86 ESI Pocket Rocket Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Hello, I was Driving along just fine and poof, car died and won't start. It turns just wont start, Acts like it is not getting fuel or spark. I pulled off the Throttle Body yesterday. I think it is getting fuel because the pressure of the fuel was good when I pulled off the line. Someone informed me that it may be the knock box and that they go out a lot on 86-87 models. I have been searching the archives and I was hoping someone could help me. I am looking for the location of the knock box on an 86 Starion ESI, also what it looks like. Pic would be great if available. Also does anyone else have any other idea's of what it could be? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred_85.5_TSI Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 The knock box is located on the drivers side near the battery. It is a black plastic box about 3"x5" by about 1-1.5" thick. Should say "knock control" or something like that on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86 ESI Pocket Rocket Posted July 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VICE Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Hey I currently have a similar problem my car just turned off about a week ago and won't start, cranks fine but won't start. I got a replacement ECU and and Ignitor/Knock box for mine and still nothing... I'm puzzled... Hey open up that black box and see if you can find a soldered link that just isn't touching like it melted from it's connection. If you can see that ONE link you can re-solder it and it will start.. Give it a try.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shift1313 Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 it could be an issue with the ground to the knock box. Check the ground on your intake manifold and make sure its clean. also check the battery ground just below the battery box on the fender and then at the block and make sure those points are clean. Sometimes the connector pins for the knock box dont make great contact. I used to have that problem with my car, just driving along it would cut out. id open the hood and wiggle the connector for the knocks box and voila. http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj39/shift1313/Starion/knockbox.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Knock box is just another name for the electronic ignition module on StarQuests. It is what fires the ignition coil to make spart but it also happens to monitor the engine knock sensor... aka the name "knock box." It's the small black rectangular box mounted to the fender between the battery and ignition coil - it's about the size of a deck of cards. And the black plastic ones on 84-87 cars are failure-prone: a wire inside between the circuitry and the connector busts. Often it works okay when the box is physically cold... then as it warms up thermal expansion stretches the box until the joint fails. Some folks have found that shoving a rolled-up napkin between the fender and connector puts enough flex into the box to make that joint touch for a little while longer - enough to get the car home. To know if your "no start" problem is the knock box or not: * While cranking, watch the tachometer. If it reads above zero, the ignition is probably working - the knock box isn't your bug. Think fuel. Hold the throttle pedal to the floor while trying to start; if this makes the car start I'll bet your airflow sensor is kaputt. * Not sure? Unplug the wire from the ignition coil to the distributor, at the distributor, and tape it to the bodywork so the metal end is about 1/8th inch from one of the suspension mounting bolts (i.e. a ground) but at least 6 inches away from the battery! While trying to start, see if you see/hear the spark... you should if the ignition system is working correctly. * No spark? It could be: bad ignition coil, back knock box, bad pick-up coil inside the distributor, bad ECI fusible link that powers the fuel and ignition systems. The pick-up coil is inside the distributor, underneath the rotor. It's just a small coil of wire, it should have about 1000 ohms of resistance if it's okay. The connector for the pick-up coil should be the one clipped to the bracket underneath the EGR valve (the flying saucer at the bottom/front of the throttle body assembly). Also, go to the FAQ and look up the procedure for reading out the ECU error codes for your model year - there is one for early cars and one for later cars. Anything other than code 1 (code 1 is normal for a cold engine) means other issues. A bad airflow sensor makes the 87-later cars hard to start. Flooring it seems to help. mike c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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