Strike3

A few hours ago, i was adding a can of refrigerant to my 91 coupe a/c systen with the car running fine. It was slowly sucking down the refrigerant and I was busy at the work bench while occasionally checking the can for contents and watching the engine for signs of overheating. All seemed to be going well. With no warning, I heard the car shutdown without a cough, or sputter, just as if I had turned the key off (which I hadn't). I went over to take a look and everything seemed normal, dash lights still on, fan going etc., except of course the engine was stoped. I tried to restart the engine by turning the key to start, but nothing happened. I turned the Ignition key too OFF and tried again to restart the car. Instruments lights came on but the starter motor did not work at all. I turned the key to off again and did the procedure to check my ECM and CCM codes. Nothing but the code 12. Car still won't turn over. What gives????

joe paco

no clues.
does the FP come on for 2 secs when you turn key on?
no click in the solenoid?
fuses good? air bag, FP, injectors 1 and 2.

the shutdown is hard to figure, unless fuel stopped and it just quit. the other sounds like vats.
go thru the usual, even tho it won't make sense, spare key, battery clamps tight, no fuses blown.

someone with a clear head will come in.

joe

l98tpi

What is voltage reading on guage? Alt could have went bad and battery finally used up its stored power.

joe paco

my brain is still foggy, I reckon. at least we know it is electrical, since it won't click the solenoid.

does battery have amps to turn on headlights? last time I had sr tart issue, a cell went dead in battery. it would still click the solenoid tho.

have you jiggled the gearshit in neutral with key in start? don't hear the starter relay under the dash by steering column click when in start?

try unhooking neg cable for a minute, back on tight. desperate, I know.

joe

Strike3

I'll go and try some of these sudgestions. Back in a while................

Strike3

OK! This is wierd.... I went back to the car and turned the key on to read battery voltage, then, just for grins, I turned it to start. The engine cranked over and started.

I have no idea what happened, buy now I am worried that what ever it was that killed the electrical to the engine could happen again but in the middle of trafic, 100 miles from home.

Anyone know of a problem like this that apparently resets itself?

leesvet

Loose battery connections, jumper post contacts, loose/dirty grounds.

joe paco

you don't know that it killled electrical, correct? the fan was running, etc.
all we know it that it died, then would not click the solenoid. I guess it would not, not sure if you said, other than "starter would not work at all."
that would be one of the first questions to answer. lots of questions in the thread that you did not answer.

alternator should have run the engine, even if battery disconnected. other than you touching battery cables, or affecting something, I don't see how the fault could correct itself.

if it were mine, I would try to recall everything that happened, and write it down. I'd leave the car in the garage until I was confident the root cause was located.

3D87C4

Just saw your thread over in Scan & Tune & re-read this thread assuming it's the one you referenced.

VATS resets itself. I don't know if you saw my recent VATS thread. The upshot was mine would crank but not start if the key resistor wasn't read properly. It would fire briefly but not run---I it was just burning off residual fuel in the manifold or the VATS controler didn't immediately shut off the fuel. I figure my problem is a bad start enable relay that allows the engine to crank even though the VATS still disables the fuel. (A ground on the wire connecting the relay and VATS controler would do the same thing.)

So...similarities to your situation include

Crank but no start.

Runs while fuel is available (i.e. starter fluid is sprayed).

Just a thought...might be relevant.