease? ill make sure to apply. dont need a burnt up part

 

Dielectric grease! Thats it. It was on the tip of my tongue but I completely brain farted while trying to remember what it was. It's been a long day! Either way, let us know how it goes tomorrow.

 

It's not heat resistant, it's for heat transfer. Transfers the heat from the module to the distributor base to cool the module.

 

Ill keep you guys informed. thanks for all the help guys.

 

Just went and looked at it. put the parts on it. it wouldnt start. plus, it was a p.o.s. so i just left it alone. im still looking though

 

Sorry to hear it was a pile of junk. There's plenty of third gens out there... Good luck with Your search.

 

yeah, he ripped the interior out for some reason.. then put in a transam steering column, all the under dash wires were in the floor.. and it was a mess. ive went and looked at a black 89, and white '76. the '76 was junk, but the black 89 was awesome! im going back tomorrow to talk to the guy, his wife said he was selling it. i need to sell my other car.. anyone want a toyota supra?

 

hm what year

 

1984. extremely rare in the condition its in.




1984 Supra, 5mge inline 6 cylinder. Blue outside, Black and grey leather inside. Only thing the car needs is a starter, but it will still start no problem, it just makes a funny noise. It has a new set of plugs, wires, tires ($200), windshield (250$), radiator cap, and exhaust system (120$). I bought a new tps which I will include with the car. it was 50$ itself..
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I will trade it for a camaro of equal worth..

 

yeah, i wanted it so bad, it was a 6 hour drive, and i talked to him about 30 minutes.. my whole saturday, gone to crap, haha. just gotta keep my eyes open