I have my '87 Wagon on the road. Occasionally it will not start. In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't done any troubleshooting when it won't start. BUT--if I just wait it out, maybe a day. Maybe two days. Maybe a week, It'll fire up as if nothing was ever wrong. Car runs great other than being totally undependable for regular transportation. Thanks for any suggestions on where to start looking.

 

It would help to narrow the possibilities by doing some tests. Pull a plug wire and see if there is spark while cranking. Check for pulses at the injector terminals with a test lamp. Check if there is fuel pressure to the injector rail.

 

Thank you, good suggestions. I'll run through the tests to see if I'm getting fuel and fire. Seems I've heard of this problem before and the culprit was an ECM that randomly malfunctioned. I'd like to rely on the car to start when I need it. Thanks again for the reply.

 

IMO, always better to prove the problem then to throw parts at it and hope the problem didn't just go into hiding.

 

Agreed. Usually very expensive to throw a "parts salad" at a problem without verifying what's wrong. Just missed an opportunity because it wasn't starting and now it is. Very good car out on the road, but no guarantee it'll restart once I get to where I'm going.