Non-scented bubble solution........
 

Bob,

I can't afford to buy those scented bubbles solution like you have. I'm retired and with fixed income. So every penny counts. The owner (a Pelican member from out-of-state) will pick-up the motor tomorrow morning. All he has to do is mount the engine/trans, connect the electrical wiring, fuel lines, etc. and he is ready for a drive.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316830357.jpg

Tony

What about the relay under driver's seat? Frequency valve relay ... can't remember name right now.

Not many people can. At $0.20 per bottle the stuff is essentially "unobtainum". For what it is worth, the CIS (German) inner circle folks prefer the Cotton Candy scent.

The scented is only found at exclusive CIS trouble shooting boutiques.

Good deal on the engine.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316833246.jpg

Good point. O2 system relay. I am thinking there should still be some popping o' the engine when trying to start.

Given how the car died, it sounds like a fuel issue. However, even if a piece of phlegm in the WUR drove the control pressure up to system pressure (if that is possible) the car should still pop with the CSV working.

Hi Jeff,

When you were checking spark with a spare plug, where were you grounding it? the engine case or the body? just curious if the plugs installed are actually firing. There is a chance the plugs may be fuel fouled from testing or maybe you lost ground to the engine? if the engine ground is good, I would pop the plugs out, crank it over with the fuel pump disconnected to clear the cylinders of any fuel, do a compression test then install fresh plugs. Just a thought, hope it helps.

Cheers

Miracle Bubbles?! Sorry, but only the finest French bath salts will do for M'lady!

Spare spark plug was grounded to alt fan stud for testing. Pulled plugs early on and they were dry with a light brown color. Is there an adapter or something needed to screw in a compression tester? The plug holes are way down in there so it's not like you can get a wrench inside the shroud past the tester hose to tighten things. Besides, my tester only has 3 threads which makes me wonder if that's enough engagement in the head.

For what little it may tell me, I did at least feel air pulses coming out while cranking with the plugs pulled.

The O2 relay bench tested OK.

Thanks,
Jeff

Jeff,
In your original post you mentioned that you learned that your car had 'no spark'. After you installed another set of ignition components now you have spark to all six cylinders.

I will suggest that you confirm your firing order is as required after the alternate ignition components were installed.

condensed check:
1. Put cylinder no. 1 in compression -- this could be checked with a compression tool; usually the flexible hose that is included with the kit could be threaded with care and caution to ensure that it engages to the spark-plug threads. Then attache the pressure gauge to hose.
1-a turn crank shaft pulley with wrench in the clockwise direction while observing the pressure gauge dial and the 'Z-1' mark on the pulley.
1-b as the Z-1 mark approaches the center of the crankcase you should begin to see the pressure reading increase in the gauge. You might have to rotate the engine a couple of times to see and observe the correlating rotation to compression reading.
2. once you have accurately identified that Cyl-1 is in compression; now you can verify that your distributor rotor points to cylinder no. 1
3. After verifying the compression at near Top Dead Center and rotor orientation for Cyl-1 you can then follow to install the spark-plug wires in the prescribed firing order (1, 6, 2, 4, 3, 5).

Jeff,
I would want confirmation that the installed plugs are firing and that compression is present. Most comp gages have an o-ring seal and don't need to be gorilla tight, just thread it in until the oring touches then an extra little twist on the hose should do. keep us posted!

Cheers

Zossimov, I appreciate your thoughts on firing order & compression stroke. Without these basics it'll never start. I rechecked that I had the wires in the correct 162435 CCW order on the cap.

When I replaced the cap and wires early on, I pulled the wires one at a time from the plugs and threaded in the new one as the old one was pulled out. The old cap & wires were left on the distributor while I held the new cap next to it in the same orientation to be sure they were clocked the same. If piston 1 was in exhaust rather compression stroke with the marks lined up, wouldn't the rotor be 180* opposite the #1 wire position? Note that the dist. wasn't pulled out during any of this.

The problem with my compression tester is the fitting that screws into the head is short. I can put it in with a socket but then screwing the hose onto that is the problem. Assuming I can fish the hose so that its fitting engages the fitting in the plug hole, I can only tighten it by turning the hose which wouldn't allow much torque. I may need to look around for a more suitable gauge.

