It Wont Start!

lackner · 07-12-2004

hey, i just did the head gasket on my 90 laser.the ignition timing is on the nuts,as well as the cam timing, its getting fuel and has spark at the plugs. it has new bosch wires and bpr-6es plugs. a guy at rock falls said it could be the caps in the ecu. could it? he said someone on this forum could replace those for cheap.if you could. call me at 651-387-2088. thanks.

A//// Guy · 07-12-2004

If you hear a bunch of clicking when your cranking the engine or while the key is "on" then it might be your ECU. I just had mine crap on me last week. The clicking comes from behind the radio and sometimes under the hood if its as messed up as mine was. Although my car was very random and ran perfect 70% of the time. On occasions it just woulndt start, or start but try and hang at 3-500 rpms and die.

PM LightningGSX on the board, he is the electronics master.

niterydr · 07-12-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by EclipseTurbo@Jul 12 2004, 06:43 PM
If you hear a bunch of clicking when your cranking the engine or while the key is "on" then it might be your ECU. I just had mine crap on me last week. The clicking comes from behind the radio and sometimes under the hood if its as messed up as mine was. Although my car was very random and ran perfect 70% of the time. On occasions it just woulndt start, or start but try and hang at 3-500 rpms and die.

PM LightningGSX on the board, he is the electronics master.

that wouldn't be your ecu young grasshopper, it would be your mpi relay failing.
Ecu's don't usually make noise, just smell like rotten eggs when they go bad

.
lackner- is everything plugged in?
Does it even crank?
if it does, do you have fuel? spark?
did it run fine before headgasket?
you can pull the ecu and pull off the cover and see if the caps are toast.
keep us posted.

1Fst14B · 07-12-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by niterydr@Jul 12 2004, 07:16 PM

that wouldn't be your ecu young grasshopper, it would be your mpi relay failing.
[/quote]
ok, but what controls the mpi relay...

usually bad relays wont click on and off..they usually stick in one position.
i have seen many many bad relays and have never seen any clicking back and forth...

it could be an ecu....but i doubt it.

check connections.
check for spark, inc pulse, and FP

Adam

A//// Guy · 07-12-2004

Hey young but older grasshopper- http://www.tmo.com/howto/ecu1g/caps.htm

"Signs of Impending Doom
Luckily, there are usually some warning signs that your ECU is on its way out.

A rapid clicking or chattering from under the dash. Usually accompanied with the engine stalling or losing power during the noise. This is the microcontroller going into reset over and over and over again due to a bad power supply. Every time it resets, it will turn the fuel pump relay on and off. This could also be a bad fuel pump relay, but not usually."

:razz2: Mine had that symptom and my caps leaked all their juices out!

john · 07-13-2004

A little OT but relays can click on and off. That has happened a couple of times in ghettostyle's 2g. You can feel it when it is happening. I forgot which relay it was though...

lackner · 07-13-2004

i can kinda here a clicking and it ran fine until the head gasket blew. it has spark and i can smell fuel. the ingition timing is at 5 btdc. everything is hooked up right.

lackner · 07-14-2004

i pulled off the cover to the ecu and the 3 caps looked ok. i was thinking fuel but the tops of the pistons were wet. what was that mpi relay you speak of wise grasshopper.

niterydr · 07-14-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by EclipseTurbo@Jul 12 2004, 09:34 PM
Hey young but older grasshopper-  http://www.tmo.com/howto/ecu1g/caps.htm

"Signs of Impending Doom
Luckily, there are usually some warning signs that your ECU is on its way out.

A rapid clicking or chattering from under the dash. Usually accompanied with the engine stalling or losing power during the noise. This is the microcontroller going into reset over and over and over again due to a bad power supply. Every time it resets, it will turn the fuel pump relay on and off. This could also be a bad fuel pump relay, but not usually."

:razz2:  Mine had that symptom and my caps leaked all their juices out!

true true...
Just the mpi relays that I've come across have failed intenerly..unless the caps were leaking, which you can see. I was just implying that if he pulled the ecu out/apart and it all looked good (no burned stuff, goo, smells like fish) then to test the resistance on the mpi relay...etc..
A good way to see whats up is to see if power is getting to the relay under proper conditions, and if its exiting it.

Also, if the car doesn't run, how do you know what baseline timing is? Im confused.
So it has spark, fuel, and cranks but doesn't 'go over'
1) cas sensor, check to see if its 180 out.
2) coil packs reversed?
3) all the other sensors plugged in? (all the coolent ones, tb sensors, etc..)
i'd triple check all your electrical connections before you go through electrical diagnosis.

LightningGSX · 07-15-2004

You can still check your baseline timing whlie cranking, even if the engine doesn't run.And if your DSM is pre 93-94 and the caps haven't already been replaced, there is a 99.9999% chance they are leaking(even if you can't see it).I've seen alot of ECUs, and only 2 of them didn't have leaking caps, both out of my 1gs that haven't ran since the mid 90's.First you should swap in a known good ECU to eliminate that as a possibility.How did you check your timing? Spark?

lackner · 07-15-2004

i pulled the cover off of the mpi relay and it was not fried nor was the fuel pump relay. i could smell something from the ecu it was'nt a burnt smell or a fish like smell, none the less it smelled.

my uncle timed it w/ a snap-on timing light, adjusted it by the cam angle sensor to 5 btdc.

it's not 180 off, all electrical hooked up right, all the plug wires in the right spot going to the right hole. WTF!!!

i'm about to call the bone-yard if i can't get it running soon.

any other ideas?

LightningGSX · 07-15-2004

Where are you located? I believe I have a 90 ECU you could try out.Does it seem like its flooding? Some of these ECUs just dump a shitload of fuel when the caps are leaking.

lackner · 07-16-2004

i'm in ramsey. a little north of anoka. the caps do smell like fish. if you want to roll out call me@ 651-387-2088. thanks

lackner · 07-18-2004

dose anyone have an ecu that will work for mycar that they want to part with?

i'll come and get it if you got it.

i would like to keep this car but if i cant get it going soon is going to the bone-yard.

thanks