My CSL is not running well. I have been messing around with it for a while. It was until last year a 20 year sitter. Now it has all new fuel lines, injectors rebuilt, new plugs, pump etc etc. The car runs like it's on 4-5 cyls. I pulled the plugs and they looked good. Checked spark and it's strong. Swapped cap, and wires to make sure they were not an issue... and that did not help. Pulled the trigger points and they look almost new. Looked at the ign points... the gap was a we bit close...so I put them back to factory. No change. Trying to figure out what to do next. The car ran great about a month ago. Just put a fresh tank of gas in it on a test drive. Any ideas guys?
D-Jet is killing me!!!
- Thread starter autobahn
- Start date
Tierfreund
Well-Known Member
My best bet: trigger points
Change the trigger points to a known working one. I´ve had new (looking) trigger points fail on me (Car would run well cold and stop completely when warm).
If the ignition is OK as you seem to have checked and if injectors and fuel pressure are OK, there´s only few things that could cause the symptoms:
wiring (simple to check though a lot of work to check every connection)
pressure sender (can only be checked by swapping to known good)
ECU (can only be checked by swapping to known good)
trigger points (can only be checked by swapping to known good)
Throttle position sensor (can be measured with a multimeter) - though problems here would probably yield other syptoms
leaking starter valve (pull it out and close the hole to check)
Air leaks (check with a can of starter fluid)
The D-Jet is really not complicated and actually quite robust. Only trouble these days is parts availability.
Don´t despair, don´t give up. Just go forth methodically
Change the trigger points to a known working one. I´ve had new (looking) trigger points fail on me (Car would run well cold and stop completely when warm).
If the ignition is OK as you seem to have checked and if injectors and fuel pressure are OK, there´s only few things that could cause the symptoms:
wiring (simple to check though a lot of work to check every connection)
pressure sender (can only be checked by swapping to known good)
ECU (can only be checked by swapping to known good)
trigger points (can only be checked by swapping to known good)
Throttle position sensor (can be measured with a multimeter) - though problems here would probably yield other syptoms
leaking starter valve (pull it out and close the hole to check)
Air leaks (check with a can of starter fluid)
The D-Jet is really not complicated and actually quite robust. Only trouble these days is parts availability.
Don´t despair, don´t give up. Just go forth methodically
if the car has been sitting, and even though you recently had the injectors cleaned, they can still stick. try gently tapping on the sides of the injectors. and start it again.
Combo fuel stabilizer/injector cleaner could not hurt, especially if there's any chance some old gas was still in system. It would take maybe half a tank running through to have any effect.....just an educated guess. It happened to me under slightly different circumstances. I used Techron.
Suggestion-
1. Try to isolate the cylinder or cylinders that are troublesome by pulling a spark plug wire. If it runs rough(er) that one's NOT ok.
2. New injectors- go back over the connections and check for a vacuum leak on the o-ring seal. They sometimes roll out of place. But first concentrate on the cylinders that are having trouble.( Carb cleaner) On the electrical side, with the engine running, try wiggling the connnections or go back over them.
3. Since it runs, it's not likely to be the distributer, points trigger, etc.
4. FI is sensitive to grounds- go back over everything, clean, retighten, etc.
5. FI is sensitive to vacumn leaks of all types- dipstick, etc.
But as Mercury says, the more you can describe the condition in detail, the better the chances of diagnosis.
1. Try to isolate the cylinder or cylinders that are troublesome by pulling a spark plug wire. If it runs rough(er) that one's NOT ok.
2. New injectors- go back over the connections and check for a vacuum leak on the o-ring seal. They sometimes roll out of place. But first concentrate on the cylinders that are having trouble.( Carb cleaner) On the electrical side, with the engine running, try wiggling the connnections or go back over them.
3. Since it runs, it's not likely to be the distributer, points trigger, etc.
4. FI is sensitive to grounds- go back over everything, clean, retighten, etc.
5. FI is sensitive to vacumn leaks of all types- dipstick, etc.
But as Mercury says, the more you can describe the condition in detail, the better the chances of diagnosis.
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Here is the latest mind bender on this one. So I figure out that it's cyl #1 that has a problem. I put my stethoscope for automotive use on it and NO TICK.
So you would think dead injector....right? So I put 12V to it and it clicks with no problems. Since I had them cleaned and tested I know they work...so no surprise here. I start the car back up and pull the spark plug wire and NO change at all on CYL #1...still dead. The rest of them make the car run even worse. Then I pull the injector wire off #1 and the car runs worse???? WHAT?? I pull the spark plug wire and no change, but I pull the injector and it runs worse? How can it be? I put a injector test noid on #1 and it does not light up. I put on cyl #5 and it lights up. So I know my light works. Tested the wire harness (#1 and #11) from injector #1 all the way back to the ECU and they are fine. I grabbed a spare ECU from Carl and plugged it in... NO CHANGE. :cry: I am stumped.
Oh...and...
I pulled the injector points and they are super clean. Even looked at them with a high powered magnifying glass...cleaned them anyhow and still no change.
So you would think dead injector....right? So I put 12V to it and it clicks with no problems. Since I had them cleaned and tested I know they work...so no surprise here. I start the car back up and pull the spark plug wire and NO change at all on CYL #1...still dead. The rest of them make the car run even worse. Then I pull the injector wire off #1 and the car runs worse???? WHAT?? I pull the spark plug wire and no change, but I pull the injector and it runs worse? How can it be? I put a injector test noid on #1 and it does not light up. I put on cyl #5 and it lights up. So I know my light works. Tested the wire harness (#1 and #11) from injector #1 all the way back to the ECU and they are fine. I grabbed a spare ECU from Carl and plugged it in... NO CHANGE. :cry: I am stumped.
Oh...and...
I pulled the injector points and they are super clean. Even looked at them with a high powered magnifying glass...cleaned them anyhow and still no change.
coupeking
Well-Known Member
Sean-
I had this problem with a CSi of mine years ago. Changed everything--as you have-- and still had a miss I could not get rid of. This car had a 2 part CSi wiring harness with the plug on the frame rail, and i took that apart and cleaned all the connections and put it back together. Problem solved. Miss gone.
Good Luck-
Peter
coupeking
I had this problem with a CSi of mine years ago. Changed everything--as you have-- and still had a miss I could not get rid of. This car had a 2 part CSi wiring harness with the plug on the frame rail, and i took that apart and cleaned all the connections and put it back together. Problem solved. Miss gone.
Good Luck-
Peter
coupeking
PROBLEM SOLVED!!!
You will never believe this one... after wire diagrams, multi-meters hooked to everything you can think of, oscilloscopes etc. Someone before I owned the car reversed injector #1 and the manifold air temp sensor. It's an easy mistake to make... they have the same ends and it looks like the harness plugs should be 1-2-3 and the sensor is on it's own. Not the case. Car now runs great!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the help guys. The diagram really saved the day.
You will never believe this one... after wire diagrams, multi-meters hooked to everything you can think of, oscilloscopes etc. Someone before I owned the car reversed injector #1 and the manifold air temp sensor. It's an easy mistake to make... they have the same ends and it looks like the harness plugs should be 1-2-3 and the sensor is on it's own. Not the case. Car now runs great!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the help guys. The diagram really saved the day.