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So I'm hopefully well on my way to getting my little 1986 323 back up and running. I used to fire it up every weekend or so starting in May when I took the plates off it. Moved into a condo without parking options, so I figured once every week or two so would be fine. Aside from existing unrelated oil issues I needed more time to fix, all systems go... until about two weeks ago.
Since then, there's seemingly nothing I can do to get this car started. When the manifold gets a healthy dose of starter fluid, the car stutters as if it wants to start but is running on fumes or nearly nothing... but it never gives it enough to actually turn over and start right now. Comes up continually just shy of "catching" as it were.
I know one shouldn't try to crank for this length of time, but wanted to demonstrate this phenomenon in a video. Quality is garbage, but audio is all that really matters here anyway:
Battery:
This is the strongest cranking car I've ever owned... probably the 650CCA unit it came with. Battery terminals are in fair shape without any corrosion and all ground points with the engine/chassis have been lightly sanded/brushed to ensure good contact. It was charged at/above 90% throughout the testing and work today.
Fuel:
I did notice the original fuel pump (now 31 years old) wasn't making any noise at all or humming at all when I pulled the back seat, so I've successfully replaced the strainer, pump assembly, and in-bay fuel filter. I can confirm that the pump is receiving 12V through the connector when you try to start the car, it has a nice hum/vibration to it, and that there is definitely some level of pressure making it to the fuel rail. I can't definitively say whether it's sufficient pressure though.
Fusible links under the hood appear operational. I did manage to pull out the fuel pump relay, and there appeared to be a random 23 Ohms of resistance between two of the prongs... which I think were the left-most ones when looking at the bottom of the relay. It was too hot to keep investigating this aft, but that's my progress in the fuel department. Given they're rather pricey items, I'd prefer to avoid replacing it if it's easily tested.
Spark:
I sprayed with contact cleaner and or wire brushed every single connector and terminal prong I could get my hands on. NGK V-Power plugs are clean, gapped properly, and torqued correctly. Leads are great-looking relatively-new NGKs with healthy resistance levels. No signs of moisture, cracks, or corrosion on any part of the cap/rotor/coil/etc. After some Googling, triple-checked the firing order just in case that was a factor. Plugs, when pulled, appear somewhat-wet with a dark-coloured film that's not quite dark enough to be oil. Should have taken a photo or two.
Air:
Relatively new cone filter with an RX-7 adapter - unchanged since it was daily driven. No sign of leaks or cracks anywhere on the factory intake pipe and all clamps/hoses fail to reveal any clues.
Compression:
Big if here... given my compression hose and gauge have mysteriously vanished. I think I let a friend borrow them a while ago, so this remains a variable I can't yet test. I can't imagine a way it could have blown the head gasket while randomly idling in a parked driveway here and there, but can't yet rule it out. No sign of interaction between coolant and oil, and clearly I can't check the tail pipe for signs of smoke given it won't start.
------------
Thus, at this point, I'm not really sure where to start when I get back to it tomorrow. I have some ideas, but would really appreciate some suggestions first so I don't continue to elongate my wild goose chase needlessly in this weather. Thanks all!
Since then, there's seemingly nothing I can do to get this car started. When the manifold gets a healthy dose of starter fluid, the car stutters as if it wants to start but is running on fumes or nearly nothing... but it never gives it enough to actually turn over and start right now. Comes up continually just shy of "catching" as it were.
I know one shouldn't try to crank for this length of time, but wanted to demonstrate this phenomenon in a video. Quality is garbage, but audio is all that really matters here anyway:
Battery:
This is the strongest cranking car I've ever owned... probably the 650CCA unit it came with. Battery terminals are in fair shape without any corrosion and all ground points with the engine/chassis have been lightly sanded/brushed to ensure good contact. It was charged at/above 90% throughout the testing and work today.
Fuel:
I did notice the original fuel pump (now 31 years old) wasn't making any noise at all or humming at all when I pulled the back seat, so I've successfully replaced the strainer, pump assembly, and in-bay fuel filter. I can confirm that the pump is receiving 12V through the connector when you try to start the car, it has a nice hum/vibration to it, and that there is definitely some level of pressure making it to the fuel rail. I can't definitively say whether it's sufficient pressure though.
Fusible links under the hood appear operational. I did manage to pull out the fuel pump relay, and there appeared to be a random 23 Ohms of resistance between two of the prongs... which I think were the left-most ones when looking at the bottom of the relay. It was too hot to keep investigating this aft, but that's my progress in the fuel department. Given they're rather pricey items, I'd prefer to avoid replacing it if it's easily tested.
Spark:
I sprayed with contact cleaner and or wire brushed every single connector and terminal prong I could get my hands on. NGK V-Power plugs are clean, gapped properly, and torqued correctly. Leads are great-looking relatively-new NGKs with healthy resistance levels. No signs of moisture, cracks, or corrosion on any part of the cap/rotor/coil/etc. After some Googling, triple-checked the firing order just in case that was a factor. Plugs, when pulled, appear somewhat-wet with a dark-coloured film that's not quite dark enough to be oil. Should have taken a photo or two.
Air:
Relatively new cone filter with an RX-7 adapter - unchanged since it was daily driven. No sign of leaks or cracks anywhere on the factory intake pipe and all clamps/hoses fail to reveal any clues.
Compression:
Big if here... given my compression hose and gauge have mysteriously vanished. I think I let a friend borrow them a while ago, so this remains a variable I can't yet test. I can't imagine a way it could have blown the head gasket while randomly idling in a parked driveway here and there, but can't yet rule it out. No sign of interaction between coolant and oil, and clearly I can't check the tail pipe for signs of smoke given it won't start.
------------
Thus, at this point, I'm not really sure where to start when I get back to it tomorrow. I have some ideas, but would really appreciate some suggestions first so I don't continue to elongate my wild goose chase needlessly in this weather. Thanks all!
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