Any mechanically inclined owners near Glendale, CA? (Starting Issue - Help!)

[kajcienski]

Hello all!

So... I seem to be dead in the water - thankfully in my own garage though!
The car sat for about 6 months without starting it while we were waiting to move into our new house. In transporting the car from our temporary residence to our house about 4 weeks ago, it had run a bit rough upon starting for a while, but then purred like a kitten while driving it to its new home.

Well... I just went to start it as I want to be driving it often again, and was met with crank, but no turn over!
I'm mechanically inclined with certain things on the car, but engines and issues like this are definitely out of my wheelhouse.

Would there be anyone in the area that would be able/willing to lend a hand in diagnostics or help in fixing the issue?

SO FAR:
- The engine cranks but will not turn over. I do smell gas after a few attempts (tried a few times, left it for an hour, then tried again).
- I hear the fuel pump
- I have checked fuses and all of the usual connections
- Gas is not exactly "new" (7 months old or so), but was just running 4 weeks back

Thanks so much!
Any help would be much appreciated! And of course meeting any local owners would be awesome as well! I'm fairly new to the area - a transplant from NY.

Matt

[DavidProehl]

I'm a bit far away to offer to come over and help, but have you confirmed you have the basics:


Fuel - you seem to smell gas which likely means you have gas
Spark - seems more likely


You said it sat for 7 months. Is your battery charged? Can you try charging it over night? If yes, try pulling each spark plug individually and verifying that when they car is turned over you see a spark generated. If there is no spark, then you can chase it down from there (ignition coil, bad ground, fuse, etc)

For gas, do you hear your fuel pump pumping when you turn the key (if you have a RPM relay that primes)? Similar to the spark plug you can verify fuel is spraying by pulling out your fuel injectors, putting them in a jar, and confirming that gas sprays when you turn it over. If there is no gas you can track it down from there (bad fuel pump, bad distributor, plugged injectors, etc).

I would start with those two things, but first and foremost a fully charged battery.

[kajcienski]

Thanks David!

Fuel in Tank = Check
Fuel Pump Pumping = Check
Battery = Check

- As for the rest, I have no experience with digging into the engine, but I might grab a buddy and follow your advice carefully if there is nobody here that can swing over. The plugs, wires, etc... were replaced by Rob Grady just a few hundred miles back - but working backwards as you suggested seems to be the logical way to go.





I'm a bit far away to offer to come over and help, but have you confirmed you have the basics:


Fuel - you seem to smell gas which likely means you have gas
Spark - seems more likely


You said it sat for 7 months. Is your battery charged? Can you try charging it over night? If yes, try pulling each spark plug individually and verifying that when they car is turned over you see a spark generated. If there is no spark, then you can chase it down from there (ignition coil, bad ground, fuse, etc)

For gas, do you hear your fuel pump pumping when you turn the key (if you have a RPM relay that primes)? Similar to the spark plug you can verify fuel is spraying by pulling out your fuel injectors, putting them in a jar, and confirming that gas sprays when you turn it over. If there is no gas you can track it down from there (bad fuel pump, bad distributor, plugged injectors, etc).

I would start with those two things, but first and foremost a fully charged battery.

[David T]

Check the connections on the ballast resistor on the firewall in front of the motor on the left. Pull each one off one at a time and put it back on. If you see rust or corrosion clean it up. That may be all you need to get spark again.

[kajcienski]

So I tried once more this morning to start the car - was about 5 seconds of crank, and then it sparked to life. Although this is good news, it worries me that I do not know why it would not start yesterday. The only thing I did was turn on the headlights while cranking - but it was not like it started right away. Yesterday I checked connections as suggested in thread, but it was still dead after that. So... Would this be possibly due to old fuel? Just a bug that got worked out from not driving it? Or should I look further into it?

[DMC5180]

Old fuel, not likely. A car sitting for six months should fire up without issue typical seasonal storage. It sounds more like you just have a flakey connection at the ballast resistor or possibly the ignition ECU (it happened the me in September) I just pulled the connector and reinstalled it to scratch fresh contact surface.


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