DE car
Hey all, I am new to this forum and after a whole day and a half of searching for my issue, i have yet to find a forum post that "hits the nail on the head" so to speak.
SO, I have an '86 300zx turbo A/T and im having a no crank no start issue. I believe it may be the fuel pump, as When i turn the car to the on position, I cant hear it the fuel pump at all.
But what makes me believe something else is the problem as well or instead, is that when i turn the key all the way as if to start the car, it does not crank but the lights turn off like normal.
What I know about the car:
-Yes, it was a junker, but the only reason I got it was because it was in really good condition, inside and out(little to no rust even in spare tire wells)
-Im still trying to get in contact with the last owner through the junk yard, but the car looked well maintained (no cracked or brittle hoses, or belts)
-Fluids looked used but none showed any indication of damage like metal specks or excessively black oil.
- And before buying it, I was able to start it with starting fluid and fogging oil, and i started up with no hesitation, and sounded great.
- And all electronics work well, even the nagging woman.
What I have done:
-I checked all my fuses, relays, and fusible links. all good
-I tried replacing the battery. no change
-Ive checked all my grounds. all good
-And ive tested the starter. all good
-I've also checked the fsms (no haynes or chilton I havent recieved mine yet) from xenonzcar and I haven't checked the ECCS codes, as I read on this forum that they are largely useless.
I know that the car wont run with the bad fuel pump, but shouldnt it at least crank if the issue is the fuel pump?
Anyways, I'd appreciate it if anyone on here could point me in the right direction and Im sorry bout the long post but Im trying not to be as concise and clear as possible.
-Thanks Manny

 

*Update*
After removing all fuses and relays, cleaning the contacts, and putting them back in, the car will crank, and turn, but only for about half a second and will turn a little.
When trying to start, The car experiences no loss of power, but i believe the issue may be a bad ground, but im unsure as to whether a bad ground would cause these symptoms, as I have dealt with bad grounds before and they have all caused the car to lose all power when trying to start.
The noise is a loud click that sounds like the starter, And i had my friend watch the engine bay as i tried to start, and he verified that the engine was cranking.
Ill be back, after I clean all my grounds, and check the wires for corrosion.

 

Something in your description sounds like insufficient torque at the starter. Here's what I would do. (Just my guess) Pull another car alongside and hook battery cables from that battery to yours while that motor is idling. Careful to get your polarity right in the hook-up, pos to pos, neg to neg. Try your starter. If your motor turns over correctly, your connections are probably right but your battery is not giving your the amps (torque) you need.to start your motor. New battery with more cold-crank amps.Please report back. Great Z there, BTW.

 

Many thanks my friend, i think it was a bad ground and the battery as I took the time to clean all of my wire contacts and grounds with a steal wire brush and i got the battery tested at autozone and it came back as bad, I swapped the battery after all that and i got her cranking, all thats left is to get this fuel pump in, but im waiting on my next check.
(biweekly pay is ***).

 

Got a replacement pump. (Walbro gss342 255lph for $69, yeah its not a fake) and im back to square one.
*fuel pressure is good
* replaced the fuel filter and fuel hoses from regulator and filter to the fuelrail
* fuel pump is correctly wired
*and the fuel pressure regulator is fine
Im thinking it may be clogged injectors? Because fuel is getting to the injectors and that seems to be the last stop before the engine and i still got the same crank but no start. Once again, id appreciate any input.
-thanks, manny
forgot to mention but when i pulled the tank, and pump it was severely rusted inside and the pump probably died to rust. and im taking that as an indicator that maybe the injectors would be in a similar condition due to sitting with a full tank of bad gas(it looked like g2 cherry gatorade)?

 

1. Did you fix the rusty tank?
2. The gas flows around the armature
3. Compression good (valves slow)
4. What does a bit of carb spray do for it
5. Has good spark?

 

1.yeah i filled the tank with muriaticacid for two days and replaced the fuel lines
2. Im not sure, im only sure that fuel gets to the rail and engages the fuel pressure regulator, which flows through the rail.
3.i ran a compression test i believe on the 1st or 2nd week i had the car and it was good compression.
4.i havent tried carb spray as i havent taken the manifold off yet
5.The spark plugs hAd no gas on them after cranking for a while.

I disconnected everything from the manifold except the egr tube(didnt have a 1/2 inch wrench) but will inspect the rail and injectors when i get a day off work. I have the o rings coming in the mail along with ngk plug wires and ngk copper plugs. Would it even be recommended to clean or should i just replace the injectors, assuming they are bad.

 

You filled the tank with miratic acid! How did you neutralize it?
That takes it down to thin raw steel ,with out a coating its going to rust away in weeks
This has been setting for?

 

Yes, I filled it with muriatic acid, but it was very dilute( like 1 quarter of the bottle , rest water), the lining was not damaged and after soaking, i rinsed the tank out with water and a lil baking soda several times and i got a brush to get the rest out. thats all fine and dandy.
What im on now is the injectors, is there a way to remove the fuel lines from the injectors or do i have to buy new injectors, everywhere i read they say you cant, but if i have to shell out 200+ for stock injectors, i might as well go all out, which is another concern as im just trying to get the car running as cheaply as possible and assess everything else.

 

After a couple of weeks of tinkering on the car after work I have verified that
-Fuel pressure is 36psi(checked after the filter not before)
-Fuel injectors are firing(screwdriver stethoscope)
-Spark plugs are gapped correctly and firing(not flooded nor completely dry)
-Air is getting in the cylinders.
When i crank the car, you can hear one or two cylinders fire but out of rhythm almost, And the cranking speeds up for a second or two as if its about to turn over, but returns to the normal cranking. One time when cranking, it did the same but i heard a loud popping( i think it was a backfire but couldnt tell as my helper was looking at the engine but i smelled an exhaust smell after)
My question is if the issue could be timing, as thatd explain the backfire if it was one and it seems to be pointing in that direction with these symptoms


-Thanks, Manny

 

Did you get this issue fixed?