QuestionI have a 88 sundance with a 86 Reliant 2.2 injected motor. Just recently the motor turns but does not start. It is getting fuel and backfires and sputters. We have checked the timing belt , plugs, map sensor, o2 sensor . We are lost now can't think of any thing else.
AnswerHi Stacey,
I can give you two suggestions to start:
Remove the air cleaner box so that you can observe the spray pattern being put out by the fuel injector down onto the throttle plate when the engine is being cranked. It should be a very fine, almost invisible spray with no big drops of gasoline, and when you stop cranking it shouldn't drip fuel. If it is doing those inappropriate things then I would believe that the fuel injector is leaking and/or worn out. You can remove the cap on the very top of the injector housing (observe how the injector is located and perhaps you will find the bottom O-ring on the injector body is dimpled. But more likely at this age it would be the injector proper that has gone bad. Before you buy a new one for $150 I would verify that the fuel pressure is being controlled by the pressure valve at around 14 psi.
The other thing to do is to see if the engine controller has recorder any fault codes that would give a clue as to what part of the engine control system has gone bad (it can't detect a bad injector however, but it could be something besides the injector.) The most useful thing to do would be to try to get the fault codes that may stored in the engine controller memory to readout. Try using the ignition key: turn it "on-off-on-off-on" and leave it "on" (doing this quickly, no longer than 5 seconds). By "on" I mean just the normal position when the engine is running, not the cranking position. The 'check engine'light will remain on when you leave the key in the "on" position with the engine still not running. But then watch the 'check engine' light to begin flashing, then pause, flashing, pause, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause and keep track of the numbers. Repeat the readout and verify the counts are correct. Then group them in pairs in the order that they came out, thus forming two digit numbers. You may notice that the pause is shorter between the digits of a given number, and longer between the numbers themselves. Then send me a 'follow-up' question telling me the results of your readout. By the way, 55 will be the last number (two groups of 5 flashes each) and that is the code for "end of readout".
I have the troubleshooting manual for the 2.2 and 2.5 engines and we can look up the possibilities of what is wrong based upon what fault codes you show. There is also an essay on fault codes at the site:
http://www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html
which gives the meaning of the code numbers. But then you need to get specific info for what exactly might be the diagnostic tests or parts to replace to complete the repair.
So try those two tests and get back to me.
Roland
P.S. You might also want to check that the timing of the distributor hasn't shifted because of a timing belt slip. If you set the engine at TDC cyl #1 (looking at the timing scale and the position of the rotor in the distributor to be pointing toward the #1 plug wire tip in the cap) then look through the hole in the top section of the timing cover to visualize whether the hole in the camshaft pulley is directly in line with the hole. If not, then the timing belt may have slipped and that would suggest that the belt mey be about to go. In any case you have to reset the belt if it is out of line.
