4g61t.org

Okay, it all started earlier this year when I noticed that it took forever and a day to start my car (92 colt 4spd, stock with upped timing on premium).

After some investigation, I came to the conclusion that it was due to rain. Moisture was somehow affecting the car to where it would not start for a long time (I'm talking about 8 to 10 minutes of trying to start it). But once it started, it would start... I mean, my car has a tendency of dying because of it's severely loping idle when cold, but when it dies I can start it right up again.
'
Now its having the same problem, maybe taking even longer to start, but WITHOUT THE RAIN. That's right, same issue but minus the likely cause.

One thing I did notice however, I would often remove and replace the wires on the spark plugs, and jiggle them a bit on the cap as well. Sometimes I would hear a quiet mechanical sound for a second. Sounds alot like a motor buzzing, but only for a second. I hear it near the firewall on the passenger side of the car. Have not been able to pinpoint where or what it is, but every time I am able to juggle things correctly to make whatever device make that sound, the car is able to start immediately after that. And no, the key is NOT on when that sound is made. The key is in the "off" or "lock" position, so it cannot be anything related to a pump to start the car or something.

Oh yea, the plugs, cap, rotor, and wires are about a year old. There is also a black wire with a white stripe dangling below the distributor with a small connector on it, but not connected. It is coming out of the harness with many other wires that go to connectors that plug in to the distributor.

Sorry for the lengthy story, but I made sure to include everything that is happening so you have all the info. Thanks!

80% chance its the ecu, also the design of the spark plug wires sucks, and they tend to break easily with any brand on the 4g15's. Your cap might not be tight enough to be moisture proof, causing the hard starts. but yea most likely your ecu. Basically with most fixes on the 89-94 4gXX motors its "replace ecu", then troubleshoot you should have spares on hand if you have learned from anyone on the board!

_________________
4g61t.org
4g61t.com

I did remove the cap the other day and found no moisture in it, but alot of buildup on the points. I scraped it off, and it didn't work, so I have a spare cap and rotor to put on. I guess I will get some new wires and another ECU...


That was yesterday, today I went out and it started up right away. sooo WTF?

Sounds like ECU to me +2

_________________
Good stuff - trucks bring it!

Yea, if it helps, it would do it when I got out to my car at 4am to drive to work. Then after sitting at work for 10hrs I can go out at 3pm and it fires right up.

So I guess I have to find another ECU.

For sure it's your ECU. My car did that exact same thing. Sometimes it wouldn't start at all. Then an hour later BAM it fires right up. I put the 4G37 swap parts in it and no more problems.

_________________
2006 Pontiac Vibe 1.8L 1ZZFE 132HP
1997 Honda Civic EX Coupe 1.8L DOHC TURBO
Conner 6/23/09 8 lbs 3 ozs 20.5 inches
Caleb 3/17/12 8 lbs 15 ozs 20 inches

Ditto on the ecu, either that or a coolant temp sensor.

_________________
Had a:
1991 Eagle Summit ES Hatchback - 4g15 12v 5spd
1991 Dodge Colt -4g15 12v 4spd
Have a:
1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass - 468BBO TH350
Round 3:
1990 Dodge Colt-4G63T 5spd

Woah, thats way out of left field... How do you figure it could be the coolant temp sensor? ECU reads the faulty sensor as too hot and won't let the car start to try and save the engine?

And on a side note, I just missed a day of work. I work 4 10hr days, and missing one is bad. I kinda thought it would be a bad morning because it rained late yesterday...

It will read as too cold (usually something like -50*), ecu dumps gas into the motor making it very hard to start (cranks over a few dozen times before it'll start to catch). That's the second option though, on a 4g15 car, it's the ecu 90% of the time, caps pop and it causes starting/dieing while driving issues.

_________________
Had a:
1991 Eagle Summit ES Hatchback - 4g15 12v 5spd
1991 Dodge Colt -4g15 12v 4spd
Have a:
1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass - 468BBO TH350
Round 3:
1990 Dodge Colt-4G63T 5spd

Hmm, makes sense, but it doesn't fit the symptom. So I just bought all the 4g37 upgrade parts from 89D15CRX. Stuff should be here monday he said. Until then I still get to tool around in the Bug. Which I have to pump the brakes a bit to make up for the drums being maxed out, and the speedo doesn't work... Haven't been pulled over yet.

I've got a 90 that has a similar issue right now.

Checked the diag. port, no codes.

Got it started, it idles rough.
Unplug the MAF, idles fine.
Checked MAF, appears good. Swapped out to another known good MAF.
Same result. Rough idle plugged in. Idles fine with it unplugged.
Tried a third MAF. Same result.

What are the ranges for the coolant temp sensor, cold-hot? My manual doesn't say.

I haven't tried swapping the ECU, but when it has this problem, there are no Diag. codes.

I'm baffled to say the least.

Swap in an ecu. If yours is original, it's more than likely either dieing or on it's way out.

_________________
Had a:
1991 Eagle Summit ES Hatchback - 4g15 12v 5spd
1991 Dodge Colt -4g15 12v 4spd
Have a:
1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass - 468BBO TH350
Round 3:
1990 Dodge Colt-4G63T 5spd

Ummmm no. Coolant temp sensor that is not functioning correctly will definitely cause starting problems. I just had to change mine in the 4g15 hatch, it was causing hot starting problems as well as idle problems. You should get a CEL if the coolant temp sensor is bad.

ECU was a reman. I swapped in another ECU and got the same result. Again no codes either time.

Thinking maybe I need to get a cap/rotor and plug wires.

Did you get a CEL? How about diag. code?

If you unpluged your MAF when it was bad, did it idle fine??

What values should the coolant temp sensor read? Hot-cold? (ie trying to test it)

There are two sensors on the coolant neck, one is one wire, the other is two? Which is which?