[RenaissanceMan]

My car has been in storage for a couple of weeks and now will not start. Turns over just fine but will not start. Not getting fuel or spark or both... Unfortunately all of my tools are at the house so I'm going to have to bring a bunch of them with me to diagnose. I found the Bosch L Jetronic troubleshooting document in one of the threads up here... Lots of material in there! Is that the best place to begin? Is there a simple checklist that I can go through first before diving into those 46 pages? Thanks in advance-

 

[mcola]

That is an excellent source of material.

If it were me, I'd start with trying to figure out if you are missing fuel or spark.

First, do you have gas - yes, off course you do.
Do you have sufficient cranking voltage - you need at least 10.5v per voltmeter and not the possibly inaccurate dash gage.

Then....

For fuel, check the inline fuse under the parcel tray. Is it blown? When you turn the key, do you hear the relay in that area click? Have somebody turn the key to on (not start) while you listen for each pump (in tank, and main under car). They should each hum for 1/2" second.

For spark, pull one of wires off the spark plug, and if you have a spare plug, stick it inside the wire and hold it within an 1/8" of a ground. While somebody tries to start the car, do you see (maybe even feel) spark.

By checking these you know which system you need to focus your efforts on.

Mike

 

[GV27]

If I was getting neither spark nor fuel I would start with crankshaft position sensors.

 

[mcola]

I had this happen to me twice last year.

First time it ended up being no spark, and because the spark related flywheel sensor was toast, which was confirmed by testing its resistance per that troubleshooting guide, and it fired right up after replacement.

Months later, its was a blown inline fuse.

Good luck!

 

[RenaissanceMan]

Ok, been doing some tests at the storage location. Crankshaft sensors both test good at .97 or so. Relay under parcel shelf clicks when I turn the key. Inline fuse is not blown and is receiving 12v. It doesn't look like I'm getting spark when I put the plug tip within 1/8" of a ground, so I think at the very least I have no spark. One thing I can say, however is that the battery is reading less than 10.5 volts when I try to crank. Could it be that simple? That my battery is too dead? It's still cranking the starter pretty quickly as if it was normal.... Any thoughts? I'm by myself over here so I can't get under the car to listen for pump noise. Thanks!!!

 

[mcola]

Yes, try charging the battery or getting a boost. Apparently you need at least 10.5v for the ECU to send the necessary signals for fuel and spark. It could and hopefully is that easy!!!

Editing original reply to include better first steps.

 

[RenaissanceMan]

UPDATE:

Just connected a jump start pack to the battery for kicks and giggles to see if it would make a difference and I'll be ****ed... She started right up. I would have never believed it but that was the culprit. Even though she cranked at seemingly normal speed, there obviously wasn't enough voltage to wake up the electronics. I learned a valuable lesson here. Saw several posted mentioning the need for a healthy battery and now I have firsthand experience. Thanks for the help! Love this community!

 

[ghnl]

the battery is reading less than 10.5 volts when I try to crank. Could it be that simple?

Absolutely. The computers require at least 10.5V to wake up. Less than that (no matter how well it seems to be cranking) means no make spart/squirt fuel signals.