rgouette

is still sitting on my back lawn

drained the fuel tank (x2)
now I'm battling setting the timing(see other thread)
getting kinda sad that it's been immobile for 3 weeks now
but I'm plugging away..

kinda extra sux that the front injector wiring all of a sudden went
bad..somewhere

Well, I guess that's what you get witha 30 ish year old car

ghoastrider1

put a carb on it. Any old manifold will work for a small block chevy..your year anyway. lotsa deals out there on craiglist.

rgouette

ya know, I wish that were a easy thing to do ...I just might

Radio Joe

You start a new thread every other day- Makes it kinda hard to follow what all you have done...

Few thoughts

In one post you mentioned you lost the distributor hold down bolt and didnt find it. If your distributor was OUT when that happened, FIND IT before turning the engine or moving the car. If it fell into the hole, you could end your engine!

You have an issue with the front injector and think its wiring related. You just replaced the ECM and said the connectors were all black. Did the connector suffer any damage? Maybe your problem is there.

What is exactly the issue you have with the car- Is it running rough, backfiring, what?? It seems you are still trying to mess with the timing while an injector is bad and may be thinking there is a problem with timing when there isnt. Can you describe how the engine runs right now?

We need to get a local member to stop by this guys house- Any volunteers?? Sorry I am too far away.

rgouette

I'll try & sum up:
Found the hold down bolt.
The ECM fixed the fuel pump issue, so I've got fuel flowing now(to the rear injector)
Front injector DID work, but that was 2 threads ago...
I followed the FSM, and it took me all the way to a circuit issue with the ignition somewhere.
But, since my understanding is that the car will run with 1, I'm perusing the ignition issue.

I've found TDC several times trying to set the timing..
Closest I've come is where it's at right now.
Seems to run, but only for a few seconds before it quits, and it requires feathering of the throttle to keep it going.

With all that said, you might remember the water in the gas issue.
I drained the tank, and used some HEET as a drying agent.
I cannot change the fuel filter because the car is sitting on grass.

Almost forgot: Here's what I last did to set the timing:
1) find TDC with the finger method: mark@ 0 on the balancer, with the ETC connector off
2) with dist out, I manually turned the oil pump driveshaft so that it pointed toward #1 cylinder
3) dropped the dist in so that the rotor ended up pointing about the same direction, and then made sure
wires ran correctly.
I'm still not 100% comfortable that I had the dist set correctly...

I'll keep my comments to this thread only from now on.
Rich

GQ-ROD

I'm not flaming you here so please do not take my advice the wrong way i've been where you are at ! BUT

The easiest way to make REAL progress is to focus ONE thread on ONE problem UNTIL that problem has been solved.

Or just keep one thread for your whole restoration of related issues.

So far you are all over the place not really solving ANY problems you have, and this is just leading to MORE problems and MORE frustration.

We've all been there, it can get confusing and stressful.

BUT

Start with your ignition FIRST !!!! because without it working properly the injectors won't fire and neither will the plugs !!!!

THEN move onto your fuel problems,

TEST, TEST, TEST at each step to diagnose properly EACH symptom and report back, this way you can be guided or corrected in case you miss something OR get confirmation that you are on the right track in what you have done.

If you have a difficult problem and you have a smart phone take a video of your question pointing to what you are not sure about and it will be much easier for others to narrow down the problem and help you make progress.

Some things just can't be explained by writing the problem, it has to be visual.

Upload the video to photobucket ( or other video/photo hosting site ) and post it here or the link here so others can see HOW you are approaching the problem.

Again my apology if this sounds tough but it will only help you get it running again !

rgouette

Not that it sounds tough, but I've taken videos, pix, and meh last post indicated that this thread will be the single thread for the remainder of my posts.
And far be it from me to argue with smart folk, but the car will fire the injectors if the timing is way off.
Some issues ended up morphing into others , so things got a little muddled.
Appreciate the help fellas.
It's entirely possible my damper is shot : well see.

rgouette

just a last minute tidbit before I retire for the evening.
Found TDC again(I'm really good at it now)
Re-positioned distributor.
It actually fired up and ran for about 10 seconds until it died.
Did that a few times, then it stayed running for a couple of solid minutes...
Albeit, at a fairly high idle(don;t know RPM's cause tach isn't working)
All of a sudden, white smoke starts pouring out of the lower portion of the distributor.
Shut it off, and white smoke is also coming out of the right rear wheel well.
Either it's related to the water in the gas, or was about to explode..
I did smell something 'electrical' ish near the dist..
It hasn't started up again since.

ah well..
nighty night

richcap

Did check the injector fuses did and do you
Have voltage at both injectors

rgouette

answers are all in the thread
but, since you're so kind as to ask:
Yes/No

Cliff Harris

It's not at all clear to me from this whether or not you set the timing with a timing light.

Disconnect EST connector (tan wire with black stripe -- next to windshield wiper motor).
Attach timing light to spark plug wire #1.
Set timing to 6° by turning the distributor.
Reconnect EST connector. Note that opening this connection will set an error code 42 in the ECM. You can ignore this or reset the ECM.

rgouette

Curious, I've been reading about this, all the warnings of low profile air cleaner etc, and what not . Do you know if anyone has done up an "official" conversion process for the c4?

rgouette

ok, more hope for the 84'
I haven't touched the beastie for a few days...
Decided to go out with my sosn and go back through the FSM "One injector firing" section.
Well, I'll be hogtied, even though I thought I went through the section slowly and deliberately before, we took our time, and found a seriously OPEN circuit from ECU white connector pins 6 & 12 to GROUND!

Guess what's on tap for tomorrow..

R

GQ-ROD

Good to hear you are making progress, ironicly when you fix one thing another problem becomes more apparent.

It's tedious but you are on the right track being methodical !

rgouette

ok, so the newest issue: Battery draining!
Logic dictates that since the lastest two items related to the electrical system(s), were
1) ECU replacement
2) ground wire find/fix
that, one of those two is a LIKELY culprit.

eeesh

Radio Joe

Does it run right now??

rgouette

if the weather would cooperate, I could investigate...
Maybe tomorrow, I'll get a chance to recharge it, then try that ammeter reading
& fuse pulling method..

rgouette

SOLD.
Thanks for all your help.
Rich

Bridges77

Another lost soul....thats too bad to hear.

rgouette

yup, nowhere to work on it, winters comin..: garage didn't happen..

market for 1984 C4 is HORRIBLE btw
at least in Maine