JaysZ Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 OK, now my car wont start at all. it was running super rich at first. then, i added oil to my SU carbs and it was opening up the throttles to allow more air in. i topped it off and a lot of it was leaking out of the intake. but, it was running much better and was actually driveable. that was 5 days ago. today, i cranked it and it would not start. i thought it might be low on gas so i added another gallon. it ran for a few seconds then died. i pulled the plugs and they are all showing it is running hot with the exception of cylinder 3, which is black and oily. so i put in Bosch platinums (the guy at Autozone says I should do platinum if I'm running rich) and it still does not run. Are my wires bad? Distributor, coil, etc? the oil in the SU's look low again too, do I need to rebuild them? i need to move the car since its in a private lot, what should i do?? i'll post this in the general problems board as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO-Z Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 Start by checking if you have spark pull the coil wire have someone turn the motor over. If you have spark, next check to see if you have fuel to the carbs. You could try spraying some starting fluid into the carbs and see if it tries to start. Be careful with starting fluid it is very flammable. If it does you have a fuel problem. You have to work one system at a time. It saves money having to not buy a bunch of stuff that you do not need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Magnum Rockwilder Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 Call me crazy, but if it's so urgent to move the car, why don't you have it towed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaysZ Posted November 28, 2004 Author Share Posted November 28, 2004 because i dont have a truck and the hook up fee alone to tow it is $60 and it just needs to be moved about 3 blocks! the lot it was parked in was only "public" certain hours. anyway, i got the car running again but its very rough. i think i have bad carbs and/or a bad fuel pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 240hybrid Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 Did the car sit for a long time/period? Like mentioned I would check for spark, fuel, and ground too. One of those should point you in the direction to fix this. If you need to move it right away, why not just hook a chain to it and pull it....a car will pull it 3 blocks. I wouldn't do it myself, but if its the only way you can and its short distance...go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaysZ Posted November 29, 2004 Author Share Posted November 29, 2004 thats what confuses me, the car sat for just a day and was running decently before then. i'm guessing the carbs are bad and probably went out of tune. it seems to be leaking or something.. as far as moving it, Oliver (olie05) came to the rescue once again and helped me fire her up. i was then able to drive her to the parking garage i have unlimited access to. anyway, next time i'll have a few tow straps in the car just in case, even though i hate the thought of pulling the Z with my accord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 so i put in Bosch platinums (the guy at Autozone says I should do platinum if I'm running rich) Amazing just how knowledgeable the typical auto zone/kragen/pep boys employee really is. Do yourself a favor... dont' waste your time asking them technical questions or following thru on their advice. 99% of the time they do NOT know what they are talking about, and will have you spending money you don't need to be spending. You've got access to one of the best Z related knowledge bases right here in Hybrid Z... it never hurts to ask here first. Anyways... platinums wont do much if anything at all to help with a rich running problem. And it doesn't sound like you have a rich running problem to me, anyways. It does sound like you've got bad rings or valve stem seals in one cylinder, hence the oily black plug. I have a hard time believing your carbs are able to go out of tune after just sitting there for a few days... sounds to me like you've got some other problem. SU's really only ever go 'bad' in one way, and that is when the throttle shafts wear causing an unmetered air leak. I would be amazed to see that happen to a point that the car would not run though. However, they may be dirty or clogged in some other way. As 240hybrid says... if the car sat for a long time, that could cause your problem. Also as he says, it is very easy to check if you are even getting fuel and spark, so check those two things first. If you can verify that your fuel pump is actually pumping, and that you are getting spark from the coil (or better yet, test all six wires individually) and all checks out, then it may be your carbs. If so, I would STRONGLY suggest you order the video, "Just SU's" from ztherapy.com. It gives a very detailed walkthru on how to tear down and rebuild the carbs, and adjust them to factory spec, a great starting point. At the least, get some float bowl gaskets from them as well, this is the one part that you'll almost definatley have to replace in the process of just tearing them down and checking them out. With that video, you'll be able to adjust your floats, set your mixture, and re-seat the needles properly to get a good starting point from which the car should have no problem starting. You'll also get a good idea of the condition of the carbs as you tear them down, and be able to check for clogs in the various metering parts. SU's are VERY simple... the whole tear down procedure should only take a couple hours at most, just be sure and watch the video two or three times before you do it Anyways... it shouldn't be too hard to figure out the problem... SU's and 240's in general are very easy cars to figure out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumo Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 Don't use Bosch platinums!! When i got my car it had those and 8mm Accel wires. Just get Denso or at the very least NGKs, when i had the platinums it was doing the same thing yours did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaysZ Posted November 29, 2004 Author Share Posted November 29, 2004 thanks for the advice. as you can tell, i dont know too much about carbs but its a learning process! i was told platinums werent the best for this car but the guy was so adamant about me putting them in, i just bought them as a quick replacement. i had the option of buying AC Delco and Autolite plugs as well, but decided to stay away from those. i still have the NGK's which are a little white except for that one from the 3rd cylinder and i actually have densos but i cant find the damn things. Should I just use the NGK's anyway? If I regapped the bosch's, could i put them in another car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 well I WILL say, I personally do not believe that the bosch's would cause you any problems either. I know a lot of guys are against using them, and some do claim that using the bosch's has caused running problems in their Z's.... I myself have used the platinums in the past and did not have ANY problems with them, and when some guys finally goaded me into throwing out a perfectly good 2 month old set to go back to some NGK's, I did not notice any difference at all. Really, I have yet to hear anyone explain a realistic reason as to exactly why running them would cause any problems at all. To me it's just that there is no real performance increase to justify their cost so why bother. Anyways, if it was me, I'd leave them in there since you already paid for them. But in the course of your troubleshooting you may want to swap them back out just to eliminate them as a possible contributor to your problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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