Howdy all, this driving me nuts and I'm ready to give up and tow her to a mechanic.

This is an 85 V6, with an S in the 8th digit if the VIN, and we are the original owners. We garaged it about 10 years ago. Twice a year I would start her up and run her for an hour or so, and drive around the property a little bit. Whenever I put gas in, I made sure it had Stabil. She always started up without much trouble.

Beginning about two years ago, she continued to start up good but she wouldn't idle without a foot on the gas.

This fall I thought it would be fun to put her back on the road. I changed the belts, hoses, radiator fluid, oil, filter, and cleaned and regapped the plugs (they were new when I took her of the road). I idled her good and hot that day for about an hour. That is the last day she ran well. Since then she started hard and idled rough. I thought she was skipping, but my father-in-law thought not. I replaced the PCV and the distributor cap, but no luck. Snow came and I left her for a couple months. Last weekend I changed the fuel filter thinking that would solve my problems. She started hard and ran REAL rough. I turned her off after about 30 seconds and haven't been able to start her since.

I had an engine code of 34, MAF, so I checked the fuse on that, and also tried to start it with the connector pulled off, but no change. I didn't pull the MAF to look at it... there's a clamp that I'm not sure how to get off (nor back on for that matter)

When I pull a plug after trying to start it, the plug is wet so I'm getting gas (although I haven't put a gauge on it.) When I short the plug against the block and have the kid crank, I get spark- sometimes white, sometimes blue, sometimes yellow.

I tried shooting starting fluid directly into the throttle body but she still wouldn't start. With the throttle body exposed and the kid cranking the car, I didn't feel any air movement. It didn't move a sheet of paper I held there, either. So it almost seems like its not getting air but that doesn't make sense- does it?

I have over 1/8 tank of gas, so although its low, its not so low that I would expect sediment in the fuel lines. I also added a couple gallons of fresh gas and some Seafoam too.

The spark isn't always white-hot, but it seems good enough to me for ignition.

I haven't checked the compression cuz I don't have a gauge, but my problems seem kind of sudden to be a compression problem- right?

I haven't checked the timing yet (plan to tonight), but I can't imagine it's so far off that it won't start.

COULD it be the MAF after all? Could the IAC prevent a car from starting? Could it be little green men? I'd appreciate any ideas y'all have!

 

Well this sounds like it could be kind of interesting. Although reasonably speaking it doesn't make sense that there would be little or no air flow when cranking but the code 34 also suggests that little or no air is flowing as well. Perhaps a bad vacuum leak or a plugged exhaust or intake from some woodland creature taking up residence from sitting so long? Also on the spark aside from the color how far can you get the spark to arc? Also Its possible its not starting because its running too rich or the plugs are fouled from too much fuel flowing from say maybe an injector being hung up or a fuel pressure regulator rupturing dumping fuel into the intake. Loss of compression I dont think is likely as to lose all compression in all cylinders to the point it wont even pop. Has any work been done prior to this issue?

 

Also yes the IAC could do such a thing I think it might be a good idea to check to make sure its free and clean but also remove the throttle body and clean the ports out as they have a tendency to get plugged with carbon.

 

Thanks for the ideas, Thunder. I checked the vacuum lines and I dont' see any cracks. I didn't have a chance to play with the timing tonight, and not sure about tomorrow night. My buddy is lending me his compression gauge, so I should be able to rule that out shortly. He also suggested the timing was so whacked that she was starved for air.

The car has had no major work done. It only has about 60K, even though its 25 years old. It was my wife's baby until the real babies came along

 

Ok sounds good to me check it out and let us know how it goes. Best of luck.

 

well if your car was running good prior, and it has been sitting, I would replace the ignition module... a bad MAF, I believe would allow you to fire her up but would stall within a second or two... a plugged EGR would cause the car to idle like crap, a plugged exhaust, I believe would allow you to run, but there would be no performance, you'd barely move... this all of course is my bucket of pennies... ... I say the ignition module would be the culprit... lets see what others have to say.... as I have previously said in other posts, it's a good idea to have a backup ignition coil and an ignition module for diagnostic purposes...

 

Huhn.

I checked the compression tonight with my friend's gauge. All six cylinders are rock-solid at 145. While doing this I'd taken the ECM and fuel pump fuses out of the fuse block, and when I put them back in I decided to check all the other fuses as well. They were all good. For giggles I tried to start her up... and she roared right to life. Still rough, but driveable. Best I can figure, the ECM fuse (or something equally important) must not have been seated right. YAY!

I want to thank everybody for their time and suggestions. I truly appreciate it. I have a couple more things I want to do and then I should have her back on the road in the next couple of weeks. Thanks again!