Tweet
[I got to the end and realized I hadn't put up my car info. I think it's in my signiture but I can't remember. It's an '88LX with a '91L EFI engine swapped in. Let's just pretend it's a '91L] it's long but please read it all, guys
Hey guys it has been a while since I last posted, been pretty busy with school and work and such. Since I last talked I finished my carb>efi swap. Wasn't too hard, and she's been running exactly like she use to in my red car; like a champ.
Let me give you the complete story so you know what all I've touched.
Well, I'm a delivery driver for a local wing restaurant. The other night I delivered to one guy and when I got back to my car it wouldn't start. It turned over and over but would not start. I had to leave it there and came back in the middle of the night to try again, but still nothing, so I pushed it the mile or so home. Did I mention it ran like a champ prior to this happening?!
Oh, I just remembered, when it didn't start I called my dad and he said that one time he had to unplug and replug-in a few things before it started again. I believe he had tried the disty, coil, and ignition module. But this didnt work for me.
The next morning I pulled out my Haynes and started the ignition system checklist. The first test is to unplug a spark plug and see if there is spark. I turn the key to check the first plug and miraculously it starts on the other three cylinders. I plug in the fourth plug and she runs perfectly normal. At this point I decide to play with the timing because she's a little hesitant when you first press the pedal and she seems to have intermittant power. I turned the disty clockwise and suddenly she's idling perfectly, no hesitation, and constant power. But then I begin to hear a pinging when I put load on the engine. So then I put the disty back ccw some and we're back to how she ran before. Whatever, I can deal with this I figure.
I go upstairs, cool off for about an hour, email my boss to tell him everything is cool again.
Then I decide to go to the local bike shop......and she won't start. Turns over and over and over, no pop. I unplug, replug, check voltages, everything seems good. But I can't get the coil to arc to a ground. So I think maybe it's the coil to dist. wire, being it's still the orginal (the autozone one is always too short). I change it, and still nothing.
I move on to another step in the book and check the resistance in the pick-up coil (between the middle two prongs) and it's way out of range from what the book calls for. Book says to change the entire disty. Great, $200. Well I wansn't about to call that my problem for that much money.
This morning I go out there and she starts again. But rough this time. Definitely missing. It's not sporatic, seems to be the same cylinder(s) missing every time. So today she gets a new cap, rotor, plugs, and more wires. Finally a coil to disty plug that reaches comfortably. All these parts from oreilly's.
Change it all, and she runs exactly the same as this morning, a..perfect miss, if you understand what that means. $60 wasted.
I only let the car run for about 20 seconds, so I grabbed the exhaust manifold. #1 and #4 are hot, but #2 and #3 are still cool.
So I'm thinking its between the pick-up coil and the ignition module. I don't have a test light on hand to check that the module is sending a signal to the coil to spark, but I imagine I should get my hands on one to check it.
Also, I am coming to understand that I can get the pick-up coil (aka stator?) seperate from the disty and install it myself. Anyone know the difficulty on doing so? It would save a lot.
Hey guys it has been a while since I last posted, been pretty busy with school and work and such. Since I last talked I finished my carb>efi swap. Wasn't too hard, and she's been running exactly like she use to in my red car; like a champ.
Let me give you the complete story so you know what all I've touched.
Well, I'm a delivery driver for a local wing restaurant. The other night I delivered to one guy and when I got back to my car it wouldn't start. It turned over and over but would not start. I had to leave it there and came back in the middle of the night to try again, but still nothing, so I pushed it the mile or so home. Did I mention it ran like a champ prior to this happening?!
Oh, I just remembered, when it didn't start I called my dad and he said that one time he had to unplug and replug-in a few things before it started again. I believe he had tried the disty, coil, and ignition module. But this didnt work for me.
The next morning I pulled out my Haynes and started the ignition system checklist. The first test is to unplug a spark plug and see if there is spark. I turn the key to check the first plug and miraculously it starts on the other three cylinders. I plug in the fourth plug and she runs perfectly normal. At this point I decide to play with the timing because she's a little hesitant when you first press the pedal and she seems to have intermittant power. I turned the disty clockwise and suddenly she's idling perfectly, no hesitation, and constant power. But then I begin to hear a pinging when I put load on the engine. So then I put the disty back ccw some and we're back to how she ran before. Whatever, I can deal with this I figure.
I go upstairs, cool off for about an hour, email my boss to tell him everything is cool again.
Then I decide to go to the local bike shop......and she won't start. Turns over and over and over, no pop. I unplug, replug, check voltages, everything seems good. But I can't get the coil to arc to a ground. So I think maybe it's the coil to dist. wire, being it's still the orginal (the autozone one is always too short). I change it, and still nothing.
I move on to another step in the book and check the resistance in the pick-up coil (between the middle two prongs) and it's way out of range from what the book calls for. Book says to change the entire disty. Great, $200. Well I wansn't about to call that my problem for that much money.
This morning I go out there and she starts again. But rough this time. Definitely missing. It's not sporatic, seems to be the same cylinder(s) missing every time. So today she gets a new cap, rotor, plugs, and more wires. Finally a coil to disty plug that reaches comfortably. All these parts from oreilly's.
Change it all, and she runs exactly the same as this morning, a..perfect miss, if you understand what that means. $60 wasted.
I only let the car run for about 20 seconds, so I grabbed the exhaust manifold. #1 and #4 are hot, but #2 and #3 are still cool.
So I'm thinking its between the pick-up coil and the ignition module. I don't have a test light on hand to check that the module is sending a signal to the coil to spark, but I imagine I should get my hands on one to check it.
Also, I am coming to understand that I can get the pick-up coil (aka stator?) seperate from the disty and install it myself. Anyone know the difficulty on doing so? It would save a lot.
Comment