ignition problem

[dhen]

Hi all,

My car has been getting harder and harder to start, though only when cold, and not always. Yesterday I put a new igniter on it that I got off of eBay that was pulled from a running car. It ran fine for about ten miles and was then running rich and idling bad. When I got home there was white smoke coming out of the exhaust.

The engine was recently rebuilt. I started to think that I was burning oil, since it was white, not black, though it had never done this before. I shut it down, hooked up the original igniter, and restarted it. White fog gone. Tried it again half an hour later and all was well. I figured I just had a bad igniter and that the white cloud was gas vapor. (It smelled like gas.)

This morning I had a really hard time starting it. After a lot of cranking, it started to sputter and then ran. I let it idle for 15 minutes thinking it was the battery that was bad. It idled fine. I moved it to the curb and cleaned my garage. A couple of hours later, I could not get it to start. Finally, after about 10 minutes of cranking, starting fluid, and a couple of loud backfires, I got it started. I ran very rough at first. I figured this was from the fact that the engine was most likely flooded. Once I got it to rev a little, it idled fine.

What's going on here? Any ideas?

Here are my specs:

* 10 psi of boost
* Nissan code 98 CPU
* 450 cc DSM injectors
* VPC (MAF delete) piggyback system with the voltage tuned down to let me use 450 injectors
* iridium plugs
* recently replaced coil packs with another used set that worked when I tested them a year ago

I'm stumped. Everything worked fine before, but these are 20-year-old components.

Any constructive ideas would be welcome.

Thanks,

Darian

[rioredstang]

Maybe a bad injector? I would run the engine, shut it off pull the fuel rail up and see if any of the injectors leak down. It may take a hour or so.

[boost_boy]

Clean your spark plugs as that's what's making life hard for you (trust me on this one). Also makes sure your alternator's output is up to spec because this can weaken the ignition output to the coils and ultimately weaken the spark which will causing a fouling condition of the spark plugs.

[dhen]

You were spot on, Dee. The spark plugs were the problem, but they were also swimming in oil because the bolts on the valve cover were too long and the passenger side cover wasn't tightened down all the way. I've never seen anything like it - oil everywhere. New plugs started right up, but were harder the next time.

The alternator is only putting out 11.5 volts, so you were right about that, too. It hasn't been run very long, but it used to put out 14 volts. Can a loose connector wire do this, or do I definitely need a new alternator?

[float_6969]

A loose connector wire could make it low, but it won't usually be consistent. The voltage will go all over instead of being constantly low. Make sure all of your grounds are good and clean as well as this will lower the voltage output as well.

[dhen]

Thanks. I'll look into it.

Darian