Help, No Start Problem

[Brent Nevin]

New on the Forum.
-95 D90 st, no problems until the other day, had problems with it running ruff in the low rpm range, got worse throughout the day, ended up on the side of the road with the rpm/s moving from 100-900, eventualy the engine stalled and would barely start back up. Cats were glowing orange.. the next day it would turn over but wouldnt fire.. changed the spark plugs and moved the wires around checked the connections, started right up no problems, drove it all day. the next day, it will crank but wont start. checked for a spark on the plugs and they spark, they come out wet with fuel and you can smell it when you crank it up and the fuel pump comes online during start up. from what i can tell i have spark and fuel... I dont know where to go from here. thank you for the help,
Brent

[evilfij]

My guess, ignition module. www.roverguy.com has [had?] new lucas in stock for a good price.

[Hans]

Another quickie suggestion. Thoroughly clean every connection on the ignition coil, seems to be a common spot to have bad contacts that cause this problem.

Also, pull back the boots on the coil wire, and make sure the center conductor hasn't burned back away from the connector. I've had this happen a number of times with cheap replacement wires.

-Hans

[Brent Nevin]

I just got it started, i dont really know how, i started it like you would a flooded engine..had smoke come out like it was flooded. drove it around the block and it runs ok, now im getting accelerations and decelerations around 2000-2500 rpms when i give it gas in all gears. kind of a sputtering sound. on start up it goes up too 1100 and dwindles down to stay at 900 and once it sputtered out and stalled. would the ignition module still be a culprit, perhaps not getting the best spark so runs ruff when i give it gas? thanks a ton
-Brent

[Hans]

I just got it started, i dont really know how, i started it like you would a flooded engine..had smoke come out like it was flooded. drove it around the block and it runs ok, now im getting accelerations and decelerations around 2000-2500 rpms when i give it gas in all gears. kind of a sputtering sound. on start up it goes up too 1100 and dwindles down to stay at 900 and once it sputtered out and stalled. would the ignition module still be a culprit, perhaps not getting the best spark so runs ruff when i give it gas? thanks a ton
-Brent

All the symptoms you describe point to it getting flooded for some reason, and weak spark is the normal culprit. The EFI system will give you a check-engine light for most problems, but the ignition system isn't tied into the diagnostics at all.

When you checked the spark, was it strong and bright blue, with a loud "snap" to it? Or more weak and yellow?

-Hans

[Brent Nevin]

I checked the spark on most plugs including the #1, didn't seem like a strong spark to me but wasnt sure if I tested it correctly, The sparks were intermittent, weak and yellow and sometimes not at all. some seemed to be working ok with a blue spark but not really intense..