{"id":5188,"date":"2019-10-12T17:14:03","date_gmt":"2019-10-12T21:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/?p=5188"},"modified":"2019-10-12T17:19:11","modified_gmt":"2019-10-12T21:19:11","slug":"944-race-car-no-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/944-race-car-no-start\/","title":{"rendered":"944 Race Car No Start"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Troubleshooting a no start condition on my 944 Race Car<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>After the race at Indy, the car has made a few short trips in and out of the trailer but that is it. In preparation for the next race, I pulled it into the shop.&nbsp; When I later went to move it onto the lift, it would not start.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1085\" height=\"609\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/indy.jpg?fit=525%2C295\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5189\" srcset=\"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/indy.jpg 1085w, http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/indy-300x168.jpg 300w, http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/indy-768x431.jpg 768w, http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/indy-1024x575.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I first swapped the DME relay.\u00a0 No start.  I then replaced the DME with a jumper. No start.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>I put an inline spark tester <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2OExuoF\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/2OExuoF<\/a> on plug number one and I got a flashing light so that meant I had spark. That told me the reference sensors were working.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I then connected an LED <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2MuhnHm\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/2MuhnHm <\/a>to one of the injectors.\u00a0 It flashed as expected telling me the injectors were firing.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I then had to figure out a way to test the fuel pressure since I do not have the right fitting for the end of the fuel rail.&nbsp; I ended up using a short section of \u215c fuel hose.  I slipped it over the threads of the test port and slipped the other end over my gage.. I held both ends with hose clamps.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fuel pressure was perfect at 36 psi.&nbsp; I also took a sample and checked for water. The fuel looked fine.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I then removed the number one plug and installed the compression tester. The compression looked good telling me the timing belt was still in place.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I notice that the inline spark tester looked weak when it flashed so it tried swapping a coil <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2MuhuCM\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/2MuhuCM <\/a>from the parts car.\u00a0 No change.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I tried putting a spare spark plug directly into the coil wire and grounding it.&nbsp; I got a tiny spark.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later I retried this test with the plug from number one and got no spark.\u00a0 I noticed the plug looked dark so I cleaned it up with some brake cleaner and a brass brush.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/318PaLC\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/318PaLC <\/a>I got a bit more spark.  I reinstalled that pug and tried to start the engine again. I got a few pulses but still not a run.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I removed the second spark plug and repeated the cleaning procedure.&nbsp; When I tried to start the engine it got even more pulses, but still no run.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I pulled the remaining two plugs and cleaned them.&nbsp; The car started right up. As I revved it a time or two the engine cleared right up and idled smoothly like nothing had ever been wrong.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I suspect that running the engine the last few minutes at Indy with a dying battery and then just a few short hops in and out of the trailer since the race had fouled the plugs.\u00a0 While this is a common problem on our RX7, I never suspected it to be a problem on the 944.  I am glad it was a simple solution and I got it fixed before a race weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Troubleshooting a no start condition on my 944 Race Car After the race at Indy, the car has made a few short trips in and out of the trailer but that is it. In preparation for the next race, I pulled it into the shop.&nbsp; When I later went to move it onto the lift, &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/944-race-car-no-start\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;944 Race Car No Start&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[542,210,515,513,530],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5188"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5188"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5193,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5188\/revisions\/5193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikestrawbridge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}