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Post by biggitt on Oct 10, 2018 10:46:24 GMT -5
I picked up an 03 ZX2 from my Dad's neighbor. I did the timing on this car must be probably 6 years ago now. I went by there the other month and I saw it out in the field. Apparently it's been sitting for a year or so. It was randomly shutting off at stop lights and then one day it shut off and wouldn't restart. I bought it. It's a disgusting car, I've already stripped the interior. Someone was monkeying with Ether and had the air intake all fubar. I got everything back together to start diagnosing. Fuel pump turns on, engine cranks but gives no indication of firing. Interesting to note, I get no blip on the tachometer when cranking. I can't recall, but I THOUGHT that when cranking my old ZX2 the Tach would blip. I swapped coil packs, still no go. I didn't get a chance to check spark as I need a helper. I Pulled the timing cover and the valve cover. The timing appears to be good, maybe slighting loose on the tensioner but the belt hasn't walked and it's in pristine condition yet. The bar about slides into the cams, so not 100% perfect but good enough that it should fire.
Now, when I rotate the engine by hand with the VC off, I hear a metallic noise. I'm wondering if it's crank walk, I've not experienced it before, so not sure what I'm looking for anymore. Help?
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Post by davidgettle on Oct 10, 2018 11:51:17 GMT -5
If the VCT is good and you run the engine with it unplugged the VCT will rattle. That may be the cause of the "metalic sound" you mentioned. Start with the simple things, did you check the fuses and plugs, you'd be surprised at the number of times I've had an issue with my ZX2 because of loose plugs under the hood, especially after having it serviced at a shop.
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Post by biggitt on Oct 10, 2018 12:02:03 GMT -5
The spark plugs are new platinum motorcrafts but they look like someone may have tried to gap them and with the car sitting with god knows what they sprayed in the intake, it's on my list of stuff to put new ones in. I haven't checked the fuses yet. Good call. I know she said the cigarette lighter was no longer working.
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Post by TheEvilZX2 on Oct 10, 2018 15:03:19 GMT -5
crank position sensor if theres no tach signal....or (less likely) the tach is dead lol, but that wouldnt keep it from starting.
test to see if you have spark, if not definitely check the CKP and its wiring.
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Post by TheEvilZX2 on Oct 10, 2018 15:55:43 GMT -5
just reread your post and if fuses and everything checks out and the cigarette lighter, dash lights and stuff still isnt working check the black ground box on the negative terminal....IIRC that will cause a crank/no start
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Post by biggitt on Oct 10, 2018 18:31:24 GMT -5
So, I still need to find a helper to verify no spark, but given that there is no indicator on the tachometer, the service engine soon light does not go away after cranking to indicate its receiving signal (read that this is what Ford does) I can assume this engine probably has crank walk. I'll check the sensor after I confirm no spark. Now, turbo tom over at FF has shimmed the sensors before on many motors without issue, I cant recall if guys had been doing this on TZX2.
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mimino
Senior ZX2ner
Posts: 352
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Post by mimino on Oct 11, 2018 9:14:14 GMT -5
air, fuel, spark all at the right time. grab a buddy and check for spark. throw a fuel gauge to check pressure. take out the cps and inspect it. if it's really chewed up, you could shim it, but that's a band-aid solution, as you know. it could still be timing related, but dying at stop lights is a classic vacuum leak scenario (most likely pcv). i doubt it would prohibit you from starting the car, tho. you did mention it sat for a while. have you checked the gas condition?
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Post by dareall on Oct 11, 2018 17:56:14 GMT -5
maybe the problem is worse how is the condition of the thermostat housing? was it leaking? if so, it is possible it suffered overheat and screwed things up inside. The description of the sounds it makes could be warped pistons, dry pistons, or maybe even broken head gasket to go with it. i have to roll out right now, but i will get back to this later and put more thought into it
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Post by biggitt on Oct 14, 2018 20:23:52 GMT -5
So I haven't pull the crank sensor yet but I did confirm no spark. I used spark tester and the old hold the plug to ground trick while cranking.
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Post by TheEvilZX2 on Oct 15, 2018 15:11:47 GMT -5
If the crank sensor is bad, or its wiring back to PCM is bad it wont ever fire the ignition. I'd inspect the CKP and its wiring first then go from there.
Somehow I glossed over the last part of your first post stating you hear a metallic noise when turning the engine by hand. That's a little worrysome to me. Can you tell where it's coming from? You had the VC off, I'm assuming there wasn't anything wrong up there? VCT noise? is it possibly coming from the bottom end or the transmission side?
I'd still check the crank position sensor first. But see if you can narrow down that noise, assuming its not the crank sensor itself hitting the flywheel
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Post by biggitt on Oct 27, 2018 14:51:08 GMT -5
So I finally got around to pulling the crank position sensor. The car indeed has crankwalk. In the process of getting at the sensor I decided to drop the exhaust and found the manifold is cracked as well so I need to make a decision to get a new sensor and shim and find exhaust or just junk the car and sell wheels/tires to recoup my investment
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mimino
Senior ZX2ner
Posts: 352
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Post by mimino on Oct 30, 2018 21:52:48 GMT -5
sucks. seems like more and more Zs develop CW... if you're not going to have a build out of it or race it or something, I'd just junk it.
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Post by biggitt on Oct 31, 2018 7:25:57 GMT -5
Well, I bought a sensor on Amazon for like $13. I'm going to shim and see what happens. If it fires up and seems to run ok I may keep going with it, otherwise I'll trash it. I reached out to a dude on CL for an exhaust as he's parting out 3 zx2's but so far he's not responded. Typical CL.
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Post by TheEvilZX2 on Oct 31, 2018 16:09:22 GMT -5
does it still make noise with the crank sensor pulled when you turn the engine by hand?
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Post by biggitt on Nov 1, 2018 8:17:34 GMT -5
it's really hard to hear unless the VC is off. I haven't tried to rotate with the crank sensor out yet. Was too busy with work and what little free time I did have I was pissing around with this little Weed Eater push mower that I finally got running. Anyone need a push mower? lol. I have no use for these things but I like the challenge.
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Post by biggitt on Jan 3, 2019 11:52:06 GMT -5
sold this car for parts, lost interest, like most of my projects. can close thread
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Post by TheEvilZX2 on Jan 4, 2019 19:04:02 GMT -5
closed as per OPs request
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