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Starts - turns over - runs for 2 seconds - dies. What the hell??

9K views 89 replies 16 participants last post by  Frank J 
#1 ·
Opel has been running great. One day turned over the key. Nothing. Turned the key again and got a noise before it started like - putting a kitchen knife in an electrical outlet. Next few days no problems. Must have been the electrical gremlins (change in weather??) Taking it home before an unexpected shower at night (lights on) - turn the wipers on - wipers jerk but don't go all the way up - car dies like someone hit the off switch. WTF?
Tried starting again - turns over - runs for 2 seconds dies. Over and over - same thing. Ignition turns the car over runs for 2 seconds - dies.

I am assuming Electrical in the ignition over fuel system based on the above after reading similar threads but still cant find an avenue to explore first.

Help??
 
#2 ·
Okay, let's see: New owner, lights on at night, the sound of a kitchen knife short circuiting an electrical outlet, and power problems.

Question one: Have you done what every new GTer MUST do, which is to verify that the wires to the headlights have been replaced. This MUST be done by ALL GT owners. They used vinyl wrapped wires from the radiator forward on GT's and the stuff dried out as far back as the 80's and is now dust just waiting to blow away and cause a massive short circuit to the unfused headlight wires. This WILL destroy your car.

Let us know what you discover.
 
#3 ·
Really can't stress this advice from Gordon enough. Everything else about this car is secondary.....you almost want to ensure every new owner of this car gets this information and acts on it immediately, no questions asked.

Everything else is secondary, the rust issues or the shimmys and shakes going down the road.....knocking noise in the timing chain area or cam lobes eaten for breakfast.....the wiring to the headlights must be inspected by the owner, accomplished only by physically unwrapping the wire harness tape to each headlamp plug.

Trust me on this.....I thought my 73 GT's headlamp wires were okay; it was an unmolested GT and lived a semi-pampered light. Service invoices for near every service or repair job the car ever had, in my possession. What could be wrong on a car like this? Only when did I unwrap that wire harness (in preparation to installing the Hella halogen headlamps) did I discover to my horror the headlight wire insulation crumbled away, just ready to short out onto each other. How it didn't was just divine provenance or luck, I guess.

Even if your issues are elsewhere, for peace of mind, unwrap that wire harness, inspect it and repair it, using the info contained on this site!

Mike
 
#7 ·
That's an interesting factiod.
I'm impressed that the starter can do this, considering there's no capacitor anywhere near the thing.


On another forum we decided that "orange" is the universal sarcasm font.
 
#9 ·
I have Petronix ignition and high performance coil and a 65amp alternator. I have checked all engine grounds and everything is good.
*wires to coil are right and test fine
*alternator is good and pumps out power
* distributor spins when starting
* I just replaced all sparks plugs as I thought this may help
* while plugs were out I turned over the engine with carb open to get ll t fuel out of the engine
* disconnected fuel line at carb and turned engine over and it squirts out enough gas

Starts up fine runs for 2 seconds then dies. Even when it's started I can tap the throttle once or twice and can Rev it then it dies.

Anyone with any other ideas or faced similar problems? Don't want to put it on the flatbed of shame to the garage yet if it's something I can sort out in the driveway.
*
 
#11 ·
You won't solve the problem yourself unless you can identify if the problem is Mechanical, Electrical or Fuel.

We can rule out mechanical because you haven't told us of anything bizarre sounding.

Now, for fuel. Electric pump or mechanical?
If it's electrical then your fuel line is clogged somewhere.
If it's mechanical then it's probably not fuel related.

Now, electrical. The hardest to diagnose but easier with ONE test.
While inside the car, start it. Watch the tach. Does the tack drop to dead zero when it "dies" or does it drift down with engine speed?

If it drops dead then the problem is related to the pertronix. If it floats down with the engine then the pertronix is likely fine.

If that test shows pertronix is "fine" then the problem is coil related. You can hotwire the coil to see if that fixes anything or makes it worse.

Let us know what's happening.
 
#16 ·
Run a jumper wire from the battery to the + side of the coil. Then start it and see if it stays running.

If it still dies then it's a fuel issue. If it doesn't then it's a connectivity issue between the fuse block and the coil (faulty resistor wire).
 
#15 ·
It sounds to me like you have a fuel problem in the carb. Were you pumping the gas between start attempts?

Another thing that occurs to me is that your "Run" position on your ignition switch or the wiring from it to the engine may be malfunctioning. It seems that as soon as you ease the key back to the Run position the engine dies.

Try leaving the starter engaged for a couple of extra seconds and see if that allows ignition to continue past your 2 second run/die symptom.
 
#17 ·
I say you have a fried ignition switch and also either too much advance or bad/low battery or bad connections at the battery or starter or both or bad starter. The way it cranks is why I say all of this. If you try the above (hot wire the coil) and the engine stays running then it is the contacts inside the ignition switch. If that is the case you may want to consider putting a relay in the starting circuit so that the relay contacts switch the higher current and the key switch doesn't take the big hit when cranking. Was the electrical sound you heard inside the car or in the engine bay?
Also did the wipers ever return to their proper position or did they never move again?
 
#20 ·
Short run time

First opel is correct. I have seen this problem before. American cars use a ballast resister to drop the running voltage, to be kinder on the points. When you start the engine you deliver full voltage to the coil. When the ignition switch returns to the run position the voltage is directed through the ballast, in Opels case the resistor wire, to the + side of the coil. If you run a wire to the coil you will bypass the resistor wire that appears defective.
 
#26 · (Edited)
ummm. alot of GTs are wired pertronx to resistor wired coil, and they run. It is advised to use full 12v, but most wired this way, still run good.
.
looks like he has no resistor wire and may have replaced it. And may have relocated wire to lug which receives 12v while in start position only.

exact same symptoms when I made same mistake.

or possibly the Coil wire to fuse box is inoperative and only receiving power off of starter wire to coilswitched 12v. as soon as key returns to run ignition is cut off.
 
#31 ·
I've only seen two pertronix hooked up that way and both weren't working until they were powered to a reliable 12v source.

His working for year and then not, all of a sudden, is questionable. But if hooking it up to 12V fixes the problem, what difference would it make?
 
#29 ·
I removed the clear wire from the fuse box (run switched).
Then ran a control wire to a main relay..pin 85
The main relay fires up the ignition system,fuel pump and also the pcm.
The pcm controls pin 86 for the fuel pump.
The pcm when first powered up will turn on the fuel pump for ~ five seconds.
Once a rotation event happens it will keep the contacts closed.
If no VR signal ....no fuel...
simple stuff

RTFM
 
#34 ·
I don't see a clear(ish) resistor wire hooked up to the coil, just a green/white wire, red wire, and red to pertronix. If the Firestone mechanic swapped out the resistor wire for regular wire, then that means you won't need the wire from the starter to give you 12v (if you're already getting 12v from the replaced wire). Also, it looks like you've got a Bosch blue coil, which needs 12v, not 5-7.
 
#35 ·
The resistor wire was spliced with a green/yellow one. It's had a considerable amount of "repair" to the