Hello, I'm having a problem with the car. It will not start and run. Just cranks. I am completely out of ideas at this point so any help or ideas on what to try next would be extremely appreciated!!
the car: 2000 fed spec Eclipse GT with manual trans.
Car has 145k on body, does not have original engine.
I have only put about 2k miles on it since buying. ran good overall, just had a rough idle. As i am all about preventative maintenance, I decided to do a full tune up on the car.
Initial observations:
car had original timing belt, original plug wires, cap and rotor. the belt especially gave me the inclination that the engine probably has between 80 and 100k miles on it.
Parts replaced:
Full timing set (new gates belt, new water pump, new idlers, and new hydraulic tensioner)
While I was there, I went ahead and changed the cam and crank seals.
After getting the timing cover back on i installed a new power steering pump and lightweight aluminum underdrive crank pulley along with new serpentine belts.
Then i moved back up top where i replaced valve cover gaskets, and did an ignition tune up consisting of ngk iridium spark plugs, vms racing brand 10mm plug wires, beck arnley distributor cap and rotor.
Since i was in no hurry, i decided to do a GTS upper intake swap as i already had the upper intake off anyway. I thoroughly researched the swap to make sure i didn't miss anything needed to make it work correctly. as part of it i did the egr delete, plugging the exhaust manifold and installing a breather on the egr tube from the intake. after the intake swap was complete, i also installed a cold air intake setup.
What happened (THE PROBLEM):
After everything was finished (car sat for approximately 2 months), i started the car. it had a slight fluctuation in the idle, which i just chalked up to the ecu having to adapt to the increased air flow. I had the car idling for 20-25 minutes while i topped of the coolant and power steering. Then it was time for a test drive. I made it about a mile before the car acted as though it was running out of gas. It died and i had to coast it off the road. The car had very little gas, so i assumed what little was in it when i put it in the garage initially had potentially evaporated out. I put gas in the car. it did nothing but crank over. had to drag the car back to the house and put it back in the garage.
Steps taken toward FIXING the problem and getting the car to run:
First, I had my gf crank it over while i had the fuel return line pulled off. it squirted a decent amount of gas as soon as she started cranking it over so i ruled out the fuel pump failing.
the next day i tried the key just to see what would happen. car started for 5 seconds then died. tried the key again. just cranks. I then pulled a spark plug. it was wet with gas, leading me to believe it was an ignition problem. my dad grounded the plug on the intake manifold while i cranked it. the plug had good spark. this led me to believe i may have an issue with the distributor. i did some research and found a thread where a guy did a diamante intake swap and had a similar incident where it idled fine, then died on him while test driving. his solution ended up being replacing the distributor. i decided it was worth a shot. I installed a brand new distributor assembly from o'reilly's. after i got it done and the battery tray, battery, and air intake reinstalled, i tried the key. car started almost instantly, revved to aprox. 1500- 2k rpms (normal on initial start for most cars) then died just a few seconds later.
took the next step, as the entire ignition system is now brand new. i replaced the crankshaft position sensor as it was the only thing still "old" on the face of the engine. while i was there, i double checked that the timing marks were still lined up which they were. got that done, tried the key. just cranks. left battery unhooked overnight, tried key again today. just cranks. tried starting fluid in the throttle body just to make sure it was not a fuel issue. it made no difference. car still just cranks over.
I am completely at a loss at this point. my next guess is to try fuel pump but honestly know that i am just throwing money at it beyond this point without further insight. any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
the car: 2000 fed spec Eclipse GT with manual trans.
Car has 145k on body, does not have original engine.
I have only put about 2k miles on it since buying. ran good overall, just had a rough idle. As i am all about preventative maintenance, I decided to do a full tune up on the car.
Initial observations:
car had original timing belt, original plug wires, cap and rotor. the belt especially gave me the inclination that the engine probably has between 80 and 100k miles on it.
Parts replaced:
Full timing set (new gates belt, new water pump, new idlers, and new hydraulic tensioner)
While I was there, I went ahead and changed the cam and crank seals.
After getting the timing cover back on i installed a new power steering pump and lightweight aluminum underdrive crank pulley along with new serpentine belts.
Then i moved back up top where i replaced valve cover gaskets, and did an ignition tune up consisting of ngk iridium spark plugs, vms racing brand 10mm plug wires, beck arnley distributor cap and rotor.
Since i was in no hurry, i decided to do a GTS upper intake swap as i already had the upper intake off anyway. I thoroughly researched the swap to make sure i didn't miss anything needed to make it work correctly. as part of it i did the egr delete, plugging the exhaust manifold and installing a breather on the egr tube from the intake. after the intake swap was complete, i also installed a cold air intake setup.
What happened (THE PROBLEM):
After everything was finished (car sat for approximately 2 months), i started the car. it had a slight fluctuation in the idle, which i just chalked up to the ecu having to adapt to the increased air flow. I had the car idling for 20-25 minutes while i topped of the coolant and power steering. Then it was time for a test drive. I made it about a mile before the car acted as though it was running out of gas. It died and i had to coast it off the road. The car had very little gas, so i assumed what little was in it when i put it in the garage initially had potentially evaporated out. I put gas in the car. it did nothing but crank over. had to drag the car back to the house and put it back in the garage.
Steps taken toward FIXING the problem and getting the car to run:
First, I had my gf crank it over while i had the fuel return line pulled off. it squirted a decent amount of gas as soon as she started cranking it over so i ruled out the fuel pump failing.
the next day i tried the key just to see what would happen. car started for 5 seconds then died. tried the key again. just cranks. I then pulled a spark plug. it was wet with gas, leading me to believe it was an ignition problem. my dad grounded the plug on the intake manifold while i cranked it. the plug had good spark. this led me to believe i may have an issue with the distributor. i did some research and found a thread where a guy did a diamante intake swap and had a similar incident where it idled fine, then died on him while test driving. his solution ended up being replacing the distributor. i decided it was worth a shot. I installed a brand new distributor assembly from o'reilly's. after i got it done and the battery tray, battery, and air intake reinstalled, i tried the key. car started almost instantly, revved to aprox. 1500- 2k rpms (normal on initial start for most cars) then died just a few seconds later.
took the next step, as the entire ignition system is now brand new. i replaced the crankshaft position sensor as it was the only thing still "old" on the face of the engine. while i was there, i double checked that the timing marks were still lined up which they were. got that done, tried the key. just cranks. left battery unhooked overnight, tried key again today. just cranks. tried starting fluid in the throttle body just to make sure it was not a fuel issue. it made no difference. car still just cranks over.
I am completely at a loss at this point. my next guess is to try fuel pump but honestly know that i am just throwing money at it beyond this point without further insight. any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.