# 86 z31 5spd won't stay running



## my130hpio (Sep 24, 2015)

Hi, I am new here and I have been going through the thread on "car won't start". I sometimes have a spark from the coil. I am focussing on spark problems, not fuel. I will pull the coil wire of from distributer cap and with a screwdriver inserted in and next to the body, I am able to watch a constant sparking, or a random one or two sparks toward the end of cranking engine over. Tthe distributor cap, as well as the rotor are only 3 yrs old and still look good. Fuel pump turns on. I keep the battery charged, as it dies down after cranking for a while. I have done the following;

Verified distributor rotor moving while cranking
tested the CAS- good
tried out 2 different coils (used)
tried out a (used) power transister
got 21, 23,31 on self dia ( engine just cranks, not start)
got an 11 one time when engine started up for 4 seconds( as well as 21,23,31)
tried out an extra ecu, which turned out faulty from the get go.
tried to ohm the #17 to # 8 pins on the 20 pin ecu plug, I was not sure if I was getting a real contact

I am hopeing that someone might have some good starting points for me, I am at wits end but trying to keep an open mind to maybe a fuel problem if someone thinks I should go that direction

Thanks for taking your time to reading this


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## poptart3191 (Nov 9, 2010)

take a wire from the 12v side of the batter and put it straight to the positive side of the igniter and try to start. this will give u a constant spark. and should run fine. also u can run another wire straight to the fuel pump clip and ground those two grounds to ensure fuel pump is on. our old relays tend to send out 9v now that the cars are chasing 30 years


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## my130hpio (Sep 24, 2015)

Hey Poptart, 
Thanks for the reply, before I read your comment, I was working on it, (as I do almost everyday after work) and found the problem. It turned out to be the crank angle sensor.
I had tested power to it, before, and came up good. What I failed to do was to see if was doing what it was suppost to be doing when it was getting power!
Instead of putting on the donor optical part,( those small screws were seized on and looking like they might be trouble removing, so I decided to just replace the entire distributor shaft. It started right off, timing was good too! So I just adjusted the timing by ear for now.
Is the "igniter" that you mention, the CAS, that I replaced today?


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## my130hpio (Sep 24, 2015)

Hey Poptart, 
Thanks for the reply, before I read your comment, I was working on it, (as I do almost everyday after work) and found the problem. It turned out to be the crank angle sensor.
I had tested power to it, before, and came up good. What I failed to do was to see if was doing what it was suppost to be doing when it was getting power!
Instead of putting on the donor optical part,( those small screws were seized on and looking like they might be trouble removing, so I decided to just replace the entire distributor shaft. It started right off, timing was good too! So I just adjusted the timing by ear for now.
Is the "igniter" that you mention, the CAS, that I replaced today?




After a 45 min test drive tonight, now the high beam stopped working, WTF? Back to the drawing board, but at least this is minor diagnostics.


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## poptart3191 (Nov 9, 2010)

the headlight stick switches get corroded sometimes can be cleaned. ignitor is on the front of the tire well 
glad to hear shes at least running


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## my130hpio (Sep 24, 2015)

while driving the next evening, I was trying to find the high beam by moving the combo switch in between high and regular beam, Well I lost a headlight, while driving. I checked the fuses the next day and found that I blew a 10 am fuse. I must have sent high beam power and reg beam power at the same time. I am starting to think that it may be the combo swiitch.
Where is the "head light stick " that you speak of, is it the combo switch on the steering column? I have an extra one that I might swap out for starts, to see if that might be it.


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## poptart3191 (Nov 9, 2010)

if that's the technical term. this weekend I'm converting my head lights to a flip switch


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## poptart3191 (Nov 9, 2010)

ill keep the indicator function their for now.


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