Yesterday when I was driving my car kinda sturrered then it turned off. I pulled over and when I tried to start my car it would turn over but it wouldn't start... I would hear a clicking sound behing the dash, but the alarm guy said it was the ecu and that sound was it sending the signal to start. I thought it was an electrical problem but 2 guys told me there that it was probalby the timing chain, and that sucks because I think it's a big job to replace :( ... if anybody can give me any advice on what to do to go about changing I would appreciate it. I do have an FSM and some tools, let me know what tools I would need to do the job. Thanks.

Jose...

P.S. And this has to happen right after I come back from my vacation, being broke as hell :(

P.P.S. Maybe this has to do with me driving my car hard after a 2 week vacation.

The guys you were talking to are monkeys.

I assure you it's not a timing chain.

Have you tried to jump start it?

It's something electrical (in no particular order)...

Starter
Battery
Alternator
Short
Relay
??

I haven't tried jump starting it, I'm thinking you mean attaching cables from another car to mine.... or maybe you mean pushing it and putting it in gear, I can try to do that tomorrow to see if that works, but I know the battery is good. Maybe it is my starter, but I thought that when the starter is no good, nothing happens. Thanks though George, I know you know plenty.

Well its definatly not the ecu clicking. Is it cranking over at all? If its not, It could be your starter or it could be your battery.

no, it is cranking over (I think that's what it's called) but it just won't start... you know that sound the car makes before it starts running, sometimes it starts right away, sometimes it doesn't, that's what it's doing, but it just won't start, it will keep cranking.

Jose...

Well then its not your starter or battery. Im not to sure where to start, but I guess you should check simple stuff like see if anything connecters came off (such as your MAF, or your plug wires). Then see if your getting a spark, then fuel, and also if your getting compression.

One way to confirm that your timing chain is okay is to remove the distributor cap, note the position of the rotor, and quickly crank the motor. If the rotor moved, then your timing chain is okay and is turning your cams and thus your rotor. Then it could be either an electrical or fuel delivery problem. Check for spark first.

If the rotor does not turn, you probably have a timing chain problem.

Steve

Originally posted by domiguy
no, it is cranking over (I think that's what it's called) but it just won't start...

Oh shoot, how much gas do you have in the car? Is it near empty? These cars are notorious for requiring at least 2 gallons in the tank to be able to start.

I know I have more than a 1/4 tank, it was like in the middle of 1/4 and 1/2....

Well today I was playing around, I didn't do much because it was raining and I don't really know what to check, but I took off the distributor completely first instead of just the cap.... well on the piece that goes inside the motor I saw metal shavings on it, I don't think that is good news :( ..... but the rotor did turn when I cranked the motor. From something I was reading in the Haynes manual (troubleshooting section) my motor is turning but not starting and timing chain was one of the possible problems, there were a few others.

I did check the codes in my ECU and all it had was 0205 which stood for IACV-AAC valve, I guess I should get an ohm-meter to check it out according to the FSM. Any more help please?! .... maybe I should post this in the general forum under a different title.

Oh also now when I was cranking it, I didn't hear the relay clicking behind the dash or teh electrical sounds & when I checked the fuse box next to the battery, the engine control (I think that's the name, it was 7.5) was blown. I replaced it, but still no luck :(

ok, check to see if you here the fuel pump working when you try to start the car, if the fuel pump is not working as well then its probably your ecu, why dont you look at the wiring harness connected to the ecu maybe it came loose some how, if not disconnect it than reconnect it and then try to start the car, other wise your ecu is probably fried...... thats my thought....
Sean

have you checked the distributor and rotor? if it cranks and wont start, thats the 1st place i'd look....

I got my car to turn on today, yaaaaay :D .... well I was trying to push my car up my street to try to jump start it but that didn't work, I could hardly push it. In the process, my battery really lost it's juice so I hooked it up to my mother's car with cables and lo-and-behold my car car turned on like that. Weird to me since the battery was good and charged before. Maybe because the positive terminal was really dirty with that white stuff (btw, anybody know how to permanently clean it and stop it from coming back) but I cleaned it all up. Now it turns on fine, although one time after revving it up, it did almost turn off. What I don't understand though is how it turned off in the first place. And when it was on now I disconnected the battery and it stayed on like it should've... oh well, I'm still gonna take it to this good mechanic I know to check it out, thanks for the help guys.

Jose...

Well I got my car running, BUT the next day when I was going to school it turned off on me again with the same problem :(

BUT today I decided to check it out again, and I look at the fuses next to the battery. The first time I checked it out there was a fuse blown (Engine Control). Now when I checked it again the same fuse was blown, DUH!! stupid me I should've checked before. Now that's the culprit, and I've narrowed it down a bit more to the reason. The fuse keeps blowing sometimes. It seems to blow after I've been revving it a lot, like redline to the rpm cut. Then it doesn't blow right away, but a few minutes or so later... well it's always happened in first and always when I'm revving more than usual to start up, like around 3-5k rpm while slipping the clutch. If anybody could help me out to find the culprit I would REEAAALY appreciate it. It sucks not being able to redline my car. Well at least I can drive it around now, carrying plenty of 7.5a fuses and not revving the shit out of my car :( ... TIA

Jose...

EDIT: the search feature is very valuable

I think this thread is what's going on with my car, I really hope it is just this, maybe I'll check it out tonite:
http://www.sr20deforum.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=201560#post201560

Originally posted by domiguy
Well I got my car running, BUT the next day when I was going to school it turned off on me again with the same problem :(

BUT today I decided to check it out again, and I look at the fuses next to the battery. The first time I checked it out there was a fuse blown (Engine Control). Now when I checked it again the same fuse was blown, DUH!! stupid me I should've checked before. Now that's the culprit, and I've narrowed it down a bit more to the reason. The fuse keeps blowing sometimes. It seems to blow after I've been revving it a lot, like redline to the rpm cut.

It's probably your MAF wiring hitting the MC. Look at these wires carefully. There have been several instances of this in the past.

I'll bet you a Shiner Bock you have a wire that's getting jammed between the MC and the intake (I believe) and it has broken the insulation on the wiring and it occasionally shorts out. It might be hard to find too.