Hello all,

I've had this car in my shop a couple times and now it's just boggling my mind, so I thought I'd reach out and see if anyone else has had the same problem or if anyone has any suggestions.

First time the car came in it had a hard time starting when cold. It would crank and crank and then fire up, but would backfire out the intake and run like crap for about 10 minutes. Once it was a little warm, the car ran like a million bucks.

I tried pulling the code out of it, but I later found the Check Engine Light was burned out. Pulled the dash to replace the bulb and the light still doesn't work. So I have no way of pulling the code out of the car, that I know of...(if there is any codes)

The customer took the car for a couple days and it was towed back in. It died while driving down the road after driving for about 20 minutes so it was warm this time. Now the car is back in the shop and won't fire at all. It will pop every once in a while but that's about it.

I tested spark, seems ok. I tested injector pulse with a noid light, seems ok. Checked compression, right about 150psi. Car won't even fire on starting fluid.

I was thinking timing belt may have jumped, but I think that would effect the compression, and that seems ok. I think it would also run like crap all the time and not just when cold if this were the case.

I don't know much about the history of this vehicle, but it seems as if the motor may have been replaced with a junkyard motor at one time due to some yellow writing on the valve cover.


Any help with this nightmare would be greatly appreciated....

Thank you!

Ian

 

bump

 

I’m guessing the ECU is fried which is why the check engine light won’t come on.

 

Thanks for the reply...

That was also a thought I had... are these computers common for going out?

Anyone know which computer this has off top of their head?


THanks

 

FYI NiceFeet,

I removed the ECU from the car, removed both covers and found some pretty bad corrosion on a good portion of the board. I'll be replacing the ecu soon and let you know if it fixed it.


Appreciate the feedback...