87 T-Type Wont start

[Mad_Trbo]

After having recently purchased an 87 T-Type with which I was having some issues shifting into any gear lower than drive. After looking into I found the cable was a cheap replacement cable from Autozone. B4 I made this discovery I disconnected the rod that connects to the column and did not reconnect it prior to re-starting the car.

When I finally hooked up the new cable, I started the car while it was in reverse and the emergency brake was on. The car immediately stalled and now it won't start again. Prior to this no problems starting.

One thing I did change while I was waiting for the transmission shifter cable was the fuel pressure regulator, fuel pressure guage on the rail and electronic guage inside car. Changed out the fuel pump to a Walbro unit.

So now I am wondering why the car won't start, two trains of thought.

With the new fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator, is it possible the car is getting to much fuel and flooding. What should fuel pressure be when the car is starting or turning over. I Have checked the fuel pump for voltage and I know it is working properly due to the fact that fuel pressure increases while the car is cranking. After I stop cranking it then drops to about 20lbs and holds it.

Second train of thought; could there be a problem with timing if the timing chain was old and ailing as it was. If the motor started while in gear due to the column linkage being disconnected could this have caused a problem with a stretched timing chain where it might cause timing to be out of psynch?

 

[Topjimmy]

Does the engine turn over? If not, have you tried rotating the lower column cover? Try shifting to park and turning the column to engage the park/neutral switch. If it starts, reconnect and adjust the linkage.

HTH - Jimmy

 

[Mad_Trbo]

The car does turn over, but just continues to turn over. Sorry for the confusion.

It seems like it isn't getting spark, but i checked and it is, so I wondered if there was to much fuel resulting from the other changes I made.

 

[3.8Illusion]

if you have a noid light check for injector pulse. you have spark. ive started my car in gear alot nothing to worry about there. did you unplug any connecters?

 

[Mad_Trbo]

I haven't disconnected anything, the car started fine and then stalled.

After stalling no starting, can anyone tell me what I should be seeing as fuel pressure upon statup?

 

[Mad_Trbo]

32- 43 vacum line disconnected.

Has anyone experienced issues with to much fuel and the car not starting?

 

[Mad_Trbo]

I was looking over the car again and it us appears for some reason the car is either getting no fuel or no spark.

I'll search on how to check if the fuel injectors are receiving power. I am thinking if I were getting fuel through the injector that the plugs would be wet immediately after trying to crank, can anyone confirm this?

 

[Mad_Trbo]

I know where the coil pack is located, this is on the fuel rail right near the fire wall. But where is the ignition module located and can I test for spark at each plug by simply hooking up a timing light while cranking the car and if there is a spark I should get a blinking light - right?

 

[Mad_Trbo]

Ok so I figured out where the ignition module is, right below the coil pack.

Another question, from an idiot move. A friend of mine and I were installing a stretch stock placement intercooler. At the end of the job I could not get the car to turn over, meaning I was getting the dreaded click sound from the starter. I actually thought I was experiencing the symptons of a dead battery. Found that somehow the ground wire connecting to the negative on the battery was disconnected. I couldn't tell where it came from, it had to have something to do with the installatio of the intercooler, I checked and check to no avail.

So anyway, I reconnected to the turbo support bracket and the car turned over. Could my problem be related to the fact that I continued to try and start the car with no ground. Would that damage the ignition module?

Or could there be another point that should be grounded that isn't, is there an illustration somewhere that gives where all the ground points should be?

Looks like I am going to have to purchase the Casper testing unit along with a new ignition module. Does this make sense to anyone?


2 days now and can't get car to start...

 

[Turbo Brian]

Here are some thoughts on chasing a no start. They are arranged from easy to hard and it would help if you can find someone willing to lend you some parts.

Check the orange wire that goes from the battery to the engine computer. If it is disconnected, the computer is not powered and the engine will not start.

Check for 30 lbs or more fuel pressure with the key turned on. Less than that and you have a fuel system issue.

Borrow and install a known good MAF sensor. If this sensor is bad, it could contribute to misfueling and a no start. This component is very difficult to troubleshoot.

Borrow a known good module and coilpack.

Borrow a known good ECM.

Pull a couple of plugs and check compression. If the timing chain has jumped, compression will be down from 140 to about 100 or less. This might be something to do earlier in the list.

If you have compression, substitute in a known good crank position sensor. Many no starts seem to be related to this sensor.

Substitute a known good cam position sensor.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mad_Trbo]

Good pointers Brian and I appreciate it.

The car is an hour away, so I will begin down that list if what I think is the problem at this point turns out not to be the problem

My starting challenges started around a point in time when I was having two major issues. One a friend of mine and I changed out the turbo and stock mount intercooler. Well as you know the ground attaches to the trubo bracket. Well I didnt note that this wasn't hooked back up. So we were trying to start the car and were getting dreaded clicking noise due to insufficient ground. I didn't realize this was a problem until after I had jumped the car, switched the batter, purchased a new battery and when I was installing the new battery noted the lose cable

I am thinking I could have blown a fusible link to the fuel pump relay with the repeated attempts to start the car. Unlikely but possible.

Car started and then I went to work on the shifter cable, I was unable to get the car to shift beyond OD. So I took apart the whole shifter mechanism and that includes the rod the moves the column part. I believe this is where I may find my problem. Now the column is out of adjustment and the ECM isn't picking up on Neutral or Park I think that if this is the case the car will still crank, but the ECM will not power the injectors, which I know are powered from through the same power source as the fuel pump relay.

Soooo, I say all this to say I think I may have narrowed down my problem through research and help from all board members. I just have to put my theory to test this weekend.

Thanks again for the input.