First off, I have always run mustangs.. but i have always had firebirds in my heart.. my first car was a 1970 formula, and i have had 3 other 70-73 birds over the years and now im looking at buying a GTA and have came across a real clean 89 with 70K miles... just has a starting issue i want to see if i can get solved before i buy.. here it goes..

After sitting, the car will start right up, and run.. turn the key off, and try to restart it and it wont.. You need to let the car sit for a few hours and it will start right back up.. NOW when the car wont start, if you hit it with some starting fluid it will start and stay running.. the time I looked at the car, it would idle fine, but had a miss when you would apply throttle also.. They had already replaced the ECM, Distributor, Coil, TPS, Crank sensor, and battery. to no help with either issue.. When the engine runs it sounds fine, so i know its nothing mechanical.. Any clue to what it might be???
If it was a ford, i would know the fix.. but with this im lost.....


Also on a side note, both headlights will not go down with the switch.. they go up fine and fast, but will not retract, have to do it manually.. Any clue on how to fix this?


Thanks for any help you can give..

 

If it starts when you spray starter fluid into it, then you most likely have a fuel delivery problem. Is it fuel injected?

 

Is it not cranking, or is it cranking but not starting?

 

I assume it is cranking because he said it will fire up when spraying starter fluid into it.

 

sorry for not being clearer.. Yes, it is fuel injected (TPI).. and that is correct it will crank, but not start when this is happening.. I assume it is related to the starting fuel enrichment process, but changing the ecm didnt help.. so i dont know what all controls the injection system on the tpi system.. Thanks.

 

Does the engine "putt" while it is cranking? Or does it just crank with no noise coming from the tail pipes?

 

dosnt even sound like it wants to fire at all.. almost like if you cranked it with the coil wire off..

 

For the headlight going down issue, you might need to push on the light button a little harder in the bottom right corner, mine do that but if i press a tiny bit harder there they go down fine.

 

Are the injectors spraying while the engine is cranking? Fuel pressure within spec during cranking?