I took the Z out to strech its legs for the first time in a few months today. The battery was flat but it started right up when I hooked it up to my truck. I let it warm up and then drove around for ~15 minutes before parking it again. Started it up a couple times after that to see where the power steering was leaking and it started on its own both times.

Then i let it sit for about 3 hours before i was going to put it away again. When i went to start the car it wouldn't, so I once again hooked it up to my truck. This time i had to let the battery charge for ~5 minutes before it would start up. Remember the first time it started immideately. Now it got interesting, I went to put it in gear, revved up the motor, and it just stalled. It was starting and idleing just fine, but as soon as I revved it above 2-3k the motor would just sputter and die, no matter what i did. When it died there would be a hissing noise coming from somewhere in the front of the engine compartment. I tried locating the source but to no avail. Now I can not get the car to move under its own power at all. It also dies if I let is sit and idle for over a minute, but up until then the idle seems normal.
It makes the hissing noise every time the engine dies...


Give me some ideas as to what it could be!

 

#1... get a new battery

#2... hissing could be a vacuum leak

#3... pull the spark plugs (or just 1 or 2) and see if the tips are wet or dry)

#4... listen for the noise & find out where it's coming from.

 

I had something similar recently. My car started making a weird hissing, and was acting real similar to yours. It turned out to be a dirty, loose ground on top of the intake manifold (last one before the firewall towards the rear of the manifold). The "hissing" was the fuel regulator allowing fuel to pass thru and back to the tank. Turns out the ground I fixed was a major ground in relation to the EFI system. Two ECUs, countless hours of wracking my brain, and it was this stupid little 5 minute, no cost fix. Clean some grounds and see what you come up with. I've added a pic to show which is the offending ground. You've been blessed to view my awesome artwork skills

Good luck

Carl




PS: Here is the link to my original thread... CLICKY

 

1. This battery has made it through 3 different cars now, and still holds a charge for weeks on end.

2. Yes it could very well be, but i have failed to lacate it.

3. They are all getting spark...

4. Easier said than done I guess. I heard it 20 different times and still can't pinpoint wtf it is

 

I'll give that a shot on thursday and let you know if it makes any difference. We've got to wrench on our Z's together when I go back to AZ this summer. I'll be staying in east Mesa too.

 

Yeah, that would be great...

 

That's not why I mentioned it... it's obviously getting spark because it runs. You might want to see WHY it's dying... Too much or not enough fuel.

 

If the battery has been thru 3 cars how old is it? they do go bad you know after the 60 months is up. Except for Interstates which seem to last far beyond their guarantee date.

 

I meant that i know that every single one of them gets good spark, you know what I mean. I have a brand new fuel rail and injectors installed as of this fall, and it never had a problem like this before. That being said, I'll check the condition of the plugs when I get a chance to mess with it.

Thanks for your advice. That goes out to everyone in this thread.

 

The battery is about 3 years old. Some Walmart special POS. It has never failed me. It holding charge is not the culprit here, I probably started it up 20 times after it was charging from my truck for only 5 minutes (the motor in the truck was off) and it had no other issues.

 

Goes for me too, I will give you a hand when I can. Good luck to you man.

 

Likewise, I like help out with whatever if I can. How's that pizza delivery gig working out for you? Still doing that for extra $$?


I just checked the Zdriver frapper thing... I'll be living like 2 blocks from you. Power & McKellips.

 

hay guyZ-----ya needs ta runda car for 30 mins minimum after unhooking the battery or the ecu will not know what is going on-----try that first, before taking everything apart and spending millionsa bux to not find any problem............i learned the hard way, too.........

 

So 007, you get that thing runnin' yet???

 

Didn't have any time yesturday. Temp is in the low 20s again today so I just pushed it back under the canopy. It'll have to wait till next week.

 

Bummer. 95 here today....

 

Just got home, 18" of new snow on the ground as of this afternoon. Looks like I'm gonna be skiing all spring break