- Location
- Southern Maryland
I'm looking to get some ideas and inputs for a problem.
The battery in my '91 beater is a few years old and has been struggling to keep a charge for the last couple of winters. Last week it bottomed out on juice while trying to start, so I put it on the charger for the day. I put it back in the jeep the next day, and now the engine cranks over fine but does not start.
Actually it spudders at first and it will try to start if I hold the throttle down, but it does not fully engage. Otherwise its just turning over and not even trying. There's no weak misfire or anything (unless I hold the pedal down) and its just turning with no attempt at engaging.
What would cause this?
First thing I checked was spark on a test plug and it shows a nice white pattern, so I know the ignition system from the CPS through the distributor is functioning.
There is obvious pressure at the fuel rail when I depress the test valve (I don't have a working fuel pressure tester so I can't get precise numbers); the pump primes up and is just as loud as always. I squirted a teaspoon of starter fluid into the throttle body and it did not start with that either.
I also left the cowl intake tube from the throttle body so air was unrestricted, but it did not make a difference either.
The key-trick shows codes 12 (battery removed) and 55 (end of list), so the computer doesn't see any problem on any of the monitored circuits. I am going to test some of the sensors such as coolant temp and the rest to see if they are within expected ranges, since some of them could cause AFR problems that would have similar symptoms.
After that I will have to scare up another fuel pressure tester.
Other ideas? Maybe the computer was fried when the battery started going? Idle air controller needs to be reset maybe? Anything else?
The battery in my '91 beater is a few years old and has been struggling to keep a charge for the last couple of winters. Last week it bottomed out on juice while trying to start, so I put it on the charger for the day. I put it back in the jeep the next day, and now the engine cranks over fine but does not start.
Actually it spudders at first and it will try to start if I hold the throttle down, but it does not fully engage. Otherwise its just turning over and not even trying. There's no weak misfire or anything (unless I hold the pedal down) and its just turning with no attempt at engaging.
What would cause this?
First thing I checked was spark on a test plug and it shows a nice white pattern, so I know the ignition system from the CPS through the distributor is functioning.
There is obvious pressure at the fuel rail when I depress the test valve (I don't have a working fuel pressure tester so I can't get precise numbers); the pump primes up and is just as loud as always. I squirted a teaspoon of starter fluid into the throttle body and it did not start with that either.
I also left the cowl intake tube from the throttle body so air was unrestricted, but it did not make a difference either.
The key-trick shows codes 12 (battery removed) and 55 (end of list), so the computer doesn't see any problem on any of the monitored circuits. I am going to test some of the sensors such as coolant temp and the rest to see if they are within expected ranges, since some of them could cause AFR problems that would have similar symptoms.
After that I will have to scare up another fuel pressure tester.
Other ideas? Maybe the computer was fried when the battery started going? Idle air controller needs to be reset maybe? Anything else?