1996 850R Cranks starts then dies

Aussie850R · Post by **Aussie850R** » 27 Feb 2015, 23:57

Hello brains trust, I was wondering if you might be able to help.

I have a bit of an issue. The car has been sitting idle for some time as I have been away from work and then removed dash only to find that the donor dash that I had sourced had a 95 wiring loom which was not compatible with my 96R. long story short the car has been sitting unused for about 6 months.

During that time I have done a PCV replacement but had not started the car since as the battery had died. I have now finally refitted the dash after sourcing a sorry looking CD for the parts and stripping what i needed.

I have just brought a brand new battery put it in the car only to find hat it fires up fine but dies straight away. Pumping the throttle I can keep it going but it runs quite rough then died again. When it was parked up 6 months ago it started and ran fine. I have swapped the fuel pump relay to no avail thinking that it may be the issue. I have also swapped ECU's, again with no luck. What are everyone's thoughts?

webstyles · Post by **webstyles** » 28 Feb 2015, 03:34

Since everything was fine before, it must be something that can go wrong without being touched or used... (unless it was outside and a little mouse got in there and had a nibble at some wires and hoses or nested in your air filter) so, something got sticky from the sun, or clogged or corroded... (I'm assuming you connected everything properly after the dash change).

This is my bet:
- bad fuel ? Seen that symptom before in a car that had water in the fuel tank. If fuel sits for a very long time, water can accumulate at the bottom of the tank. If the car has very little fuel, it may be pulling up those water deposits. Try rocking the car as hard as possible for a minute or two to mix the fuel again, drain out what's in the filter and pump new stuff in.

other stuff I would check:

- Distributor cap contacts could be dirty from lack of use ?

- Spark pluggs or leads corroded?

- Fuel filter clogged?

- Clogged injectors? I would remove spark plug leads and crank engine, then remove all plugs one by one and check if they are wet. if one or more are not wet, fuel probably isn't getting there.

If they are all wet. put them back, connect the plug leads, and start the car again for a few seconds. then remove plugs again and check if any is still wet. If it is, that cylinder isn't firing.

Otherwise, I would start disconnecting MAF, O2 sensors, etc... Anything that can be sending the wrong signal to the computer. Test after disconnecting each one. Also, since it was parked for so long, keep an open mind to the possibility that it might be several problems at the same time, so pay attention to slight improvements while disconnecting things.

Hope this helps

ElGeorgito · Post by **ElGeorgito** » 28 Feb 2015, 12:38

I had this problem. thought it was all sorts of immobilizers and electrical things. Mechanic put it on a lift and found the plastic air intake had rotted and fallen off back of engine at turbo, bypassing MAF and screwing up computer. Start with the simple things I guess. This was on a 99 v70 xc.

Post by **JimBee** » 28 Feb 2015, 16:52

One really simple thing to try first: instead of jiggling the accelerator, let it die. It might drop to 300 to 400 hundred and catch again, then rev up and drop rpms again until it settles at normal. If it dies, try it again. If you keep jiggling the accelerator, you're sending data to the ECU that confuses it.

I have a '96 that did that, it was only by coincidence that I discovered the quirk. It ran fine after I let it normalize on its own.

Post by **erikv11** » 28 Feb 2015, 18:56

Seems like it has fuel and compression, I like the ideas that it is an issue with air supply (too much or too little). Check the intake for tears or clogs, check under the air filter make sure no rodent nests in there.