engine wont catch

[legolyle]

alright guys, I just got this car a couple of weeks ago and am already having my first problem :O

For informations sake, Ive been running 89 octane through the car, and the guy before me supposedly ran 93, I'm not sure if thats why it started doing this to me now, or if its even related, BUT heres what's going on:

Today, for the first time, the car wouldn't catch, unless I worked the throttle/gas peddle. Its funny, because when I got in it this morning when it was cold, it started right up, no problem whatsoever.

If I try just starting the car up (so far only while it's hot-haven't had a chance to test while its cold again), it wont catch, it'll just keep turning over and over. But (80% of the time) if I work/press the throttle, it'll catch, rev up, and start/idle fine.

The car idles fine 700ish, runs great. Absolutely no other problems with it, never stalled out (on its own ).

So far, Ive dumped some Lucas injection cleaner in the tank, and Ill put some more in there when I fill up next time. I also followed an online post somewhere (forget where-a supra forum) that described cleaning out the intake with carb cleaner, through a vacuum line.

also, not sure if it matters-but ever since I got the car-a check engine light likes to randomly appear and disappear-I just found out today that it was code 27-sub oxygen sensor, and I am not sure how that could be (if it even is) related.


appreciate any input you guys might have-thanks!

 

[SRZMK3]

there is a cold start injector directly ontop of the intake manifold it might be clogged... it really does sound like you might need to clean out that intake manifold. get some throttlebody cleaner and take the intake off and while holding the throttle open spray all over inside, spray into the vacuum lines, spray into those bronze ports, spray into the intake manifold, and then afterwards, replace spark plugs.

 

[legolyle]

alright, thanks for your response. The day after putting the injector cleaner in, the car has been starting up pretty normal. I'm probably gonna put it in for a couple more tanks, and then when I get some time in the future try and clean it all out as you suggested.

 

[legolyle]

well, bringing this thread back from its slumber, the car had been starting fine up until a few days ago. It started having a lot of trouble starting.

So I did what's mentioned above (but did NOT replace the spark plugs yet), gave it a good cleaning on the intake, even pulled the throttle body off and cleaned it some, and put some injector cleaner in.

It cant be the cold start injector (right?), because if I remember the correctly the CSI only works when the coolant temperature is low, and if anything, this happens more often when the cars warmed up (could just be my imagination/chance though).

The car runs great once its started.

It's only been a few hours and a bit of driving since I did that, and it seemed to help a bit, but not enough. Basically, the car will not catch sometimes, sometimes it will sputter and die out, sometimes it will sputter, catch, and rev up/idle fine, and other times it will start up like normal. However, more often than not it will take 3-10 turns of the key to start it, and sometimes pressing the gas pedal helps.

Ive been searching the web for stuff like "sputtering on start" and "car wont start" etc, and the only useful hit I've gotten is fuel pump. Could it be my fuel pump thats causing it to not START correctly? Even though the car RUNS fine?

The next thing I'm going to be doing is pulling out all the spark plugs and checking them out-the wires are pretty new.

any tips you guys have would be much appreciated.

 

[AJ'S 88NA]

Pull the # 1 plug out (easiest to get at) and check the condition of it, might also find a little oil in the plug wells.

 

[legolyle]

Yeah I finally got a chance to pull the first plug, and it looked just fine. There did appear to be a little bit of extremely old oil in the wells too...im going to have to pull all the plugs when I get a chance this week, see how much oil is really there..

I failed mention it before, but im slowly burning coolant, could the high pressure from the cooling system cause some coolant to leak into the cylinders and cause the engine to be hard to start? Im not getting white smoke, so the gaskets not too bad...yet...i plan on swapping the engine soon.

 

[Nick M]

You mean it won't start when hot?

 

[AJ'S 88NA]

Yeah I finally got a chance to pull the first plug, and it looked just fine. There did appear to be a little bit of extremely old oil in the wells too...im going to have to pull all the plugs when I get a chance this week, see how much oil is really there..

I failed mention it before, but im slowly burning coolant, could the high pressure from the cooling system cause some coolant to leak into the cylinders and cause the engine to be hard to start? Im not getting white smoke, so the gaskets not too bad...yet...i plan on swapping the engine soon.

Coolant in the cylinders would mean BHG.

Might want to do a compression test when you do the plugs.

 

[legolyle]

yeah I know it means BHG, Ive been pretty sure that its blown for a while now, and will be hopefully dealing with it in a month or so. Ill get back to you with the compression numbers. When I originally started the this thread I didn't know the HG was gone, but about a month ago I pretty much realized it-burning coolant, oily/gassy smell to the coolant overflow chamber-lots of air in the system, etc-the joys of buying used.

but I'm just wondering if the BHG/coolant in the chamber would cause a hard start-as it happens anytime the car sits for like 30 minutes or more. hot or cold.

 

[digihonk82]

Wiring seems to be the cause of alot of no start issues. You might check out your harness for brittle or broken wires and plugs!

 

[AJ'S 88NA]

yeah I know it means BHG, Ive been pretty sure that its blown for a while now, and will be hopefully dealing with it in a month or so. Ill get back to you with the compression numbers. When I originally started the this thread I didn't know the HG was gone, but about a month ago I pretty much realized it-burning coolant, oily/gassy smell to the coolant overflow chamber-lots of air in the system, etc-the joys of buying used.

but I'm just wondering if the BHG/coolant in the chamber would cause a hard start-as it happens anytime the car sits for like 30 minutes or more. hot or cold.

I think you found your problem, at least a lot of them.

Yes BHG will cause hard to start, little compression means little bang.

Coolant and gas doesn't burn very well either.

 

[SupaMan]

yeah I know it means BHG, Ive been pretty sure that its blown for a while now, and will be hopefully dealing with it in a month or so. Ill get back to you with the compression numbers. When I originally started the this thread I didn't know the HG was gone, but about a month ago I pretty much realized it-burning coolant, oily/gassy smell to the coolant overflow chamber-lots of air in the system, etc-the joys of buying used.

but I'm just wondering if the BHG/coolant in the chamber would cause a hard start-as it happens anytime the car sits for like 30 minutes or more. hot or cold.

Trying ignite water/coolant is going to cause it to run very ruff, Thats probably it. Fix the BHG first.

EDIT: Completely didnt see AJ post already.