North American Turbocoupe Organization



No start when it's 20 degrees or lower......
KentCT88TC Offline
Senior Member
#1
My 88 bird will not start when it's 20 degrees or below in the mornings. Works just fine the rest of the times-- kicks right over. But I need to get this fixed. Doesn't matter if you have your foot off the gas pedal, if you give it gas halfway or if your foot is all the way to the floor-- it will not turn over. A local mechanic thinks it could be 1. a coolant sensor for the computer, 2. an "Air charge" sensor, or 3. intermittent, bad coil. Do any of you folks have any suggestions? I'm about ready to try all three to get this running dependably. -Kent
-KentCT
-'88 Turbo Coupe, K&N, Gillis valve @18 lbs., 2.5 " exhaust.
-2000 Mustang GT 373 gears, Diablo computer chip, cold air intake, Typhoon intake manifold.
-2001 Jeep SE 2.5, AEM cold air intake, Gates headers & exhaust, throttle body spacer, Jet Stage 2 chip
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Joe F Offline
Posting Freak
#2
A little clairification, please. Do you mean the engine turns over but won't start, or that the starter doesn't even crank the engine when it's really cold?

If it doesn't even crank, a sensor is not going to be the problem. It will be more basic like a bad solenoid, starter motor, or wiring connection.

Let us know.
JR's Place - My '87 Turbocoupe
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KentCT88TC Offline
Senior Member
#3
Joe,
The starter is running fine. The engine just will not catch. Thanks -Kent
-KentCT
-'88 Turbo Coupe, K&N, Gillis valve @18 lbs., 2.5 " exhaust.
-2000 Mustang GT 373 gears, Diablo computer chip, cold air intake, Typhoon intake manifold.
-2001 Jeep SE 2.5, AEM cold air intake, Gates headers & exhaust, throttle body spacer, Jet Stage 2 chip
Reply

Joe F Offline
Posting Freak
#4
in that case you'll have to do some troubleshooting to see if you have spark and fuel. If I may, I'll point you to the fuel system diagnostics in the FAQ. For spark just see if you've got some at the disty by pulling a plug wire.

HTH
JR's Place - My '87 Turbocoupe
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KentCT88TC Offline
Senior Member
#5
I am in no way mechanically oriented, but why would the spark and fuel be affected by the cold weather? It runs fine almost all the time. -Kent
-KentCT
-'88 Turbo Coupe, K&N, Gillis valve @18 lbs., 2.5 " exhaust.
-2000 Mustang GT 373 gears, Diablo computer chip, cold air intake, Typhoon intake manifold.
-2001 Jeep SE 2.5, AEM cold air intake, Gates headers & exhaust, throttle body spacer, Jet Stage 2 chip
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Eric Offline
Member
#6
Kent,

My 87 did the same exact thing, it drove me nuts for about a year. Only on cold days, I would crank engine but no start, if I let it sit for 5 minutes or so, then it would turn over. It turned out to be fuel pump. Whenever I would test pump and relay, it would test fine. At one point my mechanic thought I was crazy, finally the pump gave way while driving and car would not start. After new pump was installed I never had problem again. Check for spark, then check pump and fuel pressure. If you turn ignition key on, can you hear pump whining?....whenever my car decided not to start, it was somewhere where I couldnt hear if pump was running.
Black 1987 T-Coupe 5 speed, stock xcept for K/N air filter.
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KentCT88TC Offline
Senior Member
#7
Eric,
Thanks very much. Do you think it's the one in the fuel tank? Or the other one? -Kent
-KentCT
-'88 Turbo Coupe, K&N, Gillis valve @18 lbs., 2.5 " exhaust.
-2000 Mustang GT 373 gears, Diablo computer chip, cold air intake, Typhoon intake manifold.
-2001 Jeep SE 2.5, AEM cold air intake, Gates headers & exhaust, throttle body spacer, Jet Stage 2 chip
Reply

Michael Jordan Offline
Senior Member
#8
If you determine that it's a fuel issue, and you eliminate all of the possibilities from the fuel system diagnostics and fuel pump diagnostics, check for a bad connector at the top of the tank. I recently had this happen to me where it would start fine on certain days and then would not start at all because my fuel pump was not getting power. It turned out to be the connector. There's an oval shaped rubber seal between the the connector and the plug on the pump flange at the top of the tank and if it gets twisted, which is what happened to me, it will not allow a good connection and short out occasionally, like maybe on cold days.

MJ
1986 TC stock with full option package. K&N, DIY boost valve at 14 psi, Walbro 255.
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Joe F Offline
Posting Freak
#9
Kent,

Extreme cold (and heat too) can cause electrical components to go wacko. Additionally, by testing for two potential problems you can, by process of elimination, find your way to the actual culprit.

HTH
JR's Place - My '87 Turbocoupe
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KentCT88TC Offline
Senior Member
#10
Thanks guys for your ideas.
-KentCT
-'88 Turbo Coupe, K&N, Gillis valve @18 lbs., 2.5 " exhaust.
-2000 Mustang GT 373 gears, Diablo computer chip, cold air intake, Typhoon intake manifold.
-2001 Jeep SE 2.5, AEM cold air intake, Gates headers & exhaust, throttle body spacer, Jet Stage 2 chip
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