Picked up a 91 RS that according to the owner ran until 09 when he decided to park it and start making it 'Hot Rod'. Said he never got the money, so it sat under a tree until about a month ago.
Car will start instantly with starter fluid (sound familiar?)

Quick run down of what's been done so far...
Drained gas tank - added about 2 gallons of fresh gas
New Battery, spark plugs, wires, distributor, rotor (which was quite stuck) ignition module, fuel filter and VATS bypass (not just the resistor, actual full bypass module). Previous owner claimed he had tested injectors w/ a noid light and they were getting juice, figured the injectors were bad - I have not replaced them yet as I'm not convinced that all 6 injectors would just die - plus knowing there are lots of little things that can make them not truly fire. I don't have fuel pressure test aside from letting the pressure build and hitting the test point on the rail with a screwdriver and watching gas shoot out - so it seems to be getting fuel to the rail. You can hear the fuel pump churning as well. With or without the VATS bypass on, the security light does not stay blinking.

I've read many articles on this site but am kinda at a loss as to where to go next to get this thing running. Once this one "little" step is resolved, new wheels, tires and exhaust and we'll be in good shape.

One last detail - when I switched the distributor cap, the inside area was quite rusty. This would concern me more if I weren't getting such good spark.

Thoughts?

 

Maybe it is not getting enough fuel pressure, like you said it is getting to the rail but is the pressure building up. You might do fuel pressure test.

 

Finally got out there today with the gauge - tested it with key on position and while attempting to start - 40 psi and 40-45 psi respectively. Attempting to start removing intake plenum to get to injectors so I can test them next unless someone has a better idea

 

injectors may be stuck from sitting-shoot some gas in
the throttle body and crank engine to see if it tries to
start once exposed to fresh gas,injectors might
unstick by themselves.

 

I had hit it pretty good with starter fluid a few times and it fired right up until the fluid was gone - thought that might have had the same effect, but no dice. Ran out of time today, but will finish taking out fuel rail and injectors tomorrow to clean them at a minimum.

 

I'm thinking stuck or plugged injectors.

 

So I hooked up a noid light today just for grins to test power to the injectors. Nothing. Tested 3 of them so far and nothing lights up. I've been reading the horror stories of trying to find a loose ground, or possibly replacing the computer - but are there any more reliable tests to determine why they're not getting power or is this just one of those try and try again issues?

 

What kind of car is this again?
you say its a 91 RS but it sounds like it has a TPI under the hood??
Just trying to figure things out.
Check your inj fuses and yes it does sound like stuck injs will also be a problem.

 

Checked fuses - it's a 91 RS w/ 'MPFI'. Planned on removing/cleaning injectors anyway - was just testing with noid. Will double check fuses now.

Double checked the fuses - including the VATS fuse - all good.

 

I would say its definitely not a spark problem. Air can be tenatively ruled out since it ran on starter fluid... my advice would be to stick to the theory that your injectors are probably clogged up. Im up in the air about your no power issue

 

I'm going to watch this post as I'm having almost the exact same issue with my 350 TPI swap. I also have pulse, new pump, and can run it on carb cleaner / starting fluid. If I come up with anything, I'll post here for you.

 

DITTO ... 350 tpi swap and now no injector pulse ... typical fixes seem to be ....

2 injector fuses ... niod lights and leds are great tools for checking for the pulse and power ...

VATs ... only 87 up ?? but you got that ....

old cars that sat YEARS, injectors stuck ... you got that too ... I grounded my injectors for a second to "choke it with fuel" .. runs a second , so that rules out spark, fuel pump , injectors or engine issue ?

check oil pressure switch ... but I think that cuts the fuel pump ?

next is TPS, if its wide open, the CPU shuts off injectors to stop flooding ... I unplugged mine ... @$$-u-me-ing a no voltage signal would reset that .?

then the ref signal from distributor module to CPU ..... thought I read 1.3 volts, but checking ?

this is as far as I've got ..... so far ....

I just got my ALDL cable with tunerpro .. so now I have to deal with that learning curve ...
once I figure that out it'll be megasquirt time