the latest lt1 mystery

[cocobolo95]

On most cars a timing light would show if dist was put in wrong, but on lt1 there's no timing mark on crank or anything to reference it to, if there was a timing mark.

I guess you could turn engine over by hand to get tdc on firing stroke. Then paint a mark on the crank pulley and a match mark on something else. Then using a timing light would show you if #1 was firing at the correct spot.

[steveo]

my thoughts exactly

would at least confirm a misinstalled opti a lot more quickly than pulling it off

[lt1 rice eater!]

Originally Posted by cocobolo95

On most cars a timing light would show if dist was put in wrong, but on lt1 there's no timing mark on crank or anything to reference it to, if there was a timing mark.

I guess you could turn engine over by hand to get tdc on firing stroke. Then paint a mark on the crank pulley and a match mark on something else. Then using a timing light would show you if #1 was firing at the correct spot.

I did this works just fine

[icepick]

just pull a plug wire and roll it over to see if you have spark. not the coil, if its good it will spark, but if the opti isnt good there will be no spark at the plug, the car may act like it wants to start but really its just the rolling over that makes the car act like its starting.

[cocobolo95]

Steveo isn't worried about having spark, he has it, he's concerned that spark is happening at the correct time. He thinks opti might have been installed incorrectly as to where the cam dowel pin was inserted into the back of opti. I know it is difficult to get this wrong, but I've seen enough posts from people who managed to jam the dowel pin into the wrong spot, not to think it can't be installed incorrectly.

Of course since I didn't read all the way back to 1st post, I could be mistaken about the car's condition.

[icepick]

Ok. The one post had said it was running then just stopped

[Dynamic396]

Check for spark at the plugs. That will verify that the cap and rotor are working. It is quite common to have spark at the coil wire, but none coming out of the distributor. That is one of the ways that Optis can fail. Other than that, mark TDC on the crank pulley somehow and then check with a timing light while cranking. That will be a good "down and dirty" test of the Opti install, although I believe it was stated that the engine ran fine at first and then died and hasn't run since.

Makes me glad I got rid of my Opti...!

[steveo]

i just had it hauled to a shop, i lost the room to work on it for a while

guess we'll see how it goes, maybe he can figure it out

at this point i think it's narrowed down to:

- misinstalled or failed opti (but PO swears he put a different opti in, and it made no difference..)
- gigantic intake leak (we'll smoke test)
- failed ecm or some other rare failure like that

[icepick]

Good luck

[icepick]

any word yet on the problem?

[steveo]

well, so far..

when i originally cleaned the sludge out of the tank, i just used solovents, a brush, and a siphon.

i started with varsol and a flexible brush, then vacuumed as much out as i could

then pure gas, swished it around really good, vacuumed it again

then like 30% seafoam and 70% gas, and ran the pump on the prime connector (with old injectors) to flush the rails and lines out.. then mixed it up good again, and vacuumed it out

after i cleaned that tank out by hand, even with gloves on, i could taste gas and varsol at the back of my throat for days. its really gross work

i thought, there's no way i missed anything.

figured for sure i was good to go. i started cranking

well, looks like i didnt pay enough attention, because the shop pulled the return line and fed it into a bucket, and let it seperate, and a ton of solovent and more sludge came out

so they drained it again, put fresh gas in, and it ran better, but still like a peice of crap.

then they pulled the plugs (which were new-ish to start with) and they were fouled so badly with sludge and shit the gaps were CLOSED.. no wonder it didnt run

so i guess it needs a BIT more fuel system cleaning ......

USE FUEL STABILIZER!!!

[wdmickjr]

Originally Posted by cocobolo95

Steveo isn't worried about having spark, he has it, he's concerned that spark is happening at the correct time. He thinks opti might have been installed incorrectly as to where the cam dowel pin was inserted into the back of opti. I know it is difficult to get this wrong, but I've seen enough posts from people who managed to jam the dowel pin into the wrong spot, not to think it can't be installed incorrectly.

Then soon as this scenario happens and you have found the opti was installed incorrect and re-install the same opti correctly, opti failure is immediate any way. Just saying, that the optical wheel may be bent, and human hands can't straighten. One reason I am going to use the 24x conversion, I have too many opti horror stories.

[steveo]

a misinstalled opti is a throwaway for sure

[steveo]

still fighting this one..

it'll idle now, but it runs like crap.. and oddly enough once it heats up, and you shut it off, it wont start again until it cools off

havent taken the opti off yet..

[cocobolo95]

Have you put your car on a scanner that reads real time sensor data. That might help you see what's causing the problem.

Also remember, wiring, connectors, grounds, power supplies can all cause running problems when they are not allowing good flow.