racing...kicked butt...car died...need help

[96blakdroptop]

hello ladies and gents.... i need some help. the other night a guy in a mustang gt pulled up and wnted to race so i did. needless to say the f-body left him in the rearview, but all of a sudden my car died while i was still going. i came to a stop and put it in park, went to start it up and the engine turns but wont start like you have no gas or something. i checked to see if the belt was broken but not, the battery is new and fully charged. so before i start doing anything to the car i wanted to get some good advise.
please help me

[Craig 94 TA GT]

Could be the opti? That's what happened to me when I got on mine...only it died a few minutes after I ripped into it. Need more specifics...how many miles? Did you see the SES light before it died? Do you have access to a fuel pressure gauge?

[Flash 97 WS/6]

Also, check the fuses at the drivers side of the dash... could have popped fuse due to fuel pump load or even vibration etc...

[Dave M]

I've always been brought up being taught that if a car just flat out dies on you along the road for no good reason, check the fuses... you've probably toasted one.

[96blakdroptop]

the car has 109,000 miles and no i did not see the ses light but it did say check gages. one guy was saying the timing chain but how can i tell if it is the timing chain.....

[Joe 1320]

I'm going to suggest you pick up a Haynes Manual. The reason is that these engines are computer controlled and there are troubleshooting and diagnostics that narrow down the guesswork. The manuals can tell you which wires to check for voltage, how to trace circuits, etc. It will make the job far easier. As far as the timing chain.... Since these engines have small combustion chambers, had you broke the timing chain, you would know it. The noise of pistons hitting valves would have gotten your attention. If that didn't, the rapid lockup of the motor would have done it for sure.

As far as a no start condition, you need several things to make the car run. Fuel, spark, compression and proper timing of the events. Any one of those cease, the whole thing quits. Check all fuses, if they are OK, check for spark. Pull the coil wire from the optispark and hook it up to a spark plug testor available at most auto stores. If you have spark, check for fuel. Noid lights are available for roughly $7 that can check the injector harness to see if a signal is being sent to each injector. At least there's a start for ya.

[96blakdroptop]

thanks joe i'm heading outside now to check the fuses and i do have the haynes manuel so i'm going to read it if i don't find a blown fuse.

[96blakdroptop]

i went out and checked every fuse all are ok but it just keeps turning like it wants to start. i did notice a leak uder the water pump and no abnormal sounds just the engine trying to start.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Originally posted by 96blakdroptop
i went out and checked every fuse all are ok but it just keeps turning like it wants to start. i did notice a leak uder the water pump and no abnormal sounds just the engine trying to start.

Classic sign. Water pump leaks on the OPTI and the car dies. If you can find someone with an OBDII scanner, you can confirm the OPTI is dead if your get a code 16 or 36. You can save yourself a lot of headache if you can get it scanned.

If you can't do that, You can try this. http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#opti_test

I bet the farm it's the OPTI especially with a water pump leak.

[TimeLord]

My timing chain broke twice in 2 weeks,[first time figured it was bad luck,second time we looked further to find WHY they broke],but there was no noise and the engine turned over very well both times,had a boatload of bent pushrods though.

The reason was the balancer wasn't doing its job any more!!!!

[Joe 1320]

Originally posted by TimeLord
My timing chain broke twice in 2 weeks,[first time figured it was bad luck,second time we looked further to find WHY they broke],but there was no noise and the engine turned over very well both times,had a boatload of bent pushrods though.

The reason was the balancer wasn't doing its job any more!!!!

How can that be? These are interference engines. The boatload of bent pushrods shows that. Don't know how you couldn't hear that!

[TimeLord]

Maybe because when it happened it was during the 2-3 shift at 6k and there was a lot of noise I.E. exhaust,car in the other lane and me not being mechanical.

It might have made noise[like dice in a tin cup]at the instant it happened but once at the other end of the track and towed to the pits it would spin freely trying to start it and had no contact noise.

Did a pretty good job on the heads also,that is why I have ported ones now.

[Joe 1320]

Ouch. You should have heard my GN when I lunched the last motor. Broke the crank in half, put a couple of valves right into a piston. What a rather depressing sound.

[TimeLord]

Uggghhhh !! I can just imagine,,,,

When I blew the engine in the Rebel MACHINE,i heard it very well and knew it.

When I blew the engine in my 87 Daytona SC i knew it also,sparks over the hood,smoke,20 foot flame under the car,big glow and and an incredible racket[at midnight on a highway coming back from the States].Had made a nice hole in the block where a rod and piston decided to part company with the rest of the motor.

[Joe 1320]

Originally posted by TimeLord
Uggghhhh !! I can just imagine,,,,

When I blew the engine in the Rebel MACHINE,i heard it very well and knew it.

When I blew the engine in my 87 Daytona SC i knew it also,sparks over the hood,smoke,20 foot flame under the car,big glow and and an incredible racket[at midnight on a highway coming back from the States].Had made a nice hole in the block where a rod and piston decided to part company with the rest of the motor.

Oh, that brought back some memories. I have a piston left over from one engine where a hot spot literally melted a hole that you can fit your thumb through. When it went, I was blowing so much smoke out the tailpipe that the car behind me was totally obscured in a cloud. Just for future referance, lots of boost + not quite enough fuel = parts carnage. We've got some stories, eh?