90 tracker; turns over, fires, and then dies...help!

[bcbud]

This problem happens usually after i hit a big bump on gravel road. After it dies, it will only turnover and run for about 3 seconds. If i leave it alone for atleast an hour, it will fire up and run great until i hit another bump? Never happens on smooth, paved roads but i primarily use my tracker for hunting. It has always had times where it runs a bit rough for a while but usually clears up. Not sure if both problems are related. Any info and help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[fixkick]

90 is unique of all trackers, 89/90 . 1.6L TBI motor.
90 is 1.6L EFI , some 89s are CARB 1.3L in USA> or canada.

90, has a stand alone DIZZy. the dizzy makes spark with the ECU , sitting on the work bench. dig? dizzy + coil.
4WD? if yes, it has a dash tachometer. and shows 0.3 RPM (.3 times 1000 is equal to 300) RPM. cranking. (below 1 mark) does it,?

so when the engine dies always check spark. first. in all 5 places, if 1 is dead. 4 spark plugs, and coil.
if spark is good, the ECu does watch(tacho line) it like a hawk, if the ECU sees this spark as dead (even when perfect) the ECU will in fact cut fuel 100%
#1 cause lost or loss suppressor module ,
if the ECu cuts fuel , you look down the air horn of the throttle body, oops it stopped injecting (no tools (save a spanner wrench) and you can watch any TBI inject, 89-95.

it can also die for many reasons, ( i find the no start reason.)
1: lost spark
2: dead Tachometer. (dizzy makes this signal, and must, if not , fuel stops)
3: lost 12v power to ECU, or coil or DIZZY (lost ignition, power, or bad connectors)
4: flooding, are spark tips soaked in fuel? flooding?
5: or dry spark tips?
if dry does test fuel work? (do only if spark is good.)

if dry , use the NIOD lamp to see if Injections stop. if NOID passes, and does not spray cranking then fuel pressure is zero.

good luck to you.
my guess. is the bump kills electric power to ECU, DIZZy or fuel pump.???????

[bcbud]

Is this EFI? In Canada and it is a 4wd with a tachometer. It also electonic fuel injection on the intake.

[fixkick]

90, its electronic fuel injection or EFI, as we say. 1.6L EFI TBI , 4wd.
(if the engine has full compression, 150psi, not 80? the engine is good. my guess is its ok.

the first tests.
1: key on, CEL glows, does it?
2: check two, you insert the diagnostic jumper , and it flashes code 12. key on and running if it runs now.
http://www.fixkick.com/CEL/DLC/DiagJump.html
this car , i think has the 4 pin plug at the battery, jump B to C and you get code 12. 12 means normal.
if car dont start, put this jumper in place. see code 12s. or others flash out.

the key to finding it is to do tests when it fails.

3: if you crank an engine that dont start. for 5 seconds, see if the DTC errors. are 41. (i think 90s only can flash only 41s, lost spark, lost tachometer signal)
intermittent are very hard to find. nothing harder really,
41s, kill all fuel injections, fast. say in 3 seconds.

when you hit the speed bump does the radio die. or other lights.
when any engine stalls the CEL glows, and charge lamp. this is normal but if the dash lamps all die, at stall this is 12v main power loss. very common on these cars.

when it dies, does the spark test good.?
when it dies, does test fuel start the car back up?

[bcbud]

Yes, when it dies, test fuel starts it back u for 3 seconds. Lights, lamps and radio all works. Good spark. Check engine light comes on when key is on.

[fixkick]

test fuel , it runs prefect after test fuel, test, during the 1hour down times?

keep i find , that test fuel (ether) can in fact start a flooded engine . because this instant start fluid, is hotter than gasoline.
is the injector dead, at stall, (pull the air horn and look cranking?)

the key hear, is why the 1hour down time. (lost spark, bad fueling)
the only why to tell is spark tip examination , and direct viewing the injector , during the down time.
seems like its a fueling issue.
doing the down time, keep the Diagnostic jumper in place, crank, no crank up, no start, (down time) and see if you get code 41 if you are then its spark read back, cutting out injections. the rule is to crank for 5 seconds. release the key, 12's gone, 41, no present. (ECU see's tachometer signal dead and cuts fuel)
ive seen this many times. the ECU cuts fueling. when you hit a bum and the caps in the ECU are all dried out.. the insides, of the caps , short, as you hit a bump and the ECU crashes.
for sure the 1 hour down time, is the key , here, 2 tests.
spark ok, ?
code 12 not, 41s. cranking (suppressor module loose in socket? or tachometer or its wires shorting this spark readback to ground, 41's , bang.
look at injector, dead or squirting crankiing. if dead, injector, do the NOID light fails. and the ECU is bad.
there is one other possible , the TPS ground is opening up, this causes ECU to enter unflood mode, WOT, is full time.

most my tests are useless if the engine runs, after all , cant fix it if broken.
but you can lay in traps.
here are 3 traps, car runs, waiting for the 1hour, death.
1: voltmeter to the ignition line, monitoring power to ECU, (@ IGcoil fuse or FI fuse) either or both dropping dead 0 volts, kills all injections or spark..

2: spark strobe light connected to a spark plug wire, and flashing away waiting for a speed bumpb. my guess is this passes.

3: adding a hose to the intake plenum, to a propane tank , sitting on passenger seat, hit speed bump, engine stalls, i crack the propane cylinder wide open, bang, car takes off. (lost fuel)

or inspect ECU for leaking caps, all 89-95 ECU fail 1 time for this. Rubicon disease
http://www.fixkick.com/ECU/ECU.html


my guess?, is lost 12v to ECU, at bump. one offroad, had rusted fuses in fuse box above right knee... (water leaks)
or bad ecu, causing Injector to stall.

bad grounds..
http://www.fixkick.com/Good_Bad_Ugly/com...lures.html


or MR, fender fuse box. classic.

---

we can find this.
its lost spark or lost fuel. (it not lash getting too tight, and lost compression hot failure and causing no starts) test fuel proved that.
if you find out injection is failing dead, we can find why.

there are only 2 inputs to the ecu (not counting power and ground that kills injections) a volt meter can find bad power. to ECU. at the failure moment and during 1hr, no starts.
1: TPS stuck at 4-5v. TP pin, (normal is 1v) "magic unflood mode "
2: spark read back line is dead, (tachometer drops to zero RPM , the ECU cuts fuel fast) The dizzy makes spark and ECU pin A1 , monitors this pin full time.

note how ECU has no CMP sensor. in 1990. see my horses up schematic.
http://www.fixkick.com/fuse-box1-failure2.jpg

[bcbud]

Im sorry, i misunderstand test fuel. The engine will fire with the fuel thats aoutomatically injected at starting. Then it dies after that. No test fuel used. I will get a code finder today. Thanks

[fixkick]

ok use test fuel.
test fuel means.
1: instant start in a spray can. http://www.fixkick.com/INJECTORS/bastard.jpg

2: or real gasoline in a spray bottle. DIY.
if the car has spark (dead motor) and test fuel works, then the motor sounds good, for every 3 second blast. then the motor is good,and spark is good,but why do i have to keep spraying
you asks self?, answer, the injector is dead, you look at injector LIVE and see, my gosh it is dead. and we work that.
see?
there are only 3 ways to injector dead fail, (after all ,the cat is not melted car runs, the EGR is not stuck open its defeated, closed if smart for testing......)
so we the look for lost fueling.
1: NOID fail. (attach lamp see it flash, great ECU is working dead engine, but will not run, so is....2) if noid fail we attack ECU. , really it is that easy.
2: random loss of fuel pressure, to 0psi or 10sp are bad, 30 is good. not less. or 60 floods engine. pump pressure must be in spec at all times.
3: injector coil open, injector clogged. (injector is bad, or intermittent) is coil reading 1 ohms? or why higher.? injector service is $20

the kicks is this a 2 door, all 2 door kicks love to rust the fuel pump ground, is this a 2 door? will be random. as is under tank wires. love to fail.

the only hard part, here is getting it to fail so you can find out why, and for sure is a PITA, i feel your pain there.

[bcbud]

I wiggled the wires going to the ecm and now its running perfect, for now. Im still scared to drive away. My wires to the fuel pump is good too.

[fixkick]

yes, old wires and old connections.
one thing about wiring, and electrics, once intermittent? they almost always get worse. and when that happens, it's easy to find the cause.
no spark, no fuel. paths.
if it comes back, drive with the diag jumper inserted
12,12,12, etc.
some other number?
dead?
the lamp must flash even at stall. (if not, the ECU is bad.) ever replace the ECU caps yet, they dont last 20 years. not even close.
watch the cel, lamp when it dies. what does it do.

---

we are working a problem that we think the engine is good. (good compressing and runs hot or cold, only bumps mess it up) so engine is good.
spark you thing its good, have you ever checked the Dizzy VR gap? this dizzy makes all all spark and are notorious for very odd failures. Ignitor, etc. inside.
so we presume the problem is just bad injection.
1: lost 12v power to eCU (ground is part of that)
2: bad inputs to ECU.
3: bad ECU.
4: injector bad ,flaky or loss off fuel pressure.
what makes this very hard, is the lack of a scan tool, that would in fact discount 1,2,3 errors, above. or even reveal the bad input.

on the other hand what input to ecu cause stalls. (not correctable by a fast right foot , a true stall)
THE ECU on this car is FUEL injection ONLY ecu, the ECu does not create or time spark, like 91+_
in no order.
A: lost 12v power. any thing related to MAIN relay. even a loose IG coil fuse or wiring hacks to same. this fuse bad (corroded) kills spark too, main powers the ECU and the fuel pump.
B: CODE 41s.
C: Bad ECU. (all 90-95 fail for caps 1 time. are yours caps fresh?)
D: MAP goes to 0v. dead. for any of 3 or more reasons.
E: bad injector wires. (or injector, or
F: bad wires from ECU to both Main relay coils. or any wire to main, or connector to main or heck main relay bad it self $$$$$


http://www.fixkick.com/ECU/ECU.html