t_mac

edit: just checked its actually a WHOPPING -35c here (or -31F)

wow one of the coldest days of the year for sure!

In any case if you're from thunderbay, you should be plugging in your car before you start it up. If you're starting it when it's very cold it's hard on the engine!

arrocha87

uhm have you checked to see if u have oil in ur plugs? if u have a bad spark plug tube seal itll definitely be hard to start and might die on occasion depending how many have oil in them...

85_305

^Nope.. but like I said not even the PREVIOUS owner ever changed the plugs. Something tells me that today when I got to buy new plugs, the old ones are gonna be prettttty bad.

arrocha87

i just bought my new project bout 3 weeks ago and all the tips where burned off the plugs and had oil in #1 plug bad! changed VC gasket and new plugs and its running pretty good even with old *** cracked wires.

zcar4me

Don't forget about cleaning the throttle body too. Especially if you're saying it sometimes dies at stoplights. The carbon and oil from the PCV can dirty the throttle plate in a hurry.

85_305

ah good thinking! I'll clean the throttle body. I've heard you need to take the oil filter out and the pcv is under ther car?

arrocha- the car still ran and drove good and all that and got decent gas mileage?

arrocha87

car ran ok wouldnt say gud when i first bought it. was sluggish and would stutter in stop and go traffic. highway ran ok as i drove it home about 30 miles when i bought it. still giving me some issues cause the wires are real bad so im going to change them when i get payed. my mpg have improved greatly but apart from changing the plugs i also changed out: air filter, fuel filter, changed oil, set psi on tires to 32f and 30r.
*i really dont want to do anything more as i plan going with a JDM b16 soon.

slammed4dreg

like ej8 tuner said CHANGE UR FUEL FILTER MINE ALWAYS DID THE SAME THING CHANGED PLUGS CHANGED WIRES I WAS STARTING TO THINK THE DISTRIBUTOR WAS MESSING UP, BUT THEN I JUST BOUGHT A FUEL FILTER CUZ IT WAS LIKE 12 BUCKS AND I HAD NEVER CHANGED IT, AND YEA IT WENT AWAY, AFTER A ACOUPLE OF CRANKS

85_305

oh good stuff.. thanks guys.


Get this though.. autozone and advanced dont carry my plugs!! what kind of ngk arfe they? I will order online

85_305

oh and something that is pissing me off.

My car will idle in neutral just FINE as long as I'm coasting. The ***SECOND** my car stops rolling and I'm in neutral, the idle goes shitty and it dies. What. The. ****.

REDesignIT

ok I think I got it, its the dizzy, you have an intermittent TDC sensor in the dizzy. My 89 si crx was crazy like that too, sometimes start right up sometimes crank crank no start, ended up replacing the main relay, the ecu etc, finally tracked it down to the ecu not seeing the right TDC position from the dizzy, swapped the dizzy and bingo worked like a charm every time.

This was just my cars case, but if the relay is good and wiring is good and spark plug gap is good and battery amp is good and ground cable to starter is good and battery terminals are clean and hot lead to starter is not frayed. I think you should check your dizzy next. Same issue with it falling on its self when you go to neutral under no load, the dizzy's TDC sensor forgets to register and the ecu can no longer "operate" not knowing if its on or where it is in the cycle, up down on 3 on 4 etc. So it dies not knowing what to do.

Under load with the rotor getting lots of spark the TDC sensor may be getting enough juice to send the signal to the ecu to keep running. But off load the spark voltage drops and the might be just enough under the TDC threshold to register. This is why sometimes you have to replace the ignitor module before replacing the dizzy as it is a lower cost repair item.

85_305

^Well I'll be a son of a bitch. That almost makes sense! But why if it's in neutral COASTING will it not die, but if it's in neutral NOT MOVING it will die? HOw the **** does the car know it's moving?


I'm thinking about buying a full msd ignition kit. It's kinda win-win. Better gas mileage, and it will all be new ****.

Swansen

Its possible that the coil and the ignitor inside the distributor are waring out. Did you try what some one said above, turn the key to on for a couple seconds then try turning the car on?? Only way to check fuel pressure would be with a gauge (obviously) but i don't think a shop would charge more than $50 to check fuel pressure, or you could buy the gauge for the same. Actually, check and see if the car has spark. Going to needs someones help, but take out a spark plug wire and hold the tip near something metal and if you have spark then you know the disty is fine.

EL Vap133

Lack of power or fuel? Maybe a new battery or fuel pump or clogged fuel filter?

85_305

Well I noticed that if I let the idle surge enough, eventually it evens out to like 300trpm's or so.. and will idle fine. Until I start driving or hit the gas, then it goes like crazy or it will die out.

I'm getting pissed.

85_305

Well I changed the plugs. They were denso irridiums.. all the plugs looked like this, and had gapping from ranges of .030-.035.. with the first plug left-most on the bank not even fitting ON THE GAPPER.. so less than .020.


But my idle is still ****ed up. I took it for a quick test drive and it didn't die on me, but it came verrrry close.



Was gonna get a fuel filter, but it's 30+ dollars from pep****s.

85_305

Quick update. I just drove it about 20miles or so, all city stop and go.. the car will not die anymore, but the idle drops real low for a quick second, then it maintains a nice 800rpm or so idle. Other than the initial drop WHEN I'M STOPPED (not in neutral coasting..), it's running decent. It seems MUCH peppier w/ the new plugs too.

arrocha87

yea sounds like ur on the right path. how are ur wires? and wtf at the pep boys price? its like 11.99 at autozone.

85_305

^well strangely enough, autof*cks and advanced couldn't order my plugs or didn't have them in stock. Pepdummies did. The wires look to be in pretty nice shape and are 8mm aftermarkets. I'm THINKING about getting an msd ignition and new wires, but if it aint broken, i'm not gonna touch it! I'm gonna see how my car runs now w/ new plugs..

does the ecu have to re-learn w/ the new plugs? Maybe thats why it seems to slowly be running better? And what do you think of my plugs? Pretty shitty right?

arrocha87

yea they look bad but atleast u stil had tips. mine were completely burned off. what plugs did u go with that auto z didnt have them? i just wen with basic ones. NGK GPs at 2.99 ea, i think the cheapest platinum ngks.

cherroneballs

compression.

brutekiller787

That's exactly what it is. when you're under a quarter tank the fuel will gravity feed back into the fuel tank. when starting the car after letting it sit, hot or cold, the fuel pump will first have to pressurize the fuel system, causing extended cranking. just keep over half a tank in at all times and you shouldn't have this problem

tazeat

The ECU knows if you are moving through the same wire that goes to your speedometer... Its just a digital pulse from the speed sensor on the transmission. The idle rpm is different when you are stopped and when you are moving (usually much lower when you are stopped). Search the forums for resetting your idle rpm and you can usually eliminate idle problems.

85_305

lol neither of them could get NGK ANYTHINGS for my car, pep boys had a few models in stock. I got the ngk r's, which have a copper core I believe and they were 2 bucks and change.

If I recall correctly, I actually made this thread after filling up my tank and it still did it. Strangely enough, it hasn't not started in a few days now. But i'll see if it worsens as the tank gets lower.

Ahhhh... that explains a lot.

Now my next question is, if I adjust my base idle, wont my cold startup idle be set higher, and my neutral in-motion idle be higher??

teamoktane

got no gas ..lol