1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
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Car: 91' firebird
Engine: 3.1l LHO
Transmission: 700-r4
1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
well im gona try an explain it to the best of knowledge.....my brother owns a 1991 pontiac firebird with a 3.1L v6 in it. i guess he was driving to work the other day, and he said his SES light MIGHT have been on, but he doesnt remember for sure. But anyway....he didnt even get a block down the street and he said the car started backfiring a little bit and it just shut the hell down on him. he tried to restart it...to no avail. constant attempts to start it throughout the following days....nothing. You can hear the fuel pump kicking on, so we know that thats fine. We tried a little starting fluid in the throttle body....nothing. Decided to do a last resort thing and jump it. Before we tried to jump it, it would try to turn over but just couldnt do it fully. After we tried to jump it.......absolutly nothing.the dome light and everything else workd,but there was no crank from the engine at all what so ever. we ended up pushing it home and thats where it is now. Any ideas as to what might be wrong with it?? could the battery be just flat dead and no good? bad alternator?? or something completely diff like his spark plugs and wires maybe?? bad starter?? and help would be greatly appriciated. thank you
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Car: 1992 Camaro RS
Engine: 3.1 V6
Transmission: Auto
Axle/Gears: Stock
Re: 1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
Are you saying that the motor will spin over and it wont start? Or you saying that it wont even spin over? you lost me at tried to jump it...
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Car: 2003 Hyundai Tiburon GT
Engine: 2.7L V6
Transmission: 6-speed
Axle/Gears: 4.41
Re: 1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
I agree with the guy above. Can you define "not turn over fully" for us?
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Car: 91' firebird
Engine: 3.1l LHO
Transmission: 700-r4
Re: 1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
what i mean is...the motor will crank and act like its wants to start but no dice. atfer we tried everything else, we tried jumping it because it the start sound was staring to sound kinda weak. as the battery cables were hooked up and we tryed starting it, the start was actually stronger than the previous starts. we let it sit for almost ten minutes like that, and called it a night. Tried to start it one last time-now we got absolutly nothing. not even a sound of the engine trying to start
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Car: 2003 Hyundai Tiburon GT
Engine: 2.7L V6
Transmission: 6-speed
Axle/Gears: 4.41
Re: 1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
Ignition module. Either that or the 2-wire connection between it and the ignition coil, which provides power to the module...
Worked on an 87 Cutlass in school that did the same thing... Took a week to get the parts, but 4 hours, between diagnosis and repair, to get that 2.5 running again. They guy had to have his car towed as well.
:edit: Go to Advance Auto and get a GP Sorenson module. Lifetime warranty, which is a good thing because our modules tend to die A LOT. I've gone through 2 in 5 years.
Worked on an 87 Cutlass in school that did the same thing... Took a week to get the parts, but 4 hours, between diagnosis and repair, to get that 2.5 running again. They guy had to have his car towed as well.
:edit: Go to Advance Auto and get a GP Sorenson module. Lifetime warranty, which is a good thing because our modules tend to die A LOT. I've gone through 2 in 5 years.
Last edited by Maverick H1L; 12-11-2008 at 08:52 PM.
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Car: 91' firebird
Engine: 3.1l LHO
Transmission: 700-r4
Re: 1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
well, got the battery tested and charged up. put it in, it cranks but still wont start.(the engine fires, but wont start up) dude told my brother to test the spark using a screwdriver. how do you do that? any other little methods that can be done to check spark? dude also told em to start the car and push on the schrader valve on his fuel rail to check and see if thats good. if it has no saprk and no fuel comes shooting out, i guess the ignition module is no good.
#7
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Car: 2003 Hyundai Tiburon GT
Engine: 2.7L V6
Transmission: 6-speed
Axle/Gears: 4.41
Re: 1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
well, got the battery tested and charged up. put it in, it cranks but still wont start.(the engine fires, but wont start up) dude told my brother to test the spark using a screwdriver. how do you do that? any other little methods that can be done to check spark? dude also told em to start the car and push on the schrader valve on his fuel rail to check and see if thats good. if it has no saprk and no fuel comes shooting out, i guess the ignition module is no good.
DO NOT PUSH ON THE SCHRADER VALVE UNLESS YOU WANT A NICE 43 PSI FUEL GUN IN YOUR FACE AND ALL OVER THE CAR!!! If the fuel pump runs AT ALL any you push that guy open while cranking, you're going to have one heck of a mess, and possibly some injuries (especially your eyes).
All you have to remember about these things is simple: NO SPARK, NO SQUIRT. It's that simple. Like I said above, the ECM has to know the engine is turning to fire both the coil and the injectors. Same goes for any car with fuel injection (unless it has mechanical fuel injection).
:edit: And what you're trying to say, to ease confusion, is that the engine cranks but won't fire. Or, it's turning over, but won't fire. Either way, if you crank the starter too hard for too long, you're going to end up replacing BOTH the starter AND the battery...
And, did you check the coil grounds and the two-wire connection between the coil and the distributor?
Last edited by Maverick H1L; 12-14-2008 at 07:07 PM.
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Car: 91' firebird
Engine: 3.1l LHO
Transmission: 700-r4
Re: 1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
what do u mean hold it to an engine bolt?? unplug wire, remove plug then what? put it back in the wire and touch the gapped part on an engine bolt?? do with someone cranking the engine??sorry if i sound dumb...i just gota get his car up and running 4em
#9
Re: 1991 firebird, 3.1L not starting
im having similar problem but mine runs great till it warms up then stalls and wont restart till it goes cold new ecm, dist,knock sensor,plugs,wires,and tps still dies when it gets to running temp????
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