repo-man
11-04-2006, 08:12 PM
so a howdy to everybody, very cool site. i have browsed it for info many times and it has always been super helpful. i have 4... yes 4 3rd gens. an 86 DX 5-spd sedan, an 88 LXi 5-speed coupe, an 89 LXi auto coupe, and an 89 DX auto sedan. they have always been good to me, except the latest one, the 86 DX, and im really hoping someone has some ideas because im totally out. ive searched long and hard but havent found anything else like this one.
when purchased by my girlfriend (also a gen3 addict) it ran quite well though was in rather rough cosmetic shape. shortly after she purchased it it began stalling out randomly. if you kept your foot on the gas you could keep it running but she was used to an LXi with PGM-FI so the whole 2bbl concept wasnt really appealing to her. after replacing plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, and a refurbed 89DX junkyard carb it ran great again... for about 3 days. then the stalling came back, and got worse. now instead of the car stalling but firing right back up it now stalls out and takes anywhere from 30 sec to 3 min to refire. we thought it may have been a faulty or failing fuel pump since the engine seemed to be starving before it would die out but the pump was confirmed good as was the ignition coil. next up was timing checks. now this is not the first time i've had an A20 all apart but this one was wierd. when the accessories were all apart and the stretchy timing belt was off i quickly came to realize that there were no timing marks on the wheel. the numbers and the "T" on the flywheel were conspicuously absent and there was only a "24" with a line above and below it. after looking around elsewhere on the engine it looked pretty solid that this "24" mark was TDC so i put the belt on and put her back together. i started it and it fired right up but was running a little rough, just like it was before the belt replacement. i gave it a little gas and it picked right up. once it hit 3k rpm it smoothed out and ran great. it kept coming up to about 4k and running great, then lost power big time, slowed way down gave a little pop and died out. it hasnt started since. it cranks sparks and the fuel pumps but it wont start anymore and im at a loss for ideas.
so any help or ideas would be great. we've made it a pretty nice car and i had big plans for her but the whole not running thing is kinda putting a damper on that. id like to save it and hopefully avoid an engine swap, it only has like 165k on it. (my 89DX has 206k and still runs like new)
thanks for any ideas!
when purchased by my girlfriend (also a gen3 addict) it ran quite well though was in rather rough cosmetic shape. shortly after she purchased it it began stalling out randomly. if you kept your foot on the gas you could keep it running but she was used to an LXi with PGM-FI so the whole 2bbl concept wasnt really appealing to her. after replacing plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, and a refurbed 89DX junkyard carb it ran great again... for about 3 days. then the stalling came back, and got worse. now instead of the car stalling but firing right back up it now stalls out and takes anywhere from 30 sec to 3 min to refire. we thought it may have been a faulty or failing fuel pump since the engine seemed to be starving before it would die out but the pump was confirmed good as was the ignition coil. next up was timing checks. now this is not the first time i've had an A20 all apart but this one was wierd. when the accessories were all apart and the stretchy timing belt was off i quickly came to realize that there were no timing marks on the wheel. the numbers and the "T" on the flywheel were conspicuously absent and there was only a "24" with a line above and below it. after looking around elsewhere on the engine it looked pretty solid that this "24" mark was TDC so i put the belt on and put her back together. i started it and it fired right up but was running a little rough, just like it was before the belt replacement. i gave it a little gas and it picked right up. once it hit 3k rpm it smoothed out and ran great. it kept coming up to about 4k and running great, then lost power big time, slowed way down gave a little pop and died out. it hasnt started since. it cranks sparks and the fuel pumps but it wont start anymore and im at a loss for ideas.
so any help or ideas would be great. we've made it a pretty nice car and i had big plans for her but the whole not running thing is kinda putting a damper on that. id like to save it and hopefully avoid an engine swap, it only has like 165k on it. (my 89DX has 206k and still runs like new)
thanks for any ideas!