Cranks but won't start, can you help in Tucson, AZ?

[ndelage]

I'm looking for someone in Tucson who's willing to visit a sick E30 for me. Currently it cranks, but doesn't start. It was running just fine a few weeks ago when it was parked.

My Dad is storing the car for me (and driving it periodically) until I move west from Chicago. He's a pretty handy guy, but electricity is not his forte at all.

With the alternative being towing it to a shop, I thought I'd see if anyone here on r3v was in Tucson and interested in helping us at least determine what the cause is (fixing it would be great too). I'd be willing to pay you of course.

Reply/pm whatever you prefer.
Nate

[mrsleeve]

what part of town is it located. and how soon do you need it looked at? I can talk to my brother and see if hes got time to work something in between his projects, if your out on the east side.

[ndelage]

My Dad's place is northeast, just a few minutes from Sabino Canyon.

I'm in no rush, it's a weekend car. That would awesome if your brother could find the time to help. I suspect it might be something that doesn't really warrant a ride on a flat bed. But who knows, I could be totally wrong.

[noid]

Before your bring someone out check three things:

Check your main relay and fuel pump relay; by check I mean replace anyways since they are 30 years old.

Then check resistance at the plug for your crank positioning sensor.

Then check to see if fuel pump is pumping.

[ndelage]

Thanks for the suggestions. My dad is replacing the main & fuel relays as I type this, hopefully that solves our issues. I'll see if I can get him willing to measure resistance lol. It might take a miracle.

When exactly should the fuel pump switch on? When cranking the car, right? I thought I read it wasn't running when the car was in the accessory position.

[ndelage]

We've replaced both the main & fuel pump relays. No improvement yet. We suspect the fuel pump has died. We pulled a fuel line & cranked the engine, but didn't develop any fuel pressure (no gas shot out of the line).

So we'll probably be replacing the pump, which seems like a pretty easy job. I found this Bosh pump on Amazon which seems to be a pretty good deal:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I'll let you all know how things turn out. Thanks again for the help.

[ndelage]

Another update: Turns out we have no fuel *and* no spark. So we decided to test the crank position sensor and got no resistance across any of the pins.

Now it's looking like the crank position sensor is to blame. We're ordering a new one and will let you know if that does the trick.

[ST1G]

Another update: Turns out we have no fuel *and* no spark. So we decided to test the crank position sensor and got no resistance across any of the pins.

Now it's looking like the crank position sensor is to blame. We're ordering a new one and will let you know if that does the trick.

It probably will. It's often to blame.

[e30strokr]

why not use a Walbro 255 kit? for around $70

[agent]

why not use a Walbro 255 kit? for around $70

The last few pages of this thread explain why not.

[ndelage]

Car is fixed! It was the crank position sensor. Took all of 5 minutes to replace the new one and she started right up!

[noid]

Its as easy as steps 1, 2, 3 :)

Glad it worked out for you.