1996 850 turbo not starting anymore

nathanrazo · Post by **nathanrazo** » 30 Aug 2005, 20:52

Back in Feb of this year the problem started to happen a few times. A couple of times the car would sputter and die. I would coast to a stop and then put in park and would be able to restart no problem. Other times it would sputter and I would hit the gas and it would keep going. The other day it sputtered and died on me. Couldn't get it restarted. Went back to it after a couple of hours, got it started, drove a couple of blocks, then it sputtered and died again. Went back to it after a few hours, got it started, got it home where it sputtered and died. Now can't get it started again. Been sitting for more than a day. Been reading that I should probably check fuel pump relay and fuel pump. What are the methods to check these??? The other thing is that I have never gotten any error lights on the dash except for the ABS light which is something I really wasn't worried about yet.

nathanrazo · Post by **nathanrazo** » 30 Aug 2005, 21:33

Here is what I have put together that I might need to check. Someone please let me know if I am on the right track and/or what else I might need to do. When the key is in position II I hear a humming noise under the hood. Does that mean the fuel pump relay is good? I read I need to check the fuel pressure at the fuel rail, but I don't know how to do that or where that is. Also read to check the injector relay by the fan shroud. Where to check, how to test? I read how to get to the fuel pump from the trunk compartment. I should get 12 volts for about 2 secs if the fuel pump is good. I have a multimeter say I will try that out. If the fuel pump is not working, what will I see in regards to voltage?

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 31 Aug 2005, 05:19

nathanrazo wrote:Here is what I have put together that I might need to check. Someone please let me know if I am on the right track and/or what else I might need to do. When the key is in position II I hear a humming noise under the hood. Does that mean the fuel pump relay is good? I read I need to check the fuel pressure at the fuel rail, but I don't know how to do that or where that is. Also read to check the injector relay by the fan shroud. Where to check, how to test? I read how to get to the fuel pump from the trunk compartment. I should get 12 volts for about 2 secs if the fuel pump is good. I have a multimeter say I will try that out. If the fuel pump is not working, what will I see in regards to voltage?

If you hear the humming noise (don't mistake the IAC), the fuel pump relay and fuel pump are working. Fuel pump relays tend to work intermittently when they do go out though. To see if you're getting pressure at the rail, take the cap off of the schraeder valve w/ the key in pos II and press on the valve. You should be able to get fuel to come out. As for the injector relay, I'm sure there is a way to use a multimeter to test it, but I'm not sure what the specs are. You just have to inspect it and look for loose wiring and/or corrosion.

nathanrazo · Post by **nathanrazo** » 31 Aug 2005, 08:00

ok, please forgive me cause i am learning as i go. the humming noise that I shouldn't confuse with the IAC??? what is the iac?? also the shraeder valve? where is that located? i will poke around and check out. but if anyone has some small pics that might really help me out!!

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 31 Aug 2005, 10:16

IAC = Idle air controller. It's the silver cylindrical thing up in the area of the throttle body. Schraeder valve can be found on the very end of the driver's side of the fuel rail. You'll want to remove the cap and press on the little metal piece in there w/ key in pos II. You should get fuel from there.

nathanrazo · Post by **nathanrazo** » 01 Sep 2005, 17:27

i am getting fuel from there, just checked

nathanrazo · Post by **nathanrazo** » 01 Sep 2005, 21:09

i'm able to get the car started if i really hold down the accelerator but then it sputters and dies in a matter of seconds. the best i got it was able to move it from the street to the driveway. i got fuel coming from the valve. i do hear a whining noise under the hood but i think the noise is coming from the silver cylinder thing near the throttle body. even though i'm getting fuel up there by the injectors does that mean the fuel relay and or fuel pump is working?

nathanrazo · Post by **nathanrazo** » 02 Sep 2005, 00:04

car turned on after i floored the accelerator and turned it over. running kind of rough and now i see the check engine light came on. so maybe an O2 sensor or something? i'll have to get the codes read.

dpauto.com · Post by **dpauto.com** » 02 Sep 2005, 00:55

Base on your description, it sounds like the engine is not getting enough fuel. I have to say it's quite hard to pin point the problem when you don't have the right tools to diagnose a problem. The best time to diagnose your problem is when it does not want to start. A fuel pressure gauge is definitely required to do an accurate pressure measurement. Check to see fuel is coming out from the schrader valve without a pressure gauge can easily mislead you.

For us to better assist you in this particular case, we need to know:

1) at the time it did not want to start, was there any spark ?
2) what was the fuel pressure reading ?
3) was there any fault code in the EFI system

Regards,
Dave