FRAMING JOHN DELOREAN - ON VOD www.framingjohndeloreanfilm.com
Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 13

Thread: Engine start troubles

  1. #1
    Junior Member 88Ngone's Avatar
    Join Date:  Sep 2013

    Location:  La Plata, MD

    Posts:    28

    My VIN:    10541

    Engine start troubles

    Hello All,

    I need some help. I should preface this by saying that I have basic mechanical skills, but am no expert. So please feel free to break any advice down into baby steps and descriptions.....I take no offense to that and rather appreciate any help given.

    So heres the short and sweet, VIN 10541 has been running just fine since March 2017 as back last year and the year before she had a lot of work done by DMC Houston to get the engine running just right. In short just about all the fuel components were replaced or rebuilt, brakes and tires checked, transmission rebuilt, etc.

    Fast forward to the last 6 months and I have been driving with no issues and have made sure when I get extremly busy with life to at least weekly fire up the engine until it gets warm and the fans come on, and cycle everything through.

    Last week I went to fire up the engine, and the car wouldnt start or turn over. I tried again and got the car to fire up and run for about 2 minutes, then it just randomly shut off. I went to restart the car multiple times and it would start up immediatley and immediatley shut off. The first step I took was to check and charge the battery thinking maybe it didnt have enough juice to fully cycle, but even when the battery charged back up I had no luck. I know it isnt the starter because it does fire up and if I hold the key to the start postion the car will stay on and I can hear the starter continue to go. It will even allow me to rev the engine for a second, but again, when I let the key go the car kills over. I tried the famous plug swap, which I was so excited to figure out because Ive never done it before, but no luck. The tempature here was easily below 20 degrees last week, but even today at 65 degrees, it didnt help.

    All this to say, Im a clueless newbie who sucks with troubleshooting cars, and I could use all the help I can get. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

    Respectfully,
    Jared

  2. #2
    Senior Member Bitsyncmaster's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Leonardtown, MD

    Posts:    9,000

    My VIN:    03572

    If it dies when you let off the start position, your resistor connections are probably bad.
    Dave M vin 03572
    http://dm-eng.weebly.com/

  3. #3
    Junior Member 88Ngone's Avatar
    Join Date:  Sep 2013

    Location:  La Plata, MD

    Posts:    28

    My VIN:    10541

    That was quick, thanks for the direction Dave. Now this is where I look like an idiot, and a newbie, but where are the resisitors located and how can I verify and or troubleshoot them as Ive never done this before?

    Very Respectfully,
    Jared

  4. #4
    Senior Member Bitsyncmaster's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Leonardtown, MD

    Posts:    9,000

    My VIN:    03572

    The two white "tubes" on the firewall in the engine compartment on the drivers side. There are about four wires that clip onto those resistors that you need to be sure are tight. Just pulling each one off at a time and stick it back on should let you know if the connections are tight. That will also clean the contacts.
    Dave M vin 03572
    http://dm-eng.weebly.com/

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Burnsville MN-Moving to Kalispell MT. in June 20111

    Posts:    886

    My VIN:    2691

    starting

    I agree with Dave, same thing happened
    to me, same fix.....

  6. #6
    Not a DeLorean Guru
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Rochester, NY

    Posts:    2,405

    My VIN:    01049

    Thirded. Happened to me to.
    -Mike

    My engine twists my frame.

    1981 DeLorean, Carb LS4 swap completed
    1999 Corvette, cam/headers/intake manifold, 400 rwhp
    2005 Elise, stock
    2016 Chevy Cruze

  7. #7
    Junior Member 88Ngone's Avatar
    Join Date:  Sep 2013

    Location:  La Plata, MD

    Posts:    28

    My VIN:    10541

    Did I mention I love you guys....I did just that and sure enough she fired up and ran like a champ! Dave thank you again!

    Very Respectfully,
    Jared

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Northern NJ

    Posts:    8,570

    My VIN:    10757 1st place Concourse 1998

    The terminals on the ballast resistor are steel and rust. When they get rusty you get a bad connection. Clean the terminals with a small steel brush and charge the battery up again.
    David Teitelbaum

  9. #9
    Junior Member 88Ngone's Avatar
    Join Date:  Sep 2013

    Location:  La Plata, MD

    Posts:    28

    My VIN:    10541

    Will do. Thank you!

  10. #10
    Senior Member Bitsyncmaster's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Leonardtown, MD

    Posts:    9,000

    My VIN:    03572

    I'm pretty sure the resistor terminals are stainless steel since I could not solder the wires to them.
    Dave M vin 03572
    http://dm-eng.weebly.com/

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •