The engine wont start on my 1985 testarossa today. I drove the car yesterday after a 5 days in the garage and started to experience issues I have not seen before. I had issues turning the ignition key which seems to be ok now that I lubricated the key cylinder. Now the engine wont run and I have no idea why. See Video: https://youtu.be/qdPf4aUnT0s Any ideas or suggestions? thanks
strange: as I see it on the video you try first to start and it only makes "click" and but the 2 red lights nit getting darker. this click I think came from the magnet switch ( solenoid? ) at the starter. then you turn off the ignition completely and try again. then the engine was cranking but not starting. but you crank only a short time. the first time you tried the cold start injectors openend to get more fuel to the engine. the second time it happenes again and I think there is only to much fuel. try to start again, longer time and then after about 4 seconds not starting also slowly push the gas pedal down until the engine fires up. but not start all together longer than 10 - 12 seconds at a time. always when you restart again the procedure with the additional fuel starts from the beginning.
Confirm/deny spark presence on both banks during starter motor cranking (using either a timing light or spark tester) if you still have issues -- that will indicate whether it's no ignition or no fuel issue.
Today 1) Charged the Battery to 100% 2) Check what connections I could find in the engine bay. 3) Tried to start the car, no luck. See video: https://youtu.be/5ckQ3TiwIBo * I am frustrated because I just paid a large amount for an engine out service. Thanks in advance
In answer to Shamile's Questions: If everything was fine before you dealt with the key, I would start there. I'm not familiar with the tr tumbler if that there are exposed contacts on the switch side. Perhaps too much graphite liquid has worked it's way to a contact. Steve Magnuson would he's tth best at answering this. You want to have the key in pos II and check for hot power at the back. This would at least confirm or deny that the power is on to "run" the car. Have you checked the usual suspects.... Large round connector at the rear passenger side of the engine. Pull and reseat connectors under the expansion tank. Does it the starter just go on and on? Is there a slight catch then it dies? Guys that don't wear socks with their shoes want to know. Shamile Freeze. . . Miami Vice! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 1 Yes the starter on Day 1 does go on and on when i turn the key Yes , it sounds like the starter catches sometimes Day 2 Checked connections in engine bay Charged battery to 100% Tried to start car, didnt work See Video https://youtu.be/qdPf4aUnT0s
If you dont have a spark tester, crack a fuel line to see if you are getting gas. But have a pal standing by with a rag and fire extinguisher in an abundance of caution. That will rule out the fuel side of the equation. I also remember there is a protection rely above the passenger rear wheel that causes issues like you are describing. I would be livid if I just paid for an engine out and had this many problems.
I had an issue like this. Mine was a factory fault but the symptoms were the same.....just cranking over and over. It was the flywheel sensors not getting connectivity. Are you sure you pulled and cleaned both sensor connectors from the small harness and again where they go to connections under the expansion tank. I don't know the method to test the sensors, but I would try to eliminate that. If it almost catches and you release the key, but it dies is the tacometric relay. But let's eliminate one thing at a time. As others have mentioned, fuel. When you start cranking for a minute. Go to the back and smell for raw fuel from the exhaust. If there's no smell, there's a way to bypass and check the running of the pumps. Guys with flashy white pants want to know. Shamile Freeze. . .Miami Vice! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
Hello everyone, Things to do: 1) I need to buy a spark plug tester so I will do that today. I guess I will need one with the spark plug extender? My local pep boys is going through a renovation and all the shelves are empty. 2) get new battery 3) recheck connections under expansion tank 4) identify and clean flywheel sensors 5) Have 2 new fuel pumps installed 2 weeks ago during major service. A friend thinks it is the starter motor thats gone bad. He believes that when I had the stuck key issue,I must not have noticed that I left the key in the right most position so the starter was continuously engaged as I was driving it back home and ruined the starter. He took a peak at the starter ring and didnt see any broken teeth. Sound plausible?
Here is an "option" to test the starter. Disconnect the starter motor from the wiring loom. Get a spare 12V battery. Make a direct connection form the spare battery to the starter using heavy gauge wires. If it spins....... it is probably ok. Just a thought ???
No missing/mangled teeth on the flywheel ring gear is a good thing (after such an episode), but you'd also need to ensure the teeth on the starter pinion gear/pinion drive are not stripped/broken -- easiest way to do this is just have someone watch the flywheel ring gear/clutch pressure plate to confirm/deny it is rotating when the starter motor is running/cranking.
Ok....why are we off on a tangent about the starter? From your video, it sounds like it.was doing it's job. This has nothing to do why the car won't run. It either turns the engine over or it doesn't. Also, throwing money at the situation doesn't do anything. Hold off about the battery and fuel pumps until you go through the process of elimination. Start with the pointers we've given you amd report back your findings. When you tried cranking the car....could you at least smell raw fuel from the exhaust? This would be a start. Shamile Freeze. . . Miami Vice! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Shamile , Steve Magnusson , turbo joe, lear60man, and everyone else that has taken the time to comment on my situation. I am very appreciative of your input. I dont want anyone to feel that I am being stubborn with any of your recommended advice. I am trying my best to follow through on everyone's recommendations. Hopefully my comments below will help you get a good picture of whats going on so far. 1) I have charged the battery to 100%. When I hooked up the charger to my battery, it started at 55% and had took an hour to charge to 100% . Steve M. suggested I try a new battery. I called many places today and no one had a 34R in stock. I"ll keep trying. There are 2 fuses connected to the positive terminal of the battery. Both are 30 amp fuses and neither looks fried. I can take pictures if that helps. Dont know what they are for. 2) Shamile the fuel pumps are new and already installed 3 weeks ago when the major service was completed. Something to be investigated further. 3) I tried to start the car this morning after the battery was charged to 100% and got the same result as in the video posted before. See video: https://youtu.be/5ckQ3TiwIBo 4) I had a mechanic friend stop by yesterday. In his opinion, he thinks the starter motor has gone bad. Could it be that the motor just cant spin fast enough anymore? He thinks that when I had the ignition switch issue, I must not have noticed that I left the key in the right most position so the starter was continuously engaged as I was driving it back home and ruined the starter. He took a peak at the starter ring and didnt see any broken teeth. I spent my Sunday with guidance from Steve M ( again thank you for tips) on removing the air box and getting the starter out for testing and rebuild. I missed the hidden screw under the crankcase hose but eventually got the airbox and starter removed. See pics. https://www.screencast.com/t/kH0kTkWOM https://www.screencast.com/t/mymNej8beyTq https://www.screencast.com/t/PFMuxOE1 https://www.screencast.com/t/kCd55rCQGf Should I find an auto/electric shop and have it rebuilt? Should I get a gear reduction starter this time? If you guys think this is not the culprit, I can easily put it back and test something else. 5) I dont smell anything coming from the exhaust when i try to start the car. But it maybe subtle , I honestly cant tell. 6) I dont know what flywheel sensors to clean Shamile? Could you point them out in a picture? are these the sensors? https://www.screencast.com/t/a4djGDvJmhF just remove and clean? 7) I have pushed the plugs in under the expansion tank but I did not try to pull them off and clean for fear of breaking them. How to do it? What should I use to clean them with? 8) I bought a spark plug tester but was afraid to pull the spark plug wire out for fear of damaging them. Steve M suggested another type of tester that doesn't require removing the wires. I will get one of those tomorrow. 9) The day I had an issue turning the ignition key was also when i noticed that the starter continued to stay on when I turned the key to start the car. It would go on and on unless i turned the key 1 position back. I could tell the starter was struggling to catch and I was lucky enough to get the engine started and drove it back home. Driving home was fine, didnt seem like anything was wrong. I didnt try to start it again until after putting in some key lubricant from the locksmith the next day. That fixed the key issue right away. Now when I tried to start the car, I get what you see in the video. This time its not catching and the motor wont start. I am not so sure I am hearing the starter motor. Can you guys tell from the video if that is the sound of the starter? Thats everything so far. I am learning alot from the old threads and from your recommendations. Would love to get your feedback. What do you guys think?
I had an issue with a Lexus LS400 where the strter motor staed sticking. Sometimes it would not work and had to turn the key a few times to get it to engage. This was for a few weeks. One afternoon when starting the car, it sounded like the starter did not DIS-engage. When I got home, the car would not start at all. I suspect that the engine had over worked the starter while it was engaged.....maybe for a 50 mile journey. Why not remove the starter and take it to get it tested? Some shops can do this under load too.
Thank you MisterT That is what I was thinking of doing tomorrow. I already took it out today and now that I know how to do it, I can easily put it back for further testing if you guys think its necessary to rule out other possibilities. I dont know of any good rebuilt shops in LA but I"ll call around tomorrow. If anyone has a recommendation, that would be great too.
In some cars, if the starter does not spin the motor fast enough ...... it will not start. Only you will be able to tell if it is spinning slower than before.
LA? los angeles? there I know 2 very good places the starter itself and also the teeth at the flywheel look pretty good back to the first video: as I hear you tried to start but it only makes "click", then you turned off the ignition and start again. is this right or wrong? sorry for this now coming silly question: you still have fuel in the tanks? I once had a customer with a not correct fuel gauge and he braught the car on a trailer to me. after looking some things I found the car was not running anymore because of no fuel
------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Joe 1) LA= Los Angeles, California 2) I watched the first video again and labled it Day 1. https://youtu.be/qdPf4aUnT0s The clicking noise I believe you are hearing is the keychain tapping against the key itself I tried to start, then turned off, then tried to start again You can hear the starter struggling This was with the battery at 55% (before charging) 3) In the 2nd video labeled Day 2 https://youtu.be/5ckQ3TiwIBo I tried to start the car twice This was after charging battery back up to 100% 4) Thats not a silly question! I thought that maybe an issue too. I added 2 gallons of gas on Day 2 just in case it was empty. It could have been so low that adding 2 gallons wasnt enough? Should i add another 2 gallons and try again? 5) Where do you recommend I take the starter in Los Angeles? Thanks!
For the record, I suggested that he get his battery LOAD TESTED as 1) it sounded like the starter motor was not spinning the engine very quickly after being recharged, and 2) devices that assess battery condition based on voltage can give a misleading result about battery health/charge. If battery load tested bad = get a new battery; if battery tested good = then the starter (and primary connections) should be tested/investigated.
Battery Alternator Starter service, 310-733-4334 ask for Joe! Give this place a call, it's in the West Los Angeles area. (no affiliation)
you may call swiss motors in culver city. ask for marcel or robert and say a nice hello from me. they are also official bosch service station. have a look at your mailbox, sent a PM 2 gallons are ok
Perhaps I'm missing something. From your second video, it sounds like the engine and starter are turning over fine....it's just not catching. Is this the case? Shamile Freeze. . . Miami Vice! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
