Jump to content

'83 Cannonball Run II car Started and Quit.


Tim_C.
 Share

Recommended Posts

Like the title and description says. The '83 CBRII started right up toady and I put it in reverse to leave my driveway and it quit. It just cranks over now but won't fire. It was running fine before and I was driving it all day earlier today. We got some really decent weather so I drove it.

 

It was dark, so I just took another car instead of trying to figure anything out right away. I was late for a meeting. I'll have to check it out tomorrow or when I get some time. It might be fuel because I don't smell gas like I normally would while cranking.

 

Any suggestions welcome. I figure I will put my troubleshooting grounded spark plug on just to make sure it is getting spark and go from there. If it is fuel, I guess I'll start with listening for the pump to come on. I usually try to reach down and remove the starter signal wire and then turn the key and listen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, fuel pump is a good possibility. When I first got the car running, I used a stock pump from my '87 TSi with 120K miles on it. The car had no gas tank when I bought it so I used one from an '84 parts car. I figured the TSi pump was better and would work better when I got around to adding the intercooler to the CBRII. I have had the IC on for over a year now.

 

Technology: Yeah, sometimes I wonder if that's the way to fix stuff on these cars!

 

'83 igniters should be reliable but I did buy a silver '83 a few years ago that wouldn't start after the previous owner removed the AC. Replacing the igniter fixed it. I figure maybe the guy didn't have the battery disconnected when he tore into removing stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry for the off-topic question, but does that car have good tight suspension? I remember whenI sold it to Scott, that besides being full of junk and dirty, it looked like a new car.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the steering and suspension components are practically brand new and the car only weighs 2750! I weighed it at a metal recycling place a while back.

Brakes are new too. Even the one that the wheel came off when you guys were towing it. It survived the incident just fine. It was really odd that I found an old parts car near home that had everything I needed and the parts were practically new too! No wear on the pedal pivots (needed all pedals), gas tank was super clean, etc...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went out to troubleshoot it today. It started right up! I'm afraid to drive it and have it leave me stranded. Could be the igniter or even the fuel pump but usually they go out at once? I'll have to drive to and from my friend's shop for a while so if it dies in between, I can get help fairly fast. It is about 13 blocks from home.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dunno, when I had an ignitor go on the 87 it would only start every once in a long while. Took me a couple months to figure it out but this was before SQC and my solution then was to drop $400 on a new one and hope. I'm still driving on that new one...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it was 40 or so degrees out and it was parked about 20 minutes before it happened. It was bound to be cooled down. I'll check connections and carry a spare coil to swap if it happens again. Another thing is the stock connections like to break off from the coil connectors. I'll check that too.

Thanks Indy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Sound like the Fuel Pump issue I had with my 83.

The car would start, idle great, then when I went to take it out of the driveway it would quit.

 

I would have to wait about 15 mintues and then it would start up again, then die mintues later.

When i pulled the access cover to the fuel pump, in the truck bay, I felt the pump. It was hot.

The pump never made a noise to signal a problem, it would just get hot and cut off the fuel.

 

After I replaced the pump, the same problem was happening of the car stalling after a about 10 minutes.

That is when i found out the tank was not breathing to let fuel flow.

That stupid plastic check valve by the charcoal canister was messing up and not letting the fuel tank breathe freely. It would build up the back pressure and causing the car to stall everytime. Took me a while to figure that mess out. Well,... Good luck

 

Not sure of any of my suggestions help you, but I hope you find the problem faster then I did.

 

Wolf

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sound like the Fuel Pump issue I had with my 83.

The car would start, idle great, then when I went to take it out of the driveway it would quit.

 

I would have to wait about 15 mintues and then it would start up again, then die mintues later.

When i pulled the access cover to the fuel pump, in the truck bay, I felt the pump. It was hot.

The pump never made a noise to signal a problem, it would just get hot and cut off the fuel.

 

After I replaced the pump, the same problem was happening of the car stalling after a about 10 minutes.

That is when i found out the tank was not breathing to let fuel flow.

That stupid plastic check valve by the charcoal canister was messing up and not letting the fuel tank breathe freely. It would build up the back pressure and causing the car to stall everytime. Took me a while to figure that mess out. Well,... Good luck

 

Not sure of any of my suggestions help you, but I hope you find the problem faster then I did.

 

Wolf

Yeah, thanks!

I have been driving it once in a while with no problems. I'm keeping it in town until I figure it out. When it happens again, I will determine if it is fuel or spark and go from there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

It happened again today. I have a fuel pressure gauge under the hood. I watched it while I was cranking (couldn't do that before because it was dark and late, etc..). No fuel pressure. So that is what was happening. The same thing, started and then shut off. It was starting from the fuel pressure that was in the line, and then shutting off because the pump was not coming on. I verified that by removing the starter signal spade terminal (takes 10 seconds to find the wire and pull it off), and then hitting the key to listen for the pump. No pump.

I removed the access panel I installed and used a very small hammer to tap the pump a couple of times. The car then started right up when I hit the key (with the start wire plugged back in of course).

The culprit is the pump itself. I just need to replace it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:driving: Oh Yeah! I have another used stock pump for now, until I can focus on that car alone. I have a few projects to get finished first. Then the CBRII will get some justice! Until then I will drive it a little here and there.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

i had an 83 igniter issue. It would fire normally then it would triple fire. It gave the impression of a timing issue but it was random. Took me a while to 100 percent narrow it down to the igniter as it was a rare occurance.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

83 cars had an adaptor harness in place at the ecu to main harness,, something to do with ign pulse to ecu,,i had one go out on my 83 system,, in fact that was the only part that ever fail'd on my 83 system

it seems not all 83's got this fix,,some were miss'd by the dealers back then ,,the strange part is some cars would run with out it others would not

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I have that harness on the CBRII. I don't have it on my daily driver '83, but I think I have another one of those adapter harnesses. If it is a fix, maybe I should put it on? I wonder if it helps the ECU, or igniter to last longer, etc...? I guess it won't hurt to put it on, so I will look for the harness and do that.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Yes, I have that harness on the CBRII. I don't have it on my daily driver '83, but I think I have another one of those adapter harnesses. If it is a fix, maybe I should put it on? I wonder if it helps the ECU, or igniter to last longer, etc...? I guess it won't hurt to put it on, so I will look for the harness and do that.

 

------------------------------

 

Hi Tim....

 

What harness are you guys talking about??

I have been struggling with a ignition pulse issues for about 2 months with my 83.

 

"83 cars had an adaptor harness in place at the ecu to main harness,, something to do with ign pulse to ecu,,i had one go out on my 83 system,, in fact that was the only part that ever fail'd on my 83 system

it seems not all 83's got this fix,,some were miss'd by the dealers back then ,,the strange part is some cars would run with out it others would not"

 

The 83 would run well at lower speeds and lower rpms, but under load,... crappy to almost cutting out.

Rebuilts the distributor, replace wires, spark plugs, ground wires, vaccum hoses, etc.

Used an ECU checker to look over the car and am still showing ignition/spark retardant issues while at idle. (no signal)

 

The 83 would run well at lower speeds and lower rpms, but under load past 3000rpm,... crappy to almost cutting out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say it is the injectors. Mine did exactly that before too. Replacing the injectors fixed it.

The harness is a very short and small harness that plugs directly into the '83 ECU. I believe that harness is to reduce the load on the injectors to make them last longer. Without it, the '83 runs the injectors too hard and burns them up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...