New Member Needs Advice/Guidance please

[86ATR]

Team TB,
I recently purchased a 1986 GN that has not run in many moons. The previous owner replaced tank/pump assembly. It currently has a TON of ATR pats like the air filter(black cylinder) looking thing, a 7th injector, an ATR wastegate and goodness knows what else. I plan on getting it running properly but need some initial guidance with an issue.

The vehicle has a very , very long crank before it starts. I'm talking 30 seconds or so. When cranking, it will also seem to pop through the intake. After about 20-30 seconds of cranking, it will start and seems to idle well. I have not let it run for more than a minute or so at a time. Once it has started, it will restart normally. It cranks like it should and fires up with no extended crank. I have an old snap on brick scanner and pull no codes.
Can anyone provide some guided diagnostics to start? I have not checked fuel pressure or leakdown due to the pump and tank being new. Assuming that pump is ok. I will be sure to check over the weekend. What is confusing is the popping while cranking until it starts.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Find someone locally that can help??

 

[~JM~]

Where are you located?

When you turn the key to the on position, the fuel pump should run for a few seconds. Sometimes it is difficult to hear over the door chime. There are two relays on the passenger side inner fender. One for the A/C & one for the fuel pump. Check the pump relay.

I can't help with the "popping" you describe.

These cars require a substantial investment in either dollars, homework, or both, to maintain them.

Here are a couple more resources:

Vortex Buicks

Trouble Shooting

Turbo Regal Web Site

Turbo Regal Web Site - Comprehensive information for owners of all turbocharged Buick vehicles.

www.gnttype.org

 

[IhaveAcarSickness]

check your air gap on the crank sensor.

 

[86ATR]

check your air gap on the crank sensor.

Thanks man! I will absolutely look at that.

 

[86ATR]

Where are you located?

When you turn the key to the on position, the fuel pump should run for a few seconds. Sometimes it is difficult to hear over the door chime. There are two relays on the passenger side inner fender. One for the A/C & one for the fuel pump. Check the pump relay.

I can't help with the "popping" you describe.

These cars require a substantial investment in either dollars, homework, or both, to maintain them.

Here are a couple more resources:

Vortex Buicks

Trouble Shooting

Turbo Regal Web Site

Turbo Regal Web Site - Comprehensive information for owners of all turbocharged Buick vehicles.

www.gnttype.org

I am in Atlanta. I am working hard to learn as much as I can. GREATLY appreciate everyone's knowledge and input

 

[86ATR]

Team,
This car has a ton of ATR items installed. It has not run in years. New tank, pump. It has an external ATR wastegate, ATR cold air intake, 7th injector to name a few. For the life of me, I can not find where the boost control would be. Is anyone still running any ATR stuff? Anyone have installation/operation guides for this stuff? The old owner has passed away. I have no way of finding out what was done. This was done many moons ago.

 

[BFlat]

Long shot, but mine popped when I was driving it on the test run at the seller’s establishment. It only showed that it had 2 gallons of gas in it. Added more gas and the popping went away.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

It has an external ATR wastegate, ATR cold air intake, 7th injector

#1. Get some tools if you intend doing your own work.
Fuel psi ga, Scanmaster or better yet, a Powerlogger.
A smoke tester off of Ebag is not expensive.

Pardon Our Interruption...

Before removing anything, do a smoke test. Could be a vac leak causing lean start.
Lots of places for leaks. Rotted vac lines are a problem.
Leaking EGR.
Leaking plenum gasket.
Have you addressed the fuel injector situation? I see no mention of them.
I've retired my inj bench, so I can't help there.
Spending money on injs that are iffy at best, is a waste of money.
Best practice, just get a matching chip and injs from Eric.

Welcome to TurboTweak - TurboTweak

Pull the ecm and look to see what chip is in it. Report back with the ID info.
If it's an old ATR chip, it needs to go FIRST, B4 any tuning.
The ATR gate can be an issue down the road, as can the 7th inj.
With a set of Erics injs and a chip, that relic can go away.
What part of Atlanta are you in?
I've been around the TR crowd here in Atlanta for a while and may have known the PO.
Who did you get the car from?
With a little luck, we may be able to scrounge up some history.
U can call me @ 770-265-5144

 

[BEATAV8]

Extended crank when cold indicates it’s lean during cranking. I’d do a quick check to see what coolant temperature the ECM is seeing. It should agree with ambient temperature. Ofcourse you will need a scan tool of some sort for that.
If the ecm doesn’t know the engine is cold then it won’t even try to inject the extra cold cranking fuel the engine needs.