RX-747 Posted April 26, 2011 Report Posted April 26, 2011 (edited) I was driving home tonight and as i was driving home i pulled into maccas to get something to eat. Everything seemed fine but as i was waiting for my food in the drive through all my lights started to flicker ( like dim then go back to full power, dim then full power, etc)... I go to take off the car felt sluggish then started backfiring through the carbs really badly... I pulled over turned the car off checked everything and it all seemed fine then i took off my air filters and started it.. It cranked really slowly then the cranking sped up till it started.. I thought it was the altenator but then i remember that my car did another thing which was really weird today, when i turned the ignition off the motor kept running for like a second or so really violently before it turned off like it was trying to run with no spark... Its got me really stumped and worried with what it could be, i know it seems like a really stupid problem to have but I'm quite mechanically minded and even this one has me scratching my head... The car is an AE71 with a 4age that has had twin 40mm dellortos put on it and it also has an MSD 6AL ignition installed... Sorry if my post contains poor grammar I'm on my phone, cold, stuck until I'm confident the car can run well enough to drive home and its 2am... Any positive help is appreciated, thanks Edited April 26, 2011 by RX-747 Quote
Spencer[RL] Posted April 26, 2011 Report Posted April 26, 2011 shit dude, hope you get home alright and safe. goodluck! Quote
RX-747 Posted April 26, 2011 Author Report Posted April 26, 2011 shit dude, hope you get home alright and safe. goodluck! Thanks man i limped it home and just got through the door now... I think its going to be a pretty sleepless night... Ahhh the joys of owning an old car Quote
Old fella Posted April 26, 2011 Report Posted April 26, 2011 Check that the wires at the starter motor are not shorting out onto the exhaust manifold/extractors. Quote
BReNt Posted April 27, 2011 Report Posted April 27, 2011 Checked your timing? +1 for timing if its backfiring through the carbs. Quote
RX-747 Posted April 27, 2011 Author Report Posted April 27, 2011 problem most likely solved... i was having a look around the engine bay tried to start the car fuel pump primed everything was normal then i went to start it and it struggled to turn over, i checked the battery and it showed 11V which is low.. I then looked at the alternator and checked all the wires and bam the red wire which actually carries the charge had snapped inside the crimp so it looked connected but was in fact not touching and not charging.. hopefully get some eyelets tonight and give it a go and see if everything is sweet if not i will check the timing as the car doesnt even start.. pretty sure the alternator is the culprit though, funny how i ruled it out straight away and how you always expect the worst when things go wrong haha.. Also found out why the car ran for a second after i turned the ignition off, its called dieseling and its just fuel, vapour, etc that was still in the chamber but still combusted even though there was no spark due to heat/fuel passing through the carb still, its happened to me before and its a very rare occurrence but after the car died on me i didnt rule that out as a possible cause either until now.. i will post back here when i have some results.. thanks for the help though guys Nick Quote
ke70dave Posted April 27, 2011 Report Posted April 27, 2011 with that dieseling issue, it can also be caused by carbon build up in the combustion chamber igniting what is left of fuel mixture. what can help is a bit of a steam clean of your engine, spraying a fine mist of water through your engine while it is running. there is also this wonderful stuff called "subaru upper cylinder head cleaner", only available through subaru (around 16bucks a can). follow the instructions on the can, involves filling up your intake manifold with the foamy stuff with engine off, start engine (quite difficult at first, make sure battery is in good condition), then spraying the stuff into intake manifold while running. its like carby cleaner on steroids.... worked wonders on my s15, cleaned it out real good....and ran uber smooth after it. Quote
RX-747 Posted April 27, 2011 Author Report Posted April 27, 2011 sounds good, ill give it a shot and i think it is carbon build up because my car runs pretty rich and when i did my head gasket there was a fair bit of carbon on top of the pistons... thanks heaps for that... this is why i love RC quality info and help from people Quote
RX-747 Posted April 27, 2011 Author Report Posted April 27, 2011 problem was the alternator so i just re crimped the cable and everything was good as new again but while i was test driving it with my mate he noticed a fair bit of coolant leaking from the passenger side so yay now the heater core or pipes going to the core are farked.. it never ends >|.. thanks for the help though guys Quote
sharpshane Posted October 4, 2011 Report Posted October 4, 2011 my car does the diesel out too. Ill try that upper cylinder cleaner Quote
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