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View Full Version : Car doesn't want to start but if it does it runs rough



sepulslaya
04-26-2008, 10:12 AM
86 DX, 220,000miles, basic daily driver.

the car normally starts and runs great but on and off recently the car turns over and over and over and if i floor it and keep it floored while cranking the motor it will start, but it takes a second to get up to speed and kinda sounds like it's got to wind up like a jet winds up faster and faster until it gets going. it's strange, but it's worked.

well now that trick doesn't work. the only way to get it going it to floor the gas even before i crank the motor over and keep it floored, then it will eventually wind up to speed.

if i don't completely floor it it sort of begins to wind up but it never gets going fast enough to get to a normal idle and if i keep the gas floored it will stay running really rough after i disengage the starter but it sounds awful and shakes and if i back off the gas at all or try to slip out the clutch or it just dies.


cleaning the carb with gumout did not necessarily help. engine has rough idle and no power now. once it gets above 1000rpm it feels smoother but still has no power and if i goose the gas it will hesitate for an instant before the tach jumps.


the venturi are both in there nice and tight.


helpful info: i replaced the timing belt before it got this bad habit of not starting. i am reluctant to suspect the timing because it started and revved up normal right after i replaced it. but then the next time i tried to start it half an hour later it wouldn't start.


i just replaced the plugs and wires but the plugs looked great.


i drove it around the block without the air cleaner on and it sounds normal but has no power. also it died and sounded like it backfired - sorta - not loud, just one of those "piff!" sounds, like it shot a spark plug or something (which it did not), then it ran sketchy the rest of the way around the block and wanted to die over and over.


also, for the first time it did the "rev up to speed" thing tonight without me touching the gas. granted, i had been trying to start it by flooring it for a couple minutes but this is new.


regarding running rich as has been suggested, the plugs looked great (no deposits or build-up) and i haven't noticed smoke when i start it. i'll check again but i don't remember it dieseling when i turn it off. i don't know if there's any other way to tell.

2oodoor
04-26-2008, 01:08 PM
double check the timing belt and then reset the ignition timing, this often gets over looked because anytime you mess with the timing belt you should check the distributor timing. The T belt could have been a tooth off before and now it is perfect or visa versa, either which will put the distributor out of time because the cam drives the distributor.

Hauntd ca3
04-26-2008, 10:18 PM
x2

sepulslaya
04-28-2008, 09:48 AM
Thanks, I'll give that a shot and get back to you.

sepulslaya
04-30-2008, 08:43 PM
didn't have time for all that, so i thought i'd pursue one very real option i'd skipped over: vacuum. sprayed carb cleaner all over and found 3 leaks. one i fixed helped a lot but i couldn't do anything about the other two but capping them off didn't do anything to the idle. one is the #27 vacuum line from the back of the carb.

sepulslaya
05-01-2008, 03:08 PM
alright we'll see if i get rained on but i'm about to go check the timing. i sure hope that's not it.

like i posted yesterday replacing the cap on one vacuum line helped the idle a lot, and it seems to maybe start up easier and the idle sounds *okay-ish* but once i put the car in gear (aka under load) it wants to die and has no power. i can drive it up and down the street but just sorta.

sepulslaya
05-01-2008, 06:01 PM
sorry for the double/triple/quadruple posts, but here's the latest

i pulled the number one plug to find TDC with a coat hangar. the plug is brand new with maybe half an hour to an hour of idling on it while i tried to find vacuum leaks yesterday. but it is very much dirty with what looks like carbon deposits like it's been running rich. so after i buttoned everything back up i propped the choke open to see if maybe it's not opening up right and is causing the problem. i didn't get a chance to drive it after doing that but the idle is still really rough even with it propped open.

i pulled the cap off the rotor and at TDC it looks to be pointing to #1. but after talking to a mechanic friend of mine he suggested that with the way it has run poorly only AFTER i changed the belt i'm probably a tooth off. BAH HUMBUG!

how many teeth have yall counted from the top of the cam gear to the bottom of the crank (on the left, not when tracing it down over the tensioner)? i counted 48 on mine and that's what i aimed for when i put it all back together.

edit: the timing was apparently off. i pulled the belt and rechecked it and afterward it ran fine.

i'm adding this edit in because i hate searching a forum for a problem i have and no one posts the final resolution.