emergency everyone please help!!!!

[ShoInMotion]

ok.
i just sold my ninety 2 sho to someone. it ran fine he test drove it and all. i never had any problems with it. 2 days later it breaks down on him. today i get a call and he tells me he took it to a shop and they said the motor is shot.
so i go down there and i ask whats wrong, they said it wont start and he had to have it towed there. he said he tested the compression on the front three cylinders and they were at eighty psi. how can a car that runs perfectly fine all of the sudden have low compression on three cylinders? if it was a head gasket i could see it being 1 or 2 cylinders. but all three? and if it were a head gasket it would at least run even a little. it doesnt make sense. i dont think the mechanic knows what hes doing. i hat the fact that i just sold the car and now somethings wrong with it. i dont want the guy to think i did it on purpose.

i wonder if it could be the cps or even a fuel pump. why would the compression be so low? i wonder if he tested it right. let me know please asap, id like to help this guy as much as i can..

 

[Rockledge]

Frankly, I don't believe the buyer's story. You or someone you know should go down there and test the compression for your own sake.

There are a lot of reasons why a SHO won't start; "low compression" is way, way, way down at the bottom of the list.

 

[Cward]

I'd check it out yourself, too. Just for sanity reasons if not to see for sure what was going on. Just something silly to check also. check the fuel pump inertia switch in the trunk. My dad had a rental taurus years ago that all of a sudden wouldn't start in our drive way. I opened the trunk hit the switch viola it started right up.

 

[ShoInMotion]

yeah. i dont think its the buyer though. i think its the mechanic. the buyer doesnt even know i talked to the mechanic. i went by there myself becouse i was angry. it just doesnt make sense.

 

[etc1006]

Whenever I sell a car I do a bill of sale expressing no warranties or gaurantees(sp?)... Car is sold "As-is", Caveat' emptor. ****, I just now picked up a book at the library with all kind of legal forms and a CD with it, I copied the CD before I returned it. Now I don't have to type, just fill in the blanks. Maybe the dude ran the **** out of it, you don't know what he did in "those two days". When I sold my 89 Probe GT, the guy called "a few days later" and said the parking brake doesn't hold the car, he lives on a street with a hill. I have a flat driveway, it worked when I needed it to. It held when I got it inspected... He and I both had a copy of aforementioned bill of sale.

 

[ShoInMotion]

im not givin him his money back, thats for sure... its as is. i just feel bad. i know in court i will have no problem with winning i watch to much judge judy. but i know its not what the mechanic is saying it is.. im going tomorrow to talk with the mechanic some more...

 

[ohfosho]

pull the codes when it is out in the parking lot at night, then go in in the morning and tell the mechanic what to replace...how to do his job.

 

[Cward]

pull the codes when it is out in the parking lot at night, then go in in the morning and tell the mechanic what to replace...how to do his job.

Priceless

 

[ShoInMotion]

ok. so heres the if scenerio...

if and i say if only. i were to bring the car to my house and try to fix it myself and it does turn out to be bad compression. do you think i could part it out and sell it and make the guys money back? which is 12hundred dollars. it has flowmasters, brand new kyb gr2 struts and i mean brand new, the rear only have like 1hundred miles on them. and it had flawless interior. what do you guys think.

 

[TimboSHO]

There is no way you're going to make 1200 by parting it out. But I really doubt the compression could be that low if you've never had any problems with it. Maybe tell the guy to tow it to another shop for a second opinion, or try testing it out yourself if that's ok with the shop.

 

[ShoInMotion]

i went and argued with the guy at the shop today... i even asked if he checked if the car had gas in it lol.... i honestly think his compression guage is wrong. he prbably didnt even do a leak down test.

he said it had low compression and thats that. i said did you test the cps and he said whats that?

the problem is probably so minor. im gonna bring it home and fix it.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Sounds like an ignorant mechanic, and possibly a very easy fix. Id pick it up if I were you.

BTW, my project SHO, when I bought it:

1989 SHO
72k miles
All original/stock (even had the intake silencer)

The owner thought it had a blown headgasket, as the coolant would flow over and out of the overflow tank after the thing got warm.

I towed it home, threw a new radiator cap on it, and all is well.:corn:

Total cost?

$400 + the radiator cap

Then I had to supercharge it

 

[ShoInMotion]

so i talked to the guy i sold it to.

ill be bringing it to my house tomorrow. i will look for myself.

 

[SHOZ123]

Things probably flooded with all the oil washed off the cylinder walls. Did they check the back bank too?

 

[ShoInMotion]

i dont think they checked the back.

 

[SHOZ123]

Get in it and floor it while cranking. Keep it floored and crank for at least 30 seconds. May take twice that long but keep it floored until it starts or you quit trying.


Good luck

 

[NJSHO]

Did anyone check the fuel pump inertial (sp?) switch? That could be a very good reason for a sudden no-start. Oh and when you do figure it out, make sure to drive it back to the shop and show the mechanic how a car with 8psi compression on the front cylinders does a nice burnout (just dont pop a pin.)

 

[Mr95Gl]

i went and argued with the guy at the shop today... i even asked if he checked if the car had gas in it lol....

:laugh_ti: Did it???!?!?

 

[ShoInMotion]

i ran the code test and here is what i got...


117
214
542
528

i will check again.. tell me what ya think so far...

 

[Rockledge]

Of the codes listed, the one most likely related to a complete "no start" condition is the 542 code, which involves the fuel pump circuit. This code can also be set when the engine stalls, so it can be misleading sometimes. But if if the 542 code is for real, then it has to be seriously considered. Has a fuel pressure check been done?

Try grounding the fuel pump pin on EEC Self-Test connector to force the pump to run, see if it starts then.

The 214 code is the CID sensor/circuit, which might cause hard starting, but it wouldn't prevent the engine from starting entirely.