Christmas Eve Breakdown/No-Start

RepairmanJack · Post by **RepairmanJack** » 24 Dec 2011, 21:33

This is a 1998 C70 Coupe with 222k on it.

Was traveling across the state to see family today. We got about 130 miles from home when I stopped for gasoline at a QuickTrip. Pulled into the wrong pump (for my fuel door) so I tried to restart the car and move it...

I cranked and the engine did not start. Crank repeatedly and still got nothing.

I had just removed several of my specialized tools and spare parts from the trunk, so I had no code-reader or other diagnostic tools on hand...

Car cranks and cranks, but just doesn't fire up - hot or cold.
This is new and had no real indication of trouble before we left.

I opened the fitting on the fuel rail, plenty of fuel in there. Later, checked pressure on the schrader valve and still got plenty of fuel coming out.

I have no way to know if my injectors are firing, or if my sparks are firing, or if some other sensor or relay bought it.

All I've got to on is this
1) The fuel level is about 1/8th tank.

2) All fuses (main bus and smaller) are fine.

3) I replaced by wiper relay 2 days ago, and had to remove the blue and orange relays to get to the wiper relay. Those two relays only fit one way and I'm sure they are installed correctly.

4) Started the car at 12:00, drove it solid for 2 hours averaging 70mph. Car had lots of power and easy acceleration. However, I felt a few little jumps on the trip. I initially thought the jumps were rough shifts from the auto transmission, now I'm thinking that they were something else.

5) When cranking, I get an oil light, battery light, shift light, and check engine light.

I have got to get this car back on the road on the 26th. If it can't be fixed in-situ, then I *have* to rent a car-carrier and pull it back with the 940.

A good friend ferried me and my family home for Christmas, but the car is stranded back where it broke down.

Any ideas are appreciated.

--edit--
was wondering if the cam position sensor could be the problem? I've read that they fail and this seems similar...

Post by **JDS60R** » 24 Dec 2011, 22:04

I was just thinking the same thing- cam position sensor.

Does your car have a distributor or coil packs?

RepairmanJack · Post by **RepairmanJack** » 24 Dec 2011, 22:26

It's got the distributor and coil.

I was thinking it could be a hot coil, but it was cool to the touch.
I've got the IPD SR5T kit, which keep the coil cool quite well.

Also checked all the wires cap and plug fittings. Gave the car a full tune up a few months back when I did the headgasket.

I did check the plug on the CPS and it was solid and secured... but it did crumble a bit back when I did the headgasket in September...

Also when I did that work, I installed the CPS incorrectly and it did almost exactly what it did today (under more controlled circumstances)....

RepairmanJack · Post by **RepairmanJack** » 24 Dec 2011, 22:33

Also, Folks over at TurboBricks are agreeing that this sounds like classic CPS failure. Only wish I had a spare...

Post by **JDS60R** » 24 Dec 2011, 22:55

It does sound like a CPS or a coil failure.

Post by **JDS60R** » 24 Dec 2011, 22:55

I wish you could test it for a ground pulse at the coil.

RepairmanJack · Post by **RepairmanJack** » 25 Dec 2011, 07:39

Yeah, little bit of irony there is that I *just* ordered an MSD coil from IPD. Won't be here for a few days yet.

Should mention that I have the IPD SR5T intake box, so the coil is cooled by the intake air.

Only other factor here that I can think of, is that this is the 1st time I've driven this car extended distances with the IPD kit ram kit installed.

RepairmanJack · Post by **RepairmanJack** » 25 Dec 2011, 16:44

I suffered a coil failure in my 1968 122S and while that's a fairly different beast, coil death was a long process characterized by random failures and an extremely hot coil. It was one of the first things I checked and I found it cool to the touch.

Post by **rspi** » 25 Dec 2011, 19:49

Just had a CPS fail in our S70. When I umplugged it the connector fell apart in my hand. I pulled one from a junk yard, got it for $5.

Just for grins, I would unplug and plug the fuel pump relay back in. That worked for my 850 a few times.

RepairmanJack · Post by **RepairmanJack** » 25 Dec 2011, 19:55

Pretty sure that the pump is running. I checked fuel pressure on the rail (releasing it a couple times) using both the schrader valve and the fitting.

The CPS connector was already crumbling. I had the head off in September for gasket (plus PCV and pretty much everything else) and replacement, and small bits of the connector crumbled. The fit was still good and I've been driving it since w/o trouble... but this put the CPS at #1 on the suspect list.

The wildcards here are this.
1) installed an intermittent wiper relay on Thursday. Had to unplug the relays to get to it on the inside firewall... The relays only fit *one* way, but I have never removed them before and who know what I might have upset?

2) IPD performance parts have been installed - Short Ram Intake and Turbo Intake kit. I haven't put much sustained driving on the car since those upgrades - rarely more than 15-30 minutes of drive time... Maybe there's an issue there.. .