When I turn the key over the starter doesn't rotate atall. All that happens is both of my fans kick on and I hear a click. It is an 88 IROC-Z with an auto 350

 

have the fans alway kicked on when you try to start it? Is the clicking rapid or just a single click?

 

It is just a single click. I then think I hear a sort of grind noise if I keep the key held in start. The fan have always kicked on when I first start the car. I got this car off ebay awhile ago as a project car. Just finally started working on it. Since I bought the car the speedo, temp gauges, and gas gauge and warning lights(most) except like SES light work as it appears. Looks as tho the only thing missing from the convience center is the chime unit. Other than that, before this happened, the car was running poorly. The idle was rapid, going up and down between 1000 - 2000 at idle. The car has been sitting for a good 8 months, so I have not a clue what could be wrong. Also, I am just starting to enter the field of mechanics, so I don't know too much yet about cars.

 

The click could just be a relay or the solenoid of the starter trying to engage. Some times when the battery is low the starter will click rapidly. I would test your battery than if that is good get the starter tested. While the starter is out make sure your flex plate or flywheel (whatever you have) are not missing teeth in the area of the starter. If you want you can turn the engine and make sure it has all its teeth on it too.

If you have a dual fan system its possible your mechanical fan switch is bad and just needs to be replaced for the secondary fan. However the main fan is controlled by the ECM when you turn the key to the on position the SES light should turn on then blink off and turn back on and stay on. If it does not do that the car is in limp home mode and will run real bad it will also turn on the main fan. To fix that make sure you have the right ECM and make sure the ECM has the right memcal in it.

I started learning off my old 92 bird than I crashed it and I got my 89 GTA and its been giving me a lot of trouble. However it sounds like yours will be giving you a lot more trouble then mine lol. But I enjoy working on my car, and if nothing is wrong I will find things wrong with it by testing them first to find bad parts. The only thing I don't enjoy is paying for the parts. Anyways TGO is a great resource for these cars so welcome to TGO.

 

I went to try to start it today and... well nothing. I tested the battery at it only had 0.76V. I have not driven the car at all in months, and have only started it periodically. So... I'm assuming its not turning simply b/c of a dead battery. I also found out my battery gauge appears to work fine as well. Is their a way to test the sensors, maybe at the ecm, or check them with an aldl cable, to see of they are working. I purchased an aldl cable and don't really know how to use it. Thanks

 

That is one dead battery...

You can see if the sensors are sensing. But each sensor will have its own symptom of failure. For example the TPS sensor could randomly drop off in voltage when its failing. You would have to look up each sensor and see how each works and their symptoms of failure, and compare it to your car's sensors. Thats how I do it...

What kind of ALDL cable is it?

 

The cable I bought is the usb one. This is the exact cable
http://aldlcable.com/sc/details.asp?item=aldlbareu

 

I don't have the picture of the ALDL terminal that you put the pin in. but its the bottom left pin when your looking at the terminal. If you find a picture I think its terminals E or M they are the same thing they connect somewhere on the way to the ECM. To get 8192 baud rate from the ECM you need to put a 10K resistor in the A and B terminals or you will only get 160 baud. Before you start the car put the 10K resistor in and turn the key to the on position. Let whatever program you are using connect to your ECM and take out the 10K resistor and start the car. I use TunerPro.

I don't know why your cable has 2 wires coming out of it you only need one. I'm sure your cable came with directions or they have them on their web site??

Did you make sure you have the right ECM in your car? If it has TPI it should have 165 ECM. Is it TPI??

 

Yea bro, the car is TPI. I have not had any way yet to check the ecm. Still waiting on gettin the battery charged to mess with the car some more. The site I linked to on its homepage has full references to the cable I bought.
My ALDL connector:
It says in the instructions that one of the wires goes to the E/M pin and the other to the grnd(a) terminal. Thanks for the bit of info on my ecm, If I know wat type of ecm to select, now it might help my situation. I have gotten the cable to connect before, but I didn't know how to use the program back then. I also didn't know you are supposed to remove the 10k after communication is started. So this means I can turn the car to run, then go to connect thru the aldl, then when it says connected, remove 10k, and start the car? I hope this is correct

 

Yes you can remove the 10K resistor after your laptop has connected to the ECM and start the car after. If you don't remove the 10K resistor and start it, it will have a high idle because it will be in some mode that I forgot what its called and it wont damage anything. However I have noticed when using the program winaldl, when I remove the resistor the program disconnects from the ECM. But in TunerPro it will stay connected. What program are you using?

If you have the wrong ECM don't freak out their are different versions of the 165 ECM for example I have the 445 version. The 3 numbers are the 3 last numbers of the part number. If its not 165 look it up on here and see if its another version of the 165 ECM. Also make sure you have the right memcal in the ECM

 

The only program I have tried so far is winaldl and it did as u said. I can't wait to try TunerPro to see if it will work. I think I had wrong drivers as well for the cable ^_^ Let ya know how it goes

 

So I have yet to try the cable, But I did get the car running again. But I have a problem. It is running still around 1200-2000 RPM it goes up and down. I think I have an antifreeze leak somewhere. And when I step on the gas with it idling in park, it seems to hesitate before the rpms go up.

 

If you have codes get them figured out and fixed and if it still has that high idle and hesitation check the basics like spark plugs, cap. then check TPS voltage, clean the IAC, and see if the O2 sensor is bad. Good luck!