87 carerra no start grief

[jlewis5534]

My carerra started running rough at idle, and hesitating during low rpm acceleration. It wouldn't die at idle but it was close to doing so. I parked car for about one hour then vehicle would crank without starting. I replaced dme relay just in case and checked #6 fuse for fuel pump and it was fine. The car is getting spark and starter is cranking at full speed with plenty of power. Any advise?

[dtxscott]

This sounds like a Cylinder Head Temp Sensor issue. It is easy to use a an Ohmmeter to check the sensor and see if it is within spec.

The CHT plug resides under the fresh-air blower motor on a plenum of three electrical connectors. The CHT is the white connector.
Check the resistance readings. At 70F is should be approx. 2.3kOhms If cooler, the reading will be higher.

[DRACO A5OG]

Also check the ohms on the ref/speed sensors

[Quicksilver]

Start with your basics. You have to add fuel and then light it off.
- Do you have spark?
- Do you have fuel?

The fuel one can be hard to tell but you can jump the fuel pump at the fuse and see if you can hear it running under the front of the car, next to the steering rack. If so then hook up a voltmeter and see if you get voltage when you are cranking it.

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[jlewis5534]

The car started this morning but ran rough. Parked all day then started up after 8 hours; no car runs great. I drove it hard for 15 minutes and its been ok since. Must be intermittent issue.

[fasterlaster]

This does sound still like a temp sensor to me. I can't stress enough dtxscott's recommendation to measure the resistance of the temp sensor. I'm currently awaiting my replacement sensor myself, to address a poor running condition.

[Joe Bob]

Don't rule out the O2 sensor....

[kidrock]

I've had experience with attempting to track down past sensor issues by measuring ohms, and have been fooled. I also believe that your intermittent issue will come back, and will eventually make itself less intermittent.

Next time you have this issue, pull the O2 sensor plug connector while the engine is running. If you have no change in condition, then you've eliminated the O2 sensor as the culprit.

I recently had a CHT sensor issue that was similar to yours. IIRC, I tried doing a resistance reading which came back as normal....but at the time, my problem was intermittant as well. So I carried a paper clip with me until the problem presented itself again...pulled the plug and inserted the clip, and the idle smoothed right out.

Just my .02 cents. Good luck.