I have a 97 lude that has been converted from auto to 5 speed by a P.O. The guys work was shody at best. The shifter cable broke, and it sat in my shop for a month or so, until I found a used cable. I put the new cables in, and now it wont start. What could I have unplugged, to make it not start. I broke the fitting loose at the fuel rail, and there is good pressure there. I took the coil wire loose, and grounded it, and have spark there. I havent checked comming out of the dist yet. I am going to get a plug and wire to make a tester. The cap does look pretty bad, but it ran fine when I parked it. I tried shooting some carb cleaner in the throttle body and cranked it, and it still wont hit a lick. Please help.

 

Have you looked at the Clutch Safety switch, if you even have one?

 

Does it inhibit anything other than the stater? It cranks, just wont fire. The PO didnt wire in the clutch safety switch, so it will crank w/o the clutch pedal pressed down. I need to go back and fix alot of his crappy work, I just dont have time right now. I need to get it going, cause its my commuter, and my truck is putting me in the poor house. It has to be something real simple, cause it ran fine when I parked it. Thanks

 

Last night, I tested, and have spark out of the dist. So, I have fuel at the rail, spark out of the dist, so the injectors must not be firing, right? I am sure I had to unplug something, or done something when I changed the shifter cable, what could it be? Please Help!!

 

I checked all of the fuses. Got a manual, and looked at wiring diagrams. Fuse #2 (I think) That is switched power when cranking isnt even there. So, the guys must have wired around that fuse, when bypassing the neutral safety switch, in the auto to manual conversion.

When I first tried to start it, the battery was dead. I put a good charge on it, and it still wouldnt start. It would crank, but no start. I put a meter on the battery, and while cranking, it would drop to 10V or so. Is that OK? A couple of times it chugged like it wanted to start, but wouldnt. I finally tried a different battery, a fresh optima from another vehicle. i cranked for a while, and it chugged more and more frequently, until it started. It ran rough for a while, but it started. It never did smooth out, so I figured I fuel fouled the plugs. But then I remembered that I had unpluged an injector while testing. I pluged it back it, and its running as smooth as ever. So, when it finally started, it only started on 3 cylinders. So, what gives? Could the battery have been the problem? I fiddled with a lot of wires, so if there was a loose connection, I might have moved it back into place.

 

Yes it could have been. The actual starting process takes a SHIET load of CURRENT. Not voltage. Your battery dropping to 10 volts while cranking is not too bad (nothing to worry about). The voltage doesn't really give a good indication of the current though.

So you can see the relation...even if your battery clamp from your wires is sitting on the battery terminal, it can still have problems firing/cranking/everything else. The contact from the wire to the battery terminal needs to be solid as DO ALL YOUR grounds. I would check your ground wires (wires that go to your black side) too while your at it.

I would say your issue is a combination of a few things. So your car is still running on three cylinders? I'd do a full tune up. Change your cap, rotor, plug wires, and plugs. Maybe even do your fuel filter.

 

Make sure the plug wires are on right. and make sure the ground on the thermostat housing is good.

 

Sorry, I wasnt clear. When it finally started after changing the battery, it was running rough, like it was missing on 1 cyl. I had unplugged an injector earlier checking voltage, and didnt plug it back in. Once I remembered, and plugged it in, it runs fine. I have bought new cap, rotor, and plugs. Just need to put them in. Its running fine now. I guess it was the battery???