MM- I'll go ahead and check for fire at each of the 6 plugs that are actually being used.

Jeff,
If you could thread the hose(compression tester) with the fitting that threads into the spark-plug hole and if the fitting has an 0-ring hand tightening should be sufficient; also the rotation of the rotor is clockwise. The rotor could also line-up at the No.1 cylinder along with the z-1 mark and not have the piston at TDC (compression).

Jeff,
In regards to the compression tester, you can try locking the hose to the adapter first then install it in the plug hole as an assm. Once its seated on the oring, a small amount of torsional torque using the hose should work fine.

**Sorry, Zossimov I was typing when you replied***

cheers.

Inductive timing light........
 

Jeff,

Install an inductive timing light and crank the engine. Make sure that the battery is fully charged to get maximum cranking. You should see some 'flashes' during the initial cranking of the motor. I doubt your compression has to do with this problem. Even a low compression CIS engine would start if you have pressurized fuel, sparks, and correct amount of air. You are missing one or more of the basic requirements for combustion. Test and verify these parameters.

Are you getting fuel during start? Test and confirm.
Are you getting sparks during start? Test and confirm.
Do you have vacuum leak? Test and confirm.
Control and system fuel pressures? Test and confirm.

Until you verify the above conditions, you are doing guesswork!!! The answers are either yes or no. Maybe or not sure answers will not help you in your troubleshooting. Could you update us with your investigation?

Tony

I think I'll defer compression check till after going through Tony's "back to basics" list.

I'll report fuel and ignition stuff tomorrow. Will an inductive timing light play nice with the braided shield wires?

I'm working out the particulars of vacuum testing this car, which I've never done before, using the info in posts 13 & 17. Can't promise I won't have more questions as I get into it.

Just checked Fed Ex tracking- - pressure test kit is halfway home, maybe I'll have it Monday. I'd be more excited if it were a set of Fuchs 8s and 9s.

Yesterday I put the timing light on it. #1 fires with the pulley mark about 1/4" to the left of the shroud mark during cranking. The other 5 wires also flashed the light.

I discovered an error on my part regarding the fuel injectors. They all spray strong by lifting the sensor plate with the ignition on. BUT somehow I missed confirming that they spray while cranking the starter - turns out they don't.

Not sure why they don't, but the next step will be checking fuel pressures. The gauge should be here today or tomorrow.

Regards, Jeff

So, the injectors don't spray, but does the sensor plate lift by the action of the starter? If not, could be a major vacuum leak. What's the condition of vacuum hoses to accessories like the brake booster and cruise control if you have it?

But, the odd thing is that you say it doesn't even fire with an external source of fuel squirted into the intake. It's not just a fuel problem at that point.

What kind of tensioners? Tensioner failure and bent valves, perhaps... But, I figure you would hear that kind of damage when it occurred way back when. Compression test is a good thing to do along with fuel pressure testing.

Brett

Airbox........
 

Pull the advance hose from the distributor and connect a vacuum gauge. See if you are getting any vacuum while cranking the engine. I'd bet that you have a cracked airbox or a cracked/torn airbox to runner sleeve. Lack of vacuum will prevent the air plate from lifting.

WUR connector unplugging
 

Where is the point of detachment for the wur plug? Is it the black rubber blob on the end of the wire? Or the grayish plastic piece below the rubber? The plastic piece has a seam, is there some kind of release tab? Nothing was yielding with gentle persuasion. A simple thing for sure, don't want to turn it into an oh s***.

Just prying or yanking until something gives won't work here. Need to know the right way.

Thanks, Jeff

Jeff,

The connector is the gray plastic portion, it has an open ended wire retainer that sits in a groove around the base. Carefully open the wire clip while gently pulling up and it should free.

cheers

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1317172547.jpg

retainer wire closed

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1317172581.jpg

retainer wire open

Hope that helps

Now I see. The "seam" or joint I was looking at is actually the recess for the retaining clip. The whole gray shebang comes off. BTW what year is pictured (mine's an 83)? Great pics, thanks Mastermag!
Jeff