Not Happy

[Mean Green]

Pulled off Adam's UCP and was going to repaint it because I had scratched it in places. That came out well. I reinstalled it and when I took it out for a spin one of the hose clamps didn't hold well at the intake and the hose popped off a bit. My ABS and Trac Off lights came on while I was driving. I pulled over and when I popped the hood I saw that the UCP was in contact with the positive clamp on the battery and making small sparks. After fixing it when I went to restart it there was nothing. I'd push in the clutch, turn the key and nothing. Sometime there would be a clicking sound like a battery gone dead and once in a while it would turn over and start. Is it possible the battery got drained and there is not enough juice to start it but once in a while. When I did get it started I drove around a bit and it ran well. When I would turn it off it wouldn't start again. Any ideas?

[Ian-PT-GT]

Sounds like an intermitent problem.
Trouleshooting time[xx(]

1. Something is "shorted"

2. If you have stage one, try replacing the original computer and see if the problem is still there. If not, you may breathe a little better.

3. Check the Positive wire going into the Fuse pannel (Jump Start Post) to see if the insulation is broken or burn marks.

4. Get another battery and test the car to see if the problem is still there.

5. Test all fuses.

Some of this Ideas may sound pointless and basic, but sometimes when we know the engines, we start to look for the worst option and sometimes are very simple.

PCMs are very picky with voltage... If the battery is low or to high, the PCM will protect itself by shutting down. A friend of mine had a Z-24 Cavalier and it just shut down one day. He left it in front of his house for six months thinking the engine or PCM had died. I decided to take a look and the problem was that the battery had no water inside and it had shorted... The PCM felt it and had shutdown to protect itself. A new battery is all that was needed to get the car to run again.

I hope you find the gremlin soon.

Ian

[ElectricBlueGT]

Mean Green,

Not to point out the obvious, but your alternator is the source of electricity once the car is started. That is why everything appears "normal" once you have the car running.

Check your battery. Most car parts stores have a free battery load tester. If it doesn't pass, you know what the problem could be. Quick tip: A normal car battery which has been fully drained twice needs to be replaced. This was tested long ago by David Navone of AutoSound 2000 fame (another story...).

All of a sudden, those rubber or polycarbonate battery terminal covers sound like a good idea.

I think Ian's suggestions are the right approach.

My two cents,

Scott

[quicksilverdon]

Agree with the above. My hunch is battery - that you drained it - start there. Put a trickle charger on it overnight and see.

[Gear_Head]

Electricblue is right about batteries that have been fully discharged more that once. My cruiser sat around the body shop for 3 months during repairs. It was started and moved into and out of the repair bays and moved around the lot to make room only. Eventually the battery life was an issue. If I started it every day and drove it a little or alot (didn't matter which) it would start & run every time. But let it sit for 2 days without starting it and it did not have enough current to turn the engine over. A little jump on the battery would get it started again. I finally got tired of that s**t and went out and got an Optima yellow top deep cycle battery, It required some cutting and grinding of some metal under the fender though. The model 51R is the only model that I could find that had the proper polarity to keep the positive terminal away from the drivers side fender in the engine compartment. Ian is right too, when the battery gets borderline low and the power supply for the PCM gets dragged down the PCM will do some freaky things.....

[sakigt]

quote:Originally posted by Gear_Head

Electricblue is right about batteries that have been fully discharged more that once. My cruiser sat around the body shop for 3 months during repairs. It was started and moved into and out of the repair bays and moved around the lot to make room only. Eventually the battery life was an issue. If I started it every day and drove it a little or alot (didn't matter which) it would start & run every time. But let it sit for 2 days without starting it and it did not have enough current to turn the engine over. A little jump on the battery would get it started again. I finally got tired of that s**t and went out and got an Optima yellow top deep cycle battery, It required some cutting and grinding of some metal under the fender though. The model 51R is the only model that I could find that had the proper polarity to keep the positive terminal away from the drivers side fender in the engine compartment. Ian is right too, when the battery gets borderline low and the power supply for the PCM gets dragged down the PCM will do some freaky things.....

JB, If youre reading this...you may want to consider that!...

[Mean Green]

Took the battery in to check it out and it was fine. I think it is the switch when you push the clutch in to start it. When the car was cold I rocked it back and forth with it in first gear and then it started right up. It started the next six times in a row. I took it for a spin and it ran great. Got home, turned it off and tried to start it again and no start. Even rocking it in first did no good. If it is going to start it seems to do so when the engine is cold. So I've taken off Adam's UCP and put the factory one back on so I can take it into the dealer Monday. Hopefully it will start in the morning so I can take it in.

[Exhaust Depot]

I suggest you try jumping your clutch switch for troubleshooting purposes. Then take it from there. THe older cars never had that saftey feature, just pretend you have an older car until you figure it out. If you where a local yaho, i would check it out for you. LIke burning up wires and stuff.

[03baggedturbo]

Over the time where I was making the pipes I have not tightened the top part 2 times.. where when I drove it poped off.. I have not had this happen.. strange that something powdercoated would ground your car and make it die? The stainless steel brackets I use in my kit you can and should tighten realy tight.. the engine torques and moves..

I hope you find out whats wrong and get it fixed.. I dont want anyone unhappy with my product for any reason..

ADAM

[Mean Green]

quote:Originally posted by 03baggedturbo

Over the time where I was making the pipes I have not tightened the top part 2 times.. where when I drove it poped off.. I have not had this happen.. strange that something powdercoated would ground your car and make it die? The stainless steel brackets I use in my kit you can and should tighten realy tight.. the engine torques and moves..

I hope you find out whats wrong and get it fixed.. I dont want anyone unhappy with my product for any reason..

ADAM

Not unhappy with your UCP, Adam. I was amazed that when it popped off and hit the positive terminal it arced through the powdercoating. I have an idea which I will discuss later and I'm also going to try some bolt clamps and going to a straight battery clamp. I don't have a boost gauge right now, but your UCP sure holds the boost and that is totally cool. Like I said, I'm totally happy with your UCP. I would buy it again in a heartbeat. [?] ....Took my GT in Monday morning to the dealer. Was a real bitch to get started but I did. Picked it up on Tuesday morning. The problem was a bad engine ground. There was nothing said about melted wires and the dealer was very cool about it. They fixed it under warranty so I paid nothing. They are truly a 5 Star dealer. They said nothing about my other mods including Stage 1. Because I have an extended warranty I got a free loaner and it turned out to be a very nice '04 Jeep Liberty. The dealer is truly a class act and that is why we take both PT's there for service. I'm a very happy guy again.