No start after partial drop
 

So I took my car into my mechanic yesterday (factory trained, PCA recommended) to repair some bad oil leaks coming from the rear of the engine.

They did a partial drop on the engine, replaced the oil pressure switch, and the thermostat gasket I believe. Apparently there was lots of oil in that area. Engine was steam cleaned, and reinstalled.

They then ran the car on the hoist for 10-15 minutes with the muffler (M&K) disconnected (was impeding the partial lowering) to heat the oil up and look for more leakage. The engine was again lowered partially to check for leaks. None found. Perfect, or so I thought.............

Went to pick up the car yesterday. Engine had not been run since its second reinstall. I get in, turn the key, nothing....hmmm.......assistant mech forgot to reconnect wiring harness. No problem..........start car, fires up perfectly..........10 seconds later sputters, chugs, won't take any throttle without backfiring, dies. Repeat, same sequence of events.

Hmm.......mechanics look at each other with a "Oh S**t" expression. They try and figure it out for about 30 minutes while I wait.........no luck. Come back tomorrow was the final answer.

Any ideas???

Kirk

Could be the old coincidental fuel pump failure. I'd check that, fuel filter and accumulator. These things can fail anytime.

The fuel pump whines away as usual. Filter was changed about 3-4 months ago. The accumulator.......might be original. Never had any hot start issues.

Kirk

I would suspect something that was a function of the engine drop and not a coincidental failed component. Maybe a kinked or pinched fuel line? This might allow the engine to start and run briefly only to stall as the fuel flow requirements increase.

Just an idea. Sounds fuel related, though...

Good luck.

Mike

Yeah, let them fix it. They busted it. ;)

ianc

Verdict is in, car is running.

Apparently there is a 12 pin wiring plug at the back of the engine that was not fully seated.

Runs fine now.

Kirk

Darn I had the answer. Glad it is fixed but that happened to me on my '81 once. After hours of struggling to find the answer, I took the connector off and reconnected it and all was back in order.