Quest4Boost Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 I'm picking up an 88 conquest this weekend and I have a couple of questions on the best way to go about bringing her back to life. The story on the car is that it belonged to an uncle who bought it in 1990 used. Besides not driving it hard and keeping it waxed and armor- all'd up that was it. He's not mechanically inclined, so routine oil changes were the extent of his "modifications". He noticed one day that it had a above average idle and on first start ups it shot out blue smoke untill the engine caught and then the smoke was gone. So he then proceeded to park it and never drive it again. I finally got him to give it to me after 2 and a half years of nagging him. So now I have a badly neglected conquest who needs some T.L.C. I'm not a person with "deep" pockets so whats the fastest way to get the car running reliably so I can enjoy driving it for a few months? I've been aching to own this car for awhile so I would like to be "in da breeze" as soon as I can if possible. If there is no way other than slowly methodically going through every inch replacing and repairing as I go then so be it ,I'll take that route and be patient. What sayeth thee o mighty starquest gods? ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandoknight Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 the very best thing you can do is study everything there is to know about this car and learn how it is supposed to work. your problems and level and neglect on this car seems to be minimal. alot of times picking one of these cars up is to have to trailer it home from the seller. there is a lot of good information. start be checking your error codes if anyfromthe F.A.Q. sections, check your vac lines, check your turbo for shaft play. get some ideas of problems and go fromthere. chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest4Boost Posted July 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 I finally got her home. I drained the fuel and changed the filters. The old fuel that I drained out really didn't look bad at all. I drained it anyway. I also flushed the tranny and replaced the filter. Put some good old MOA in the engine to flush it out as well After that it took about an hour of cleaning contacts at the coil, battery, starter, etc. I turned the engine over by hand to make sure everything is rotating smoothly. After turning the key a few times and receiving no crank, I put it up in the air and had a friend try to crank it while I "persuaded" the starter with a hammer to free up any rusted parts it . It started after the 2nd crank, fired right up and held idle!! ;D She's alive!! I took it around the block a couple of times at around 25 mph to clean the surface rust off the rotors and to get those hubs rotating. I parked it and tried a restart to make sure the starter was o.k., and it didn't start. It cranks but doesn't catch. While cranking I noticed some smoke coming out from under the hood. I quickly popped the hood and an electrical burnt smoke cloud wafted out from around the drivers side front head light fender area. I'm guessing maybe my ecu let out the factory smoke. I inspected all ther wires around the ecu and there is no sign of burnt or grounded out wires. Any suggestions on what happened? I"m going to see if I can pull codes out of the ecu tonight maybe that will also help in the diag. Score 1 for the home team for it running and the tranny being alright though! Any feedback would be appreciated. I'll try and get some pictures posted soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandoknight Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 I doubt it is the ecu since the ecu is inside the passenger compartment. passenger side on the wall below the glove compartment. there is the fuseable link box in the area that you described. pull the covers over thst area and you will probable find sumething burnt there. keep in touch and we will see if we cant help you out. thanks Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest4Boost Posted July 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Thanks for the info. I searched through the shop manual and found out that the ecu wasn't in the area : Sorry I should have researched it a little more. I'm going to check for spark tonight, I'm starting to suspect the coil since it was in that area. On page 8-7 in the shop manual it says there is a diode resistor but it doesn't specify what for. Anyone know what it is for? It is located on the drivers side engine compartment, in the group of relays just in front of the wheel well/ upper shock mount. (radiator/fan,condenser,theft alarm relay cluster) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest4Boost Posted August 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2004 Well, she's running again. Found the cable for the ignition enable signal at the starter to be corroded and basically falling off. Now she's starting fine, the tranny is questionable though. Kind of slipping in all gears so I'm going to yank it on wed., or thurs. and replace the converter and replace the front pump seal which is leaking out pretty steady. Just spent some time waxing it and bringing the paint back and besides the minor dents and couple of blemishes she looks great! Pics to follow soon! ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustPaus_88TSi Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Awesome.. Another Auto ;D.. We're like 12 strong now..LOL 88 too? Damn, let me guess..It's red right? Depending on where you want to go with the car.. There's valve body mods that can be done, for quicker/firmer shifts and such.. But an aftermarket tranny oil cooler would be a nice upgrade, they aren't expensive at all either.. The mod info is right here.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest4Boost Posted September 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Nope, she is black, with black,grey cloth interior. I'm contemplating pulling the motor and doing a full rebuild here in a couple of weeks. Also the same with the tranny so I can add that "firmer" shift mod while I have it apart. Thanks for the info Justpaus! ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indy_85stariones Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Before you spend the time having the engine rebuilt... What kind of engine compression do you have -- wet and dry? Are you mysteriously losing any coolant? Any smoke from the exhaust? White on first start after car has set for 8-10 hours? Blue on hard acceleration? Black on quick decelleration? Our engines are pretty tough. Mine has close to 200K miles. All you need maybe just fresh timing chains and guides, and new oil pump and o-ring for pick-up tube. Maybe money left over for something like this... http://www.starconquer.com/adjustable_cam_gear.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest4Boost Posted September 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 Thanks Indy for the heads up. I understand your points about checking compression and all. I've had mixed feelings about doing the whole rebuild. The car has been sitting for 5 years and no telling how many gremlins are going to pop up. I'm concentrating on getting it running right first and then I'll make a decision on the build. I'm going to do the work myself and the problem is that I have no place to put the engine and car while I'm working on it. ??? So I think I'll get it running right and drive it untill next summer. Then I should have a house with a garage to work in. Thanks for the info on the adj. cam gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest4Boost Posted November 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2004 Update on the rescue. I have the tranny apart and I've got the master rebuild kit on order. Haven't posted in awhile seeing as I've had some "title" issues. Seems as though my uncle has been procrastinating on getting me the tiltle so I can get the car registered here. I pretty much halted all work on the car untill the paperwork comes in. I have had the inj. cleaned and flowed. And I also have one of Heron's downpipes waiting to go on. Good news is that the necessary paperwork is on the way. I've been working on getting pics up soon, so please forgive my neglect. ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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