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Won?t start in the rain. ?83 turbo

jherguth

New member
Joined
Apr 27, 2016
Location
Highlands, NJ
Checked the relay for water.
Just replaced both fuel pumps
Nothing seems wet under the hood
Any idea what?s happening?

Anyone want an 83 245 turbo? I?ve had enough
 
I think my 240 wet no start was the positive wire junction block mounted on the inner fender.


Also check for fretting at the fuses/fuse holder.
 
Pull a plug after cranking for a while and see if it smells of gas.

Pull the coil wire, set it close (1/4") from something metal on the motor, crank and see if you get sparks.

When it's running on a dry day, put water in a spritz bottle and try soaking various things like the ignition cap, spark plug wires.

None of that should be too sensitive to a modest amount of moisture. But old wires, old caps can develop subtle shirts that short circuit the sparks when a little moisture is present, and go back to working fine when dry.
 
I would check the 25 amp fuse clipped next to the wire junction block. They get a hard scale on the surface of the pins and develop very high resistance. I've seen plenty of 240s that won't start when there is high humidity due to a back connection at that fuse. It doesn't have to be blown to keep the car from running. There is a a reason Volvo moved that circuit into the interior of the car. Where they initially put it is about as stupid as it gets. The rain pours water right on it.
 
Hi, Sorry im not getting email updates

I can smell gas when i try to start it. I can also hear the pump when i turn it off.
It will crank but will not turn over.
Harness seems good!
I should also mention that i have been experiencing a rough idle on cold start, which SOMETIMES also feels like when i give it too much gas it will die...actually it will die. I thought it was a bad pump. It remained after replacing inner and main.

Ill go check that fuse now.
 
Also, I dont have any fuses in the engine compartment i dont think. This is the junction box.
R9KVyGx


I guess i cant post photos?
 
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Cranking is turning over. Does the engine rotate when you try to start? Or is it not rotating? These are very straight forward to figure out. I'd love to have another 245 turbo. I used to have an 82. That was my first turbo car and got me hooded.

Turbos bake the plug wires pretty bad. They only last about three years and if someone put cheap discount store wires on your car. They are probably bad. If you have a lot of dirty build up on the ignition coil. That can short out the high energy spark instead of it conducting through the coil wire.
 
There is no system fuse in the engine bay in kjet turbo. But fuse 13 in the fuse box turns on most everything and can cause a cranking but no start issue.
 
Check the distributor cap. I had a condensation problem on my old B21 that reared it’s head in humid weather. Made for poor idling / missing on startup and periodic non starts.
 
Hey everyone! Thank you for the replies and the help. Replaced the distributor cap and it started up.
Tried it this morning post rain and it still would not start but that distributor cap seems to have sorted it. Still idles really rough cold. Took some video not sure how to upload. Thanks again.
 
I would put a fresh Bosch cap and rotor, Bougicord wires, and NGK copper plugs on it.

Roll the fuses when it's a no start and see if it helps.
 
Vacuum hoses cause a lot of problems for me with this car, 240 turbo kjet. Not necessarily moisture related(for me) but something to check.
 
^This. The other possibilities:

- Mixture is off. If the engine still idles wonky after the oxygen sensor kicks in (that's when the car begins surging for a few seconds), it may need to have the mixture adjusted, since it's off just enough to cause the car to surge a bit. It might also be injector seals. If you use an unlit propane torch and hold it above the injectors, as well as the intake manifold gasket, check to see if the idle changes. If it does, then time to replace those items.

- Gunk in the fuel distributor and the CPR. Take a look at TestPoint's thread about his 262C and use it as a guide for getting your 245 running better. I'd also run a few tanks of non-ethanol gas through the system... I had an '85 that ran pretty poorly when cold, sometimes requiring being run at 2500-3000 rpm for a few minutes until it'd begin to idle. It also had a tendency to backfire severely while driving. Ran a few tanks of E0 through the system, and it was back to normal.

-J
 
I would do a wiggle test of the harness. Wiggle around and see if you can get the car to starts. Also inspect the terminals at the ignition coil. It might not hurt to clean them up and apply a little dielectric grease to prevent the moisture from getting back in.

I am doing a headgasket job right now and I have the harness all unplugged and I have found several connectors with corrosion on the terminals. One fuel injector, the maf connector, and the temp sensor connector. It is due to previous work done on the car where the rubber seal inside the connector fell out and wasn't replaced.

It could also be poor grounds. A visual inspection is the best start. A voltage drop test is the profesional way to test for "bad grounds". I use my Fluke 87 meter for this. A cheap meter will work too, but it won't be as accurate. For example, I had a body shop car that didn't tighten a ground bolt down correctly and it was an intermittent No Crank. I put the meter between the battery negative and the block and when it was a No Crank, I got 11 volts reading! No more than 0.25V-0.5V should be seen. "Bad Ground".
 
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