Help! BP'Tiva having starting issues (Gas Related?)

[SimonTuffGuy]

Really weird... I left work and went home for lunch (5 blocks away). The car seemed to be running perfectly fine.

When I went to leave my house to come back into work, the car won't start. It sits there and just cranks, but it won't fire up and start.

Where should I start looking? I really want to take the Festiva to the beach, but I can't have it break down on me along the way.

The fuses all look fine. It's not the fuel cut off switch in the back, that's not kicked. So, where do I look next?

[NovaSS]

find out if its a fuel or igniton problem first, pull the coil wire and put it close to grounding ( use insulated pliers) and have someone crank it over, got a spark? If so check each plug wire for spark ( to rule out distributor). If you have spark , its a fuel system or timing belt

[SimonTuffGuy]

Here's a post I found for an Explorer...

Engine always starts unless I do not engage the starter long enough on the first attempt. If I fail to engage the starter long enough then I must wait 15 minutes and then it will start fine as long as I give the starter enough time to engage and start turning the flywheel. This has happened four times in the last week out of approximately 30 engine starts. When I mess up and don't let the starter fully engage and then immediately attempt another engine start the engine just cranks over like there is no fuel or no spark. Then when I simply let the engine sit for 15 minutes it starts just fine, again I must be sure to let the starter engage the flywheel or I'll have to wait another 15 minutes.

That's what I did today... Went to start it and didn't hold it long enough for it to actually start. Then when I went to try again, it just cranked with no start.

I wonder if it'll fix itself til I get home? Like I said... It's been running fine since I got it out this spring.

[mattswabb]

Coil, coil wire. Check those. Does it seem like it wants to fire (little spark) or just spinning with zero spark.

[SimonTuffGuy]

Update - I let the car sit for 2 hours... I just ran home (5 blocks) and tried to start the car. At first it just cranked, but when I pumped the gas pedal a bit, the car started up. It was a little rough at first, but I let it sit and run for a few minutes and it idled back to normal. I drove it into work. I'm going to let it sit for a bit and then run out and try starting it again.

And I guess we'll see what happens when I go to leave work.

It's just awkward. Does the above post from the Explorer make ANY sense at all?! The teeth of the starter for some reason aren't engaging the flywheel... But why would sitting fix that? Something creep back into place maybe? I dunno...

[m715]

That Explorer post does not sound right at all. I could believe that a starter might overheat with bad windings/bearings, solenoid too hot from the exhaust like 60s and such GMs etc, but that post........... I would almost believe an ignition issue myself, or fuel delivery. Heat wise, the only thing that I would know of that would "fix itself" is a componant that has overheated like the old Ford control boxes on Duraspark II IIRC. I had one that did that on a 76 T-bird and such. Module/coil like Matt said makes a lot of sense. Only other thing I ever saw heat wise on fuel was vapor lock, and it is not warm enough weather yet for anything like that, and I don't think FI cars have that pop up anymore, do they? Do the igniters ever get touchy Matt? They over on the strut tower like the B3, or do you move them, or are they internal in dist.?
Michael

[SimonTuffGuy]

I've got a Blaster coil on it and the wire seems to be just fine on it... It could be the coil itself, but why would it start up just today, then after sitting, fix itself?

It's awkward.

I'm going to see what happens shortly when I leave work and go from there...

[Damkid]

just a thought, when i had a problem with my BP not starting, and it turned out to be the fuel pump relay, all it was, was a small bit of carbon build-up on the relay contacts on the inside on the relay, which caused them to not connect properly which in turn caused the fuel pump to not work

do you think it's possile your relay might be starting to have the same problem i did?

[shorestiva]

If you run into problems while your down here ill be around on sunday and monday.

[skeeters_keeper]

its b/c your not comming to OHstiva and Casper is angry!


have a good time @ the beach

[Festiva4SHO]

just a thought, when i had a problem with my BP not starting, and it turned out to be the fuel pump relay, all it was, was a small bit of carbon build-up on the relay contacts on the inside on the relay, which caused them to not connect properly which in turn caused the fuel pump to not work

do you think it's possile your relay might be starting to have the same problem i did?

I was having this issue aswell, Im not trying to steal the thread here, but I believe this may be my problem. Where is the Fuel Pump Relay at?

[SimonTuffGuy]

I'd like to know where the relay is too. My engine has a bit of a carbon throwing problem... Could just be that.

With that said... The car acted up before leaving and we ended up taking Amber's Neon instead. I didn't want to get there and get stuck.

[Damkid]

the fuel pump relay is located under the dash just above the hood release

[SimonTuffGuy]

I don't think this is the problem anymore...

Here's a scenario from this weekend. The car has been running pretty good, drove it 75+ miles to a friends house for a gig his band had.

When I went to leave that night to head home, I went to start the car and it just cranked. So, I get pissed and start slamming on the gas pedal, try starting the car, and it fires up. It runs really rough at first, a bit of smoke out the exhaust, but it starts and runs. I rev it up, and then it's fine.

Any suggestions? The same thing happened at my house before leaving for the beach... I was able to start the car after slamming around on the gas pedal a bit.

[jglutz]

TPS Signal...just a guess...I don't think the ECU looks at the TPS until the engine has started.

Dirt/Gunk in idle air bypass.

The mechanical stop for the butterfly (throtle plate) is set to shallow...meaning the plate is jammed closed...It should be very very very slightly open.

Or....maybe its fuel pump (relay) related or some other electrical problem. Is the Crank pos'n sensor secure. The CPS is required to created spark.