For a quick background on whats going on

1997 850R

New timing belt
Water pump
Idlers, pulleys etc
Serpentine Belt
Starter
Rear cam seals
Air filter
Spark plugs
Plug wires
Distributor, cap and rotor
Thermostat and gasket
Coolant hoses
Ported Turbo intake manifold
960 Throttle body

up until today, the car has not ran or started since I began this work which is atleast 6 months ago.

In my recent posts I couldnt get the car to crank over. Turns out my brand new starter had a bad solenoid and I just replaced the entire thing today and it now cranks.

I got the car to crank over and it even started 2 times, but those 2 times it would not hold an idle.
One of the times, I just held the gas in a bit to keep it idling (about 1000rpms), it idled smooth with my foot on the gas, no engine noises etc... I noticed that it had a service engine light on while doing this, so I hooked up a code reader and nothing showed..

Now it just keeps cranking but will not kick over. And even if it did, it may not stay idling.

The battery has been charged and is fine and the starter is definitely working..
I am of the assumption there is no fuel or spark issue as I was able to hold the idle, I would think if either of those were missing then it would not even do anything at all.

I also read about unplugging the MAF and starting it, but there was no change with that either

Is there anything I can check or anything this would be for sure? I do have a scangauge it my other car that I can pull out and get readings if any of them can be used...

 

UPDATE

I can get the car to crank over everytime now but I have to give the accelerator some gas, it will still not hold idle

The service engine light also went out, but there is an ABS, trac and something else that stays on

My scangauge does not show any codes and it also states (vehicle not ready)

this is as far as ive gotten

 

Did the car idle and run properly before you did all the work ??

Have you replaced the fuel filter yet ??

When you did the timing belt did you turn the engine over by hand a couple times and recheck that the timing marks were properly aligned ??

Have you checked the fuel pressure yet at the rail ??

 

It originally idled a bit high (900-1000), but it did hold an idle. (keep in mind this car has literally sat for 6-10+ months)

I did not do the fuel filter yet, I have one in the trunk waiting to go.

When doing the timing belt I did turn it over my hand several times and actually just did it a few days ago before installing the new starter.

I have not checked the fuel pressure. What should it be?

As of right now, when I have an hour or so, I was going to clean out the IAC(im sure its the original) and I was going to check the connections at the cam sensor and the cam sensor itself. This is all I can think of at this point.

 

In the video he takes out the schrader valve and clamps on a gauge. There are gauges available that just screw on. If you don't have one or can't borrow one a lot of the auto parts stores have loaners. Call ahead to see if they do in your area.

Should be around 43 psi.

 

FYI: 43 psi is spec for these cars up thru '95 MY; for '96 on they changed the FI setup a bit; fuel pressure regulator is not on the rail. For these cars ('96 on) the off-boost fuel pressure should be around 35 psi.

OP: if your fuel pressure is low, change the fuel filter and ck again. Did you do a compression test?

 

Here is a video that might help. This is one of my 850's that would intermitently not start or keep running. You can watch the pressure gauge and listen to the engine as the pressure is there or not there.

 

Here is where Ive been able to get thus far

I havent had a chance to get to an auto store to rent a compression checker or fuel gauge, so I decided to try and just test what I have already.

I took the IAC off and cleaned it out, (it truthfully wasnt that bad)
I changed the fuel filter (this looked like the original lol)

I decided to check the cam sensor from the videos Ive seen
I cleaned up all the connections (some had oil and residue on them)
I was able to get ground from pin 1
I was able to get 5 volts from pin 2
I was able to get 12 volts from pin 3

The next step is to connect it and back probe 1 & 2 while someone is cranking to hopefully show 5 volts

I put the probes in pins 1 & 2 and had my wife crank the car over to test.
The car literally cranked over in one shot and the engine started. It also idled and ran for about 3 mins or so.

In that time period I was moving the air box back into the engine bay(it was out to get a better handle on the cam sensor connections and stuff since they are so short. The engine started getting choppy and then it eventually died.

I was never able to get it to crank over that easily again.
I can start it but with giving some gas, it will still not idle and if I do not keep it around 900rpms or so, it will start to die out. I kept it idling awhile as I wanted to circulate the coolant as I havent had a chance to circulate it with all the coolant line changes and when I changed the water pump etc...

The only thing as of right now that I can logically think of is either.

1. There is low fuel pressure(which I will test when I can) Im assuming this based off of that fact that if I give it gas it stays running but if I try and let it idle it wont stay running
2. The cam sensor is bad or
2b the connection to the cam sensor is bad...

Tomorrow I will check fuel pressure and check the spark plugs and compression

Anyone thing I may be on to something or way wrong?

 

Thank you very much, I will be renting a fuel pressure gauge this weekend or so. What it did turn out to be? Am I wrong to assume that it was the fuel pump? Is there anything else it could be besides a clogged fuel filter?

 

OK so far new update is that the compression test is 115psi 1-4 and 5 is 119psi. Im not sure if these are low, but it is on a cold dry test...

 

Crapp... I just realized I didnt do this with the throttle wide open.... guess I have something to do again tomorrow...

 

Those numbers are very low, and opening the throttle won't make much difference. Should be at least 150 psi.