i had a similare problem, all i did was change my exhaust/intake manifold gasket and it ran like **** from there on. i didnt unplug a damn thing but it ran like crap. took me 3 weeks till i got up the courage to swallow my diagnosis pride since i couldnt and did the first thing every puzzled Z owner should, re-bent all my electrical contact prongs, and sprayed all the metal clips in every electrical connection (only efi harness) and made sure they were plugged all the way up and at the ecu not just teh sensors, made sure any loose wires were pushed all the way toward the connector. and vuwala. the car ran better than it did since i owned the thing.

btw, did you try putting the old plugs back in?

 

No it doesn't make any odd noises. It revs up to 2,000 and then dies off right before it can hit boost and does it over and over till I just stop trying to rev it under load. I'm not sure what the fuel pressure is... I'm not sure what's going on with the fuel pump now.. it's getting a good connection and everything but when I took it off today, there was NO fuel in the hoses... but the pump turns on... I checked the wires to the pump with a multimeter (I think that's what it's called) and it got a good connection so... maybe the pump is bad once again. I haven't tried to put the old ones back in, the old ones have been sitting in water... it rains a lot here. I didn't think I would need them or else I would have kept them... haha yeah it seems like when I try and FIX my Z... she gets pissed and it backfires on me... I try and fix it and it breaks more lol... niiiice. But isn't that the joy of owning a PROJECT car???

 

This problem shouldn't be this hard to diagnose... you're dwelling on things that aren't the cause of the prob. OBVIOUSLY it's getting fuel or the car wouldn't start at all. The prob is either a sensor or fuel injectors. What you SHOULD be doing is hook up an A/F ratio gauge to see what the fuel mix is when the prob occurs.

Has your engine bay been wet? If the TPS gets wet at all it will cause rev'ing probs.

 

check your fuel pressure. I made a setup out of a barbed tee fitting and an air pressure gauge from the hardware store. Its fairly accurate, but I wouldnt recommend leaving it on long term. When I did my fuel pump, I dropped the tank and cleaned the strainers and physically checked the gauge sending unit out. double triple check your TPS get another AFM from the junkyard to swap out. your harness could be bad too. the heat of a turbo motor, combined with all that age could have made nasties where you cant see them. I have learned that its best not to touch anything on an old car if you dont have to.

 

have you checked the fuel pressure regulator, and or the fuel pump relay????

 

Sounds to me like a classic TPS problem. Either the contact is wet or somehow otherwise bad...


Rod.

 

Actually now that you mention it, my boyfriend was spraying down the engine bay with a hose (no idea why) so it probably did get wet. I checked the fuel pump relay and it needed cleaning but the car still doesn't want to start, with the cleaning it did try a little harder than before though. I guess it's best to start looking for a new TPS then??

 

oh yeah... a MINOR (I'm being sarcastic) detail you could have told us in the beginning. All this for a simple prob. Disconnect the TPS plug, blow it dry, plug it back in.

 

probably no need to replace it. Just take off the plug and dry the connector out.

 

soooo... what your saying that if we went through all the electrical connections like i suggested back in the begining of this thread this would be resolved. HMMMMM!!!!!!

 

Uh... just the TPS, which I don't think you mentioned at all in this thread.

 

i said do go over all the EFI harness connections, first page, look it up, cause more than likely if he sprayed the whole engine bay down its more than just the TPS that got wet.

 

give her a break snw, you remember all those retarded questions you asked when doing the turbo swap?

 

no, alll i asked was what the difference (electronics wise) of the turbo and and non turbo motors. everything else i did research on. and im nottrying to give her a hard time, im just saying out of my own personal satisfaction

 

i know im just screwing with you man

 

yeah..... i know, but i didnt want her to think the same.

 

I unplugged it and let it dry and everything but the car stills does the same old thing.

 

If the engine bay was washed, you need to make sure ALL sensors are dry. Check the AFM plug and pop off the distrib cap & make sure they are both dry. If water gets under the dizzy cap, it will fog up and stay moist for a long time.

 

while your doing that get electrical contact cleaner and spray them out with it. also make sure allthe contacts (spade clip side) are all bent in a little so they make good pressure contact with the sensor. and if you got an air compressor, id blow out anything electrical as well.

 

I'll try that... gotta wait till it stops raining all the damn time here... but I will do that and let you guys know what happens.

 

Do you have a KNN cone air filter??? If so, did water get in it??? If so, did the water get in the AFM??? Check it and see...

 

Yes I have a KNN and I don't think water got anywhere near that part but maybe... I'll check.

 

If it got in the filter, and you started it, water got into the engine (pretty sure that didn't happen)... just do what I said above, dry all sensor plugs, and under the dizzy cap.

 

Well I cleaned a lot of the sensors (again) and a lot of them were still all corroded. I cleaned the TPS really well and when I unplugged it, water came POURING out. So now the car runs great... again. Thanks guys!!! Couldn't have done it without you!!!!!

 

(its hopeless.....)