its got me stumped guys... all started about 2 months ago. was driving and went to make a corner and shut off and would not start back up. Pulled #1, no spark. towed it home and it there if sat until 3 days ago( i was out of town). so i started with coil, no good. new opti and ICM. now it has good spark but still no go. pulled spark pulls, reaked of fuel so figured i fuel fouled them from trying to start with no spark. replaced all 8 and wires, no good either. It has good spark, seems to have good compression but it's spitting air out of the intake badly when i try to start. I have a 1000CCA battery out of my diesel in the right now so i know it not a bad battery! Also, after replacing plugs and trying to start one time, they reaked of fuel already! why? and ANY ideas of where to go from here! i need this thing running!! thanks. here is a video from last night trying to start.

 

It sounds like grinding. Is the starter disengaging?

 

no... not grinding. that is air blowing out the intake...

 

Have you done fuel pressure check? You said good battery, but have you verified that its fully charged? Have you done the "hold the pedal to the floor" to see if that helps? Any codes?

 

i havent checked fuel pressure i dont have a guage to test but i can hear the pump run sounds fine and no havent just held it to the floor.. i mean give it gas when starting but not hold it. and i dont have a scanner for the car. my obdII good for 95+

 

do they rent a gauge at parts stores?

 

Not clear what that means. You are aware your 95 has an OBD-1 PCM and an OBD-2 style 16-pin ALDL connector???

Air blowing out of the intake sounds like a timing problem.

 

umm... lets rephrase this... its a 94. only thing i have to run for codes is an obd-2. as far as i know they are only good for cars 1995 and later models correct? what would i need to see codes for a 94?

 

93 - 95 are OBD-1. 96 - 97 are OBD-2.

The older (1990's) Auto Xray OBD-1 scanners work. There's an Actron CP9145 that works with the correct optional cable. Many newer OBD-2/OBD-1 scanners will not work because they are looking for a 12V pin in the ALDL connector and there is none.

Or free scanning/data logging software from Datamaster or FreeScan plus a cable.

 

any chance you mixed the wires up that would explain the air blowing
out of the intake and the fact it doesn't start ???

 

yea thats what i say to...sounds like when you changed the opti you got a few plug wires backwards.

 

yes i thought the wires too but i double checked, they are where they are supposed to be. maybe jumped some teeth? im gonna take the cover off the timing chain and check it too i guess... Im leaning towards timing...

 

i think my problem lies in the way i installed the opti... after removing the old one i simply shoved the new one on. tightened it down and replaced everything else and tried to start. when i read that it shouldnt be like that and should slide on easily without force, i went back and did that but because i had already turned the motor over did i screw everything up? how can i get it back in time???

 

To install it correctly, you have to align the "odd" tooth on the splined drive shaft with the matching slot in the cam sprocket, as shown in Shoebox's guide:

http://shbox.com/1/93-94_opti.jpg

It doesn't matter if you cranked the engine with the Opti incorrectly indexed. You just need to match up the spline and the slot.

 

STILL havent got this thing to start. i think its a bad opti. still blowing air out when it should be sucking. could it be 180 out?? been out of town for a week, im going to pull cover and check timing today. you guys said it can only go in one way but it would just make me feel better and eliminate that possiblity. i dont know what else it could be. 42lb fuel pressure. spark looks good. obviously has compression and it still wont start. it will try and try and try until it kills the battery which will now barely hold a charge guess need new one of those too.