4k won't run--UPDATE

[Roa, Greg]

Hello Ken,
I may have a solution for you, or at least something to check.   I'm not
sure yet what all you have replaced, but I had a problem occur on my 86'
4kcsq not that long ago that was similar.  On mine, I could occasionally
get it to start, and it would sometimes idle, but if given more than the
tiniest bit of throttle, it would die.
On my car, I had two problems.  First, the coil had gone bad.  The
resistance values were out of spec with those outlined in the Bentley
(don't have it in front of me at work, but someone might).  Anyhow, the
lower resistance across the coil was drawing too much current.  The coil
feeds from the battery, and the ignition module.  The ignition module
got burned up because the coil was pulling too much current from it.

I would check to see if the coil is in spec, then look at the module.
The module is behind the glovebox, mounted above it, on an aluminum
plate.  On mine, once you removed the piece of insulating stuff on the
top of it, you could see an area where it had melted the plastic
housing, from getting too hot.

If it is bad, I would make sure to replace the coil before replacing the
module.  I made the mistake of not doing that (used the wrong specs for
the coil the first time (the Bentley doesn't have one for the 5cyl from
that vintage; you have to use the specs for the 1987 coupe gt coil, and
not for the 4 cyl coil)), and burned up the replacement module the first
time.

Let me (and the list) know what you find, or if you have any more
questions.

Good luck!

Greg Roa
Cincinnati, OH
86' 4kcsq
93' 90 CS
83' 944

From: "Kenneth Folkman Jr." <mk1madness at hotmail.com>
>To: <quattro at audifans.com>
>Subject: Re: 4k won't run--UPDATE
>Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 11:00:17 -0600
>
>We've got the car running now, but not very well.  What we did was
>disconnect the black/red wire from the (-) side of the coil, but left
the
>green wire connected(I'm pretty sure this goes to the ignition module).
The
>car still wouldn't start, because the fuel pump wouldn't run with the
>black/red wire disconnected.  So we hot wired the fuel pump, and the
car
>started right up.  It won't idle though.  What all runs of off the
black/red
>wire?  Would one of these systems affect the idle if it were
disconnected?
>We need to check them all anyway, to find the source of the power
drain.
>
>Kenneth
>
>
> On Fri, 16 Nov 2001 15:48:21 -0600, Kenneth Folkman Jr. wrote:
>
> >After further investigation with the test light (can't find the
voltmeter),
> >there seems to be a problem at the negative side of the coil.  The
test
> >light is bright when it's on the (-) side at first then gets dim
after
the
> >engine is cranked over.  It stays dim for awhile, when it's dim the
engine
> >won't fire.  Then when it gets bright again the engine will fire and
run
for
> >a few seconds.  A wiring diagram would be really helpful right now,
is
there
> >one avalible online?

On Fri, 16 Nov 2001 10:39:55 -0600, Kenneth Folkman Jr. wrote:

> My brother's '86 4kcsq won't run.  It used to have problems starting,
but
it
> would eventually run.  It will start right away, but only run for a
few
> seconds, then die.  This will happen a couple times, then it won't
start
at
> all.  Then if we wait about a minute, then it will start running and
die.
> This process will repeat itself until the battery dies.  Another thing
is
if
> the accelerator pedal is pressed while the engine is running it will
> immediately die.  We don't have a Bentley manual, so any help would be
> appreciated.
>
> Kenneth