juergen.scholl wrote: Jeepme,
somehow I feel you spend a considerable amount of energy in trying to explain to us and yourself why certain diagnostic steps you're asked to carry out actually do not make much sense to you based on your prior diagnostics. This "been there, done that " approach is a hindrance with regards to having a clear view and open mind in order to find the real issue with your car.
Some of your assumptions are simply wrong, for example an early closing intake valve -on your cam design this equates to early opening - probably results in HIGHER peak pressure because of the longer compression stroke/time. This peak pressure would still to be seen at TDCC. An earlier peak compression - before TDCC as you "assume" _ would show up with a valve leak, not with a cam that's one tooth off.
On late valve,timing: How laaaate has valve timing to be so that compression will take place on the exhaust stroke??
How will timing being off( one or two or three teeth) show up on a RELATIVE compression taken thru voltage drop?? You'd need an amperage reading of the starter current and a lot of experience with this kind of test to be able to compare it to other, normal starter current draws before you venture to speculate on "timing being off".
What signal would a good ,working MAP sensor send to the pcm if the exhaust was restricted.....Even a good MAP sensor would not make start the engine with a severe restriction in the exhaust. This is one point where your testing not is conclusive. So the sensor reacts to shop vacuum, that's fine; but does the engine produce a vacuum? You could even pull a spark plug and try to start the engine on 5 cylinders if the exhaust was restricted (short out the coil tower if you try this).
Did you do an injector balance test ? This would actually confirm they're opening or not. Once again, just knowing there is a pulse to them does not proof they are injecting......, how old is the fuel by the way?
I'd like to see a data list, A faulty tps could even cause clear flood mode.
Many, many possibilities . Don't be reluctant to revisit what you did so far because the root cause of the problem isn't found yet.
I'm not reluctant to testing anything. I just need some direction on what to test and sometimes how to perform those tests. Someone asked for testing for a good spark so I hooked up a spark tester and checked it was sparking at the 20kV gap. I'm willing to perform testing anyone things will help or provide data. I just need to know what to perform.
So for things like check a clogged exhaust what does that mean? I've looked down the exhaust pipe and see nothing. I had it cranked with my hand over the pipe and it provided plenty of force to push my hand off the pipe. To me the exhaust is free and clear. But if there's something I'm missing in checking that means I shouldn't make that conclusions I'm asking for what I need to do in order to fix that bad assumption.
You are 100% correct that just because I see a signal at the PCM doesn't mean I know anything about what's happening at the engine. That's exactly where I'm currently at in my troubleshooting is checking those. For spark I've tested the signal at the rail connector (to eliminate any wire issues between PCM and coil rail), good signal (at least consistent with PCM). I've swapped the coil rail with a known good coil rail and use the spark checker to make sure each output was jumping the 20kV gap. I've plugged in each plug to see if they spark and they do. In my mind I've done everything I can and can conclude spark is good (if that's a bad assumption, please correct me).
For fuel I've seen the signal shows consistent at the injectors and PCM. I've used a mechanics stethoscope to make sure the relay on each injector is opening/closing. As of tonight I swapped the injectors with ones that have run an engine (I don't know if they're 100% good, I do know they are good enough to run an engine without a missfire). I haven't run an injector balance test but I have ordered the injector tester, hopefully get to it this weekend. My thoughts are that starter fluid would reveal if it's a fuel issue and it doesn't do much. But I have ordered the injector tester to properly test everything. At this point the fuel is probably 3 weeks old. All the old fuel was removed from the system prior to trying to start the engine. Old fuel was removed by jumping the fuel pump relay with the fuel line disconnected from the injector rail and pumping gas out until the tank was empty. Then about 6 gallons of new gas was added and the pump was run to clear anything out of the line. There was a distinct change from a greenish color of the old gas to the standard yellowish tint of new gas. I then let the pump run for another minute to make sure it was new gas.
I'm not trying to have a "been there, done that" mentality. I see how it comes off as that but that's not my intent. When I say something it's not to say I'm not going to try something. It's to give my logic that I'm thinking and for someone else to either agree and confirm my thoughts or disagree, tell me where I've gone wrong in my thoughts, and help me figure out how to correct.
You ask to see a data list, what exactly do you mean and want to see? I can work on that but don't understand what you're asking to see. As far as flood clearing mode, I don't think this car has that (unless there's another way to activate it besides holding the gas to the floor?). I used my other Jeep, held the gas pedal to the floor, and turned the key. It started right up and the RPMs started to climb.
