940 No Start

Well, it's come time to post, sorry for its length. I have a '92 940
(Regina) B230F.

A few weeks ago, we had our first big (North Carolina) cold snap - it
went from 60-70 F to 15-20 F over a few hours one day. I came home
from work about 5:30 pm, ran to the grocery and came back about 8 pm.
At 11 pm my wife begs me for ice cream, so being the obliging fellow I
am I drove back to the grocery - about 6 miles.

As far as I could tell the car was running fine up to this point,
certainly no sputtering, skipping, all around a normal drive.

As you have guessed the car did not start at all when I came out of
the store (about 15 minutes or so). I swapped out my backup fuel pump
relay - still no dice. Towed back home, put the battery on the
charger, and the next morning, still no start.

So, over the past couple of weeks I've gone through the maintenance
that I should have done long ago: new plugs, wires, distributor cap,
rotor, fuel pressure regulator. I have the fuel filter but I need to
pick up a 27mm wrench, that's my afternoon errand.

For now, the car does not start while cranking, even sputter or
anything, except as noted below (when I release the key occasionally).

As far as symptoms:

The engine turns over fine, so I don't think it's the starter. The
starter sounds like it's doing work - and it drains the battery like
nobody's business, but no drain when I'm not cranking - so I think I
have compression.

I have two fuel pump relays, both the old kind but both known
working. They buzz correctly (few seconds at each start attempt).

I changed plugs/wires/distributor cap/rotor. I don't have an
assistant that can follow directions, so I have not checked sparking
yet. (I do have a remote start kit that I've been meaning to install,
primarily for the power door lock but this might be a good excuse.)

I changed out the timing belt (again, but it wasn't that old) so I
don't think it's the timing.

Like I mentioned, I have to change the fuel filter yet (it's getting
along, probably just at 3 years now).

There is pressure behind the fuel pressure regulator (after the
changing) so even though I don't know it's the _correct_ pressure it
is getting something.

The air filter is fairly new, so I doubt that's it.

The tank was about 3/4, I added a gallon or two more just to be sure
that I wasn't out but there definitely seems to be fuel.

When I try to start, the relay will buzz for 2-3 seconds and then
stop. The starter will turn, never catch at all while the key is in
the start position, and occasionally when I release make a little chug
- never enough to catch though. That was why I thought timing was off
at first, but that definitely wasn't it.

The cold start injector rewiring appears to have not been done. It's
reasonably warm here now, though.

I will note here that the grocery serves two major universities, so
fraternity pranks aren't out of the question. I was next to a street
lamp though so I think it's only marginally likely.

That's about all I know, I haven't done a full gas-spray-from-FPR-into-
can yet but that's pretty high up on my list (would that definitively
point to fuel pump?), as is the starter fluid.

My wife is heading out of town with our good car Wednesday night, so I
have several days to get mine working. I'm within walking distance of
the bus and rental car places, but I'd rather have everything I need
at the house than load up two kids into a bus seat.

We have several well-equipped scrap yards around, so I can buy pretty
much anything I'll need in the way of parts today and tomorrow. I's
like to run this car for another 100K+ so I don't mind keeping extras
in my basement, if I can get it running. =)

coil (is used, i.e. from a yard, likely to be okay, or do they
degrade with age?)
MAP sensor
crank sensor
interference relay
ignition control module (?)
fuel pump

I'm open to any suggestions, either of parts or tools that I'm going
to wish I had, so that I can have a slightly-less-frustrating weekend
working on the car. =)

Thanks!
-TC

 

<chop>

(Car won't start, but cranks, after cold snap. Car was warm when it
failed.)

It's time to go Back to Basics. You need compression, timing, fuel, and
spark to make the thing fire. One of them is missing. It's pretty safe
to assume it's not compression for now, since it was running OK until
you turned it off.

Get a long-handled screwdriver (#2 Philips or Reed Prince works well, as
does one of the larget Torx sizes or even a small nutdriver). Stick it
into one of the spark plug wires and prop it somewhere you can see it
between the hood and body as you crank where there is 1" or less from
the shaft to a good ground. Crank the engine and look for the spark.

Got spark? Then pull a plug and smell it. Is the plug wet? Does it
smell of gas? Not sure? Get a propane torch and turn it on without
lighting it. Stick it into the intake system in a convenient spot.
Crank the engine without delay. Does it catch and die? Then the
problem is no fuel. Don't forget to turn the torch back off after
trying this! Optionally you can try starter fluid or even carb cleaner
or if nothing else is available even dump some gas (not too much!--an
ounce or two is plenty) down the intake.

Got spark and fuel but it still won't start? All that's left is
timing...recheck the timing marks on all the shafts the timing belt
touches *and* make sure the distributor is pointed at #1 when the engine
shows TDC and both valves for #1 cylinder are closed.

But my guess is you'll find either spark or fuel missing, and you can
start from there. Always (and I mean *always*) figure out what's
missing before trying things when an engine cranks but won't start--it
provides direction to the hunt.

Don't rule out a frozen fuel line unless it's been a few degrees above
freezing for a day or more. Dry gas won't touch it in any reasonable
period of time unless you can get the car to somewhere above freezing
for a few hours, but dumping it in overnight might get you there.

HTH,

JRE

 

I had similar no start on 91 740 (Regina).

It was a failed crank position sensor.

 

I also had a similar problem on my 92 940 turbo. Turned out to be the HT
cable that runs from the coil to the distributor. If memory serves, this
was located right at the back of the engine, and was the very devil to
get at!

Bill