intermittent no start - 3.9L (95 RRC)

C

corrumpu

Well-known member
Oct 19, 2007
209
0
Florida, USA
I posed this on defender source as well...

Over the past few months I have been working to get the gremlins out of my daily driver 1995 RRC SWB

I had a wet/morning start issue/ driving in wet weather stalling issue that was eventually resolved with a new distributor assembly from atlantic british. Prior to this I replaced my coil (lucas coil). These changes seemed to make the starting issue disappear... as they were gone for 2 months or more.

Recently I have experienced a starting issue. I haven't nailed down exactly how it gets into this configuration but alot of short trips/starting stopping seems to help. Usually is in the afternoon ( I live in florida so it's mid to upper 90s) It will crank for days but never starts. Let it sit for x amount of minutes and it will restart and drive quite happily. The next day it won't do it at all. This is my daily driver (only choice) so I'm driving it. So far it's happened 4 times within 7 days. Sometimes it takes 3 hours to restart.
Fuel pressure is within range on the rail.
Spark tester shows ONE good spark at the start of process, but goes to a weak spark (low light blinking on the tester) This was seen at the coil. It's like the ground is not strong enough.
New distributor assembly from AB within 2-3 months.
New lucas coil

I have read alot of threads about the Ignition Amplifier Module, the relocation thereof and the use of a GM IAM. Do you think this is a logical place to investigate? Are there cross reference parts available? I can't find a write up on changing to the GM IAM or how to relocate w/o the kit from AB. The current module is new, as it came with the distributor assembly.





I'm really starting to think it's heat related and I'm wondering about this IAM and the relocation of it. Anyone relocated theirs?

--chris
 
5

57loboy

Well-known member
Oct 17, 2007
913
4
Fairfield County, CT
I had a similar issue on my first 95 LWB when I lived in CT. Chased all sorts of issues and it was ultimately found to be a bad fuel cutoff switch. You might check out my thread about this (from 2009 or 2010) and see where my searches took me.

Another possibility from back then was the ignition switch itself as the wiring can get unstaked over time where it connects to the switch assembly itself. The heat down here could certainly contribute to that. To test, take the column shroud off and press the connector towards the center of the truck - from left to right while in the seat facing forward - while turning the key to see if that gets it to start.
 
crown14

crown14

Well-known member
May 11, 2006
6,288
4
Clayton, NC
Did the new distributor come with cap? Was it all genuine or aftermarket reman? Did you happen to double check the air gap setting on the pickup?

I had a '95 do this once to me, although I had recently done a tune up, and everything worked great for a while, it turned out to be the cap (or the rotor, can't recall) was causing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom