Alright guys, some of you may remember that I've been fighting a no-start issue for YEARS now. I've done just about everything, and well, the problem has once again resurfaced after about a year of no problems.

Here's the lowdown:
Car starts like a champ, even in the cold, after a few weeks of no driving. Cranks right up. Once hot, the car will crank and crank and crank without even the hint of firing. Give it 30 or 40 minutes to cool down and it'll fire right up and run great. It'll do this about once out of 3 times I take the car out. That's way too often to take the car out and consider it reliable.

Here's what I've replaced.
New dizzy, several caps, several rotors, three ignition modules, all new "big 3" wiring, new plugs, new wires, new starter.

Here's what I've diagnosed:
VATS checks out OK. Plugs are firings. Noid light shows injector pulse. I've used a heat shield to protect from heat soaking the starter. I've used the MSD igntion and the factory ignition. fuel pressure is constant.

So that's where I'm at. Is there any chance the computer could be messing up timing for some reason? So bad that it won't even sputter? Maybe the injectors are bad? Maybe they're getting a signal but not firing properly? But still, NO sputtering at all? I could see if maybe it wasn't running right, but when she runs, she's perfect!

Idunno, what do I do next?

 

have you looked at the coolant temp sensor for the computer

 

During the no starts have you tried the flooded start procedure by holding the throttle to the floorboards? If you have the original 20 year old injectors in that thing you might just go ahead and replace those anyway.

 

put a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail port and check how fast your fuel pressure bleeds down after you shut it off. If bleeds down to zero instantly your injectors are leaking and flooding the motor.

 

I had two hot start problems.


The first was when I'd leave the car sitting for 20 + minutes, it would crank and crank but not fire. After maybe 4 tries it would finally fire. After a FP bleed down test, and just pulling my fuel rail up and priming the pump, I seen some injectors drip. Got the injectors fixed and problem solved. What really lead me to injectors was when I had this issue, if I put the petal to the floor when starting, it would start much quicker. So I new the engine was flooded.

The other was on a hot start after sitting 30 + min, it would fire and die, or fire and idle at like 400rpm and die if the throttle was touched (no codes). If I kept the hood closed, it would sometimes take 40 minutes for it to start and run fine. But if I opened the hood, it would take 10-15 minutes for it to fire and run correctly. So after some trouble shooting, every time I'd unplug my MAF when having this issue, it would fire perfect. Plug it back in, and I'd have the same issue until the engine bay cooled down. Replaced MAF and all is well.

 

i had the same problem u have everytime my car would get hot or the sun was to hot the starter wouldnt crank so i would change the starter. i did this about 6 or 7 times before i installed a ford silenoid it shows u here on the website how to do it or just google it. it was the best thing i have ever done 4 my car

 

Thanks guys, that gives me a few things to check. ...and what's the flooded start procedure? I hadn't heard of that before.

....anyhow, hopefully I can mess with the car this coming weekend.

 

When your car is cranking, if you push the pedal to the floor (or it's something like 70% + throttle), the injectors will not fire. When I had leaky injectors and my engine was flooded, doing this would help because it wasn't making it worse by dumping more gas into a flooded engine.

 

ignition lock clyinder? (not sending signal to starter to engage)

Mine was mimicking hot start problems and that turned out to be the problem.

GM techs took over 9hrs to track that down

 

Any updates?

 

Nah, hadn't had a chance to work on it.

...plan is to check the CTS and injectors for leakage though, once i DO get a chance to work on it. Life is hectic.

 

Well I haven't been able to "check" anything because I can't replicate the problem. It just keeps wanting to start. Now that SOUNDS good, but I know it's just waiting for an inconvenient moment to rear its ugly head!!!!

....but with 175,000 miles, I've decided it's time to have the injectors serviced, so they're coming out. That'll eliminate that from the variables, and either way, they could SURE use a cleaing and balancing.

 

I had this problem w/ my L98, does the car idle OK? I made the mistake of wraping the CTS w/ teflon tape when I had it out to change the injectors. Chased the problem for several months, until a scan reveled that the CTS was reading -35 degrees on a 7 degree day. Changed it out, car runs like a champ.

Good luck.