Hey Rusnak, hope you are well. He did check the ICV.

I default to the Ref and Speed sensor if she cranks but does not catch.

I had similar issues when I was hit by an idiot stick and twisted on the new ref sensor. Just cranked and cranked and cranked. Replaced properly and BINGO "we have ignition"

Hi Jim, I'm fine thank you for asking, my brother.

Forgive me for duplicating the ICV check.

I agree then, the ref sensor could use a look-see, especially for cracked or bad insulation.

I just solved my own no start issue after a clutch replacement. Turned out to be a bad flywheel reference sensor bolt (non-ferrous, stainless steel), just the same as John Walker's problem. I predict the boards will be hit by a bunch of "no start" issues from these bad flywheels.

The orange spark has me curious though. It should be blue or white, no?

Yes, the spark is curious but the continuous cranking just reminds me of my 10 hour night mare under the car trying to figure out WTF was going on.

I was at the brink of selling her right there and then when that happened. It was so demoralizing, I feel the pain Kidrock Brother, I feel the pain.

Have you pulled apart the big ass connector next to the DME and tested the standby, switched and cranking voltages?

As I think of it AAA will come to your home and check your starting system, i.e. Battery, Starter, and Alternator to rule them out. Heck it is part of the service :D

Your definition of "...the big ass connector". I'm assuming you're talking about the main harness that connects into the DME?

If so, I am not familiar with the procedure you are describing.

I have pulled the main harness to check the resistance of the RPM and TDC sensors, which returned within specs of the required ohms. However, it's getting to the point where I may just throw money at the problem and replace them anyways....it's frustrating. Those sensors are pretty much the only things I haven't replaced on the car, yet.

Already checked DME relay, fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel rail, injectors #1 and #2, spark and jumpered the CHT sensor....all of which are coming back A-OK.

I'm going back to the garage (which is now turning into my personal hell-hole) and change out the dizzy cap and rotor, just for $hits and giggles. If that doesn't work, I'll be taking a look at the sensors and the reference pin itself....maybe I'll get lucky and find that the damn thing fell out or something. :rolleyes:

FWIW, the spark may be orange now because of a low battery charge? I'm gonna stick the Tender on it and see if that improves the condition.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/573338-another-84-wont-start-quandry.html

Here's one thread....

+1

Banged my head up against a wall for quite a while before changing the sensors out - no issues since.

I've taken note of the suggestions regarding the TDC sensor.

Question:

If this were the case, would I still receive spark at the plug(s)? I mean, the sensor must be reading the plug at the flywheel to send spark, right? And although I'm definitely no mechanic, I've always thought that air + spark + fuel = ignition.

I'm just trying to get a grip on this, sorry if I seem a bit clueless.

If you can get your hands on a spare dme brain, you might want to change that out, or send yours in for testing.

Also, if you can get a spare sensor, plug it in the reference sensor connector and pulse it against the rear fender while cranking the motor. If the motor starts up, then you know your sensor is bad. I'll have a spare sensor in a day or so after I get my own no-start issue cleared up.

Tom, I worked on one of your DME a while back, right. The last I remember is that you found your issues by identifying a poor idle switch (alignment) and a broken WOT switch, right.

I wonder if your throttle linkage is still not adjusted properly.

Ingo

Without the proper operating Ref Sensor, it will not ignite and stay on.

Stay strong brother

With a bad Ref. sensor that doesn't issue any pulse the DME will never fire a single spark or fuel pulse. If the sensor work intermittent (or at least gives one pulse) the DME will fire fuel and spark signals. The timing of the spark will be wrong but the engine will sputter.

As a simple test of a bad Ref. sensor you can use another sensor, plug it into the harness and swipe a wrench past it during cranking. It will make the engine start (sort of).

Ingo

Update: she's running again.

What was the fix? In light of Valentine's Day, I went out to the garage on one knee with flowers and candy and BEGGED like the *******-whipped biatch that I am.

OK, not really.

Truth be told, I don't really know what I did to get her running again.

A friend of mine who is a certified mechanic told me that since my spark was orange, that it may be indicative of a bad coil. After all, it is 23 years old. So, I decided to throw money at the problem.

I replaced the coil (substituting the original black German one with a shiny new Brazilian one....ugh) and replacing the RPM and TDC sensors, since they're the only things on the motor that I haven't replaced yet (BTW, I picked up the BMW sensors for around $55 each).

Motor still didn't start.

The only procedure I hadn't done to this point was actually switch out the rotor and dizzy cap with a known good one, so I figured WTF, go for it.

Motor still didn't start.

By this time, I was fuming. The rotor and cap trick didn't work, so I put the newer stuff back on and was ready to quit.

Out of anger and desperation, I went to the ignition switch. I had a full charge on the battery, so I figured I would just let the starter spin while I flood the **** out of it....just out of spite.

After about 20 seconds of spinning and flooding, she coughed and sputtered to life!!!!

In doing so, it spat out about 1/2 pint of raw fuel and burnt, crispy carbon through the exhaust pipe onto my garage floor. WTF????

So, in retrospect, I really don't know what I did to get her running again. I may not have needed to spend the money I spent on the new coil and sensors. But I only spent around $150 for the lot, and now I have some new parts that I can rely on for awhile. I'm just happy I didn't have to take her to a garage and spend additional $$$$.

She's running again, and that's all I care about right now. I'm going outside in the 75 degree sunshine and clean her up after this episode.

Happy Valentine's Day.

You might re-check the sensor gap. A larger gap will give you more difficult starts in cold weather. Save the sensors if they are good. You can use them for troubleshooting later. The silver coil is known to be unreliable.

Funny - glad you are up and running again. Maybe the spark wasn't all that good (coil/rotor/cap) and now with all parts being new that pushed her over the edge.

or was it the candy :rolleyes:

Rusnak: I saved the sensors and the coil. Yeh, I know the Brazilian coil is crap.

ischmitz: thanks for the help, as always. I never know when the day is going to come when I eventually send you the DME. P.S.---candy never hurts. ;)

Cleaned all the winter grime from her this afternoon. I go back to work tonight, I'll give her a real good windup and hopefully blow some more crap out of her. I'm assuming that the stuff I blew out of her last night was probably just a big ball of phlegm.

Ah Man, glad you got her running. Geez she gave herself an Italian Tune Up??? Amazing.

What a Sweetheart to perform on V.D.

Happy Motoring :)

she can be a temperamental little b!tch / sweetheart.