Hey all, seems there is a lot of no start threads lately. I haven't posted here for a while, so I'll add what I've found on my car. My 245 was rear ended a few weeks ago, it broke out the back window and mashed up the rear hatch a bit. Would have been a lot more damage were it not for the bike rack that I've just left up back there. The Car was subsequently parked in the garage. I found a new hatch in the jy and have been piecing it back together over about 2 weeks. I got in it to start it the other day and the car that I've known to be extremely reliable suddenly would not start. I've left this car for one entire year parked outside in the past and it started RIGHT up as soon as I bumped the starter about 3 years ago. So I was very surprised by this no start situation.

So far I've....
1. checked the fuel pumps, both of them hum nicely when I jump fuse 6 to 4. I CAN NOT hear them when I turn the key to the on position though.
2. Made sure there is flow from the tailpipe as the engine is cranking.
3. Spark is present at the plugs
4. Fuel is present on plugs when I pull the plugs after cranking.
5. Checked the 25 amp spade fuse on drivers rail
6. inspected distributor (looks fine and dry), rotor intact, wires all intact
7. checked air filter which is serviceable
8. Checked the fuel pump relay which has a definitive click when I turn the key to on.
9. vacuum hosing off front of fuel pressure regulator does have a fuel smell to it...??? (source of problem?)

After doing all this I figured I'd try to crank it as the batteries were charged up a little after being on the trickle charger. I've never had to use the gas pedal to coax the car to start. This time I pumped the gas and noticed it seemed to respond a bit, almost jumping to life, I continued to pump the gas pretty frequently and eventually the engine caught and fired to life. Idle seemed normal, revving engine seemed normal, car acted about like it did before the non-start issue. I turned to car off and turned it back on and it fired up without much compliant... Odd.

Here is something I did notice though, maybe related, maybe not. I had pulled the main air supply leading to the manifold off to squirt some starting fluid and noticed that there was oil inside the air intake main hose leading down to the MAF sensor and air filter. Led me to believe something was clogged, I immediately took apart the flame trap which was clear, but the small hose that comes off the flame trap had some debri present which was cleaned off. Not convinced this was causing the oil down the air tubing issue though. Also, the car has gone from no oil leaks (after replacing RMS) to leaking oil in the past 2-3 months. I figured it was just another seal going out, but it appears that there is increased crankcase pressure somewhere. Can anyone help me troubleshoot this??? thanks..

 

I spend a few days troubleshooting my brother's car for an oil leak. We suspected the camshaft seal since I slipped a bit when drilling a pull hole in the seal. I timed the engine about 4 times in the process just to discover a single loose valve cover nut. That fixed it. I do suggest engine degreaser and watching where the oil comes from.

I was going to recommend checking out your crank sensor for the no start, but troubleshooting it while it works is always pretty fruitless. If low fuel pressure is a problem, it could be a plugged fuel filter. Maybe the fuel pressure regulator is going, but generally they start leaking fuel into the vacuum side when they fail.

 

Thanks titan. I'll check those things out. I think there may be a little fuel in the vacuum side, so I may just replace that for peace of mind.


Any idea why oil is running from the intake down towards the MAF/airfilter? can't be good!!!

 

88 doesn't have a crank position sensor, it has s hall sensor in the distributor. if you have spark, thats working.

 

The oil in the air intake tube most likely comes from tiny droplets of oil that make it from the oil separator through the flame trap and into the intake tube. After a while, these droplets condense and form a small puddle in the bottom of the air intake tube. It is the same droplets that gum up the throttle body.

 

This actually looks like someone just poured oil from the intake manifold down the air intake hose. It's a lot of oil... Does that change what you think about the tiny droplets??? Eventually I need to clean out the throttle body... someday.

 

Usually I don't see a lot of oil, just a little puddle that doesn't reach the top of the peaks of the accordion (if that makes sense). If you have more, then I would check out your flame trap and oil separator.

When you dump out the oil, how much do you get? 1/2 cup? 1/4 cup? In general, I don't get much more than a tablespoon.