89 LXi not starting - Sat for 3 weeks

Hi,

I've got an 89 LXi that I've had for about 6 years. It has 153000 miles (low, i know) and I bought it with 81000 miles. Recently I've been fighting a steering rack leak and consequently have had it sitting while I drive other cars and wait to buy parts. Anyway, it sat for about 3 weeks before I went to move it into position to start working on it. When i went to do that the battery was dead, so I charged the battery and then cranked it and it would crank but wouldn't fire up at all, not even a hint of it.

So, after that I checked for:
spark - all plugs were firing
air - no clogs in the air filter removing the entire air cleaner system does nothing
fuel - loosened fuel lines at both sides of the fuel filter and the bolt at the fuel rail - when cranking they all spew gasoline
injectors - i removed all 4 spark plugs sequentially and cranked it each time to see if fuel shot out the hole - nothing. it was only pushing air through

So, i gave up for the evening thinking something was messed up with the ECU since none of the injectors were working and they can't possibly all have stopped functioning at exactly the same time. I came back the next day to further investigate the ECU and go to crank it. This time, it fires up like nothing has happened! I was baffled, but figured it was some weird fluke thing and moved on. I drove it over to the position i planned to have it in while replacing the steering rack and went ahead with that replacement.

Last night after installing the new steering rack I go to turn it on and bleed the p/s system. Now it's not firing up again, seemingly with the exact same symptom. This time I paid a little more attention and noticed that the check engine light is on on the dashboard. I looked at the ECU under the driver's seat and when i turn the ignition to the "on" position and check the little LED bulb on the ECU it is not blinking at all. The service manual indicates this is either a "faulty ECU or a failed ground connection at the ECU or injectors"

Any ideas here? It seems crazy to me that the ECU would stop functioning so suddenly. I've had this car for 6 years and not once has it ever failed to start. It's a pretty dramatic failure and I'm wondering if anybody here has had anything like this happen to them-- seen an ECU fail suddenly like this?

Everything else works on the car, no fuses are blown, nothing seems to be an issue other than the fuel injectors don't appear to be squirting fuel out. any ideas?

Update for those that may be interested,

turned out to be the main relay. I took it out and swapped in a new one, fired right up like nothing ever happened.

Car is running like a champ now, and with no power steering leaks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by walgenboy

Update for those that may be interested,

turned out to be the main relay. I took it out and swapped in a new one, fired right up like nothing ever happened.

Car is running like a champ now, and with no power steering leaks!

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Great work!

Thats a low mileage baby enjoy it.

Glad you got it fixed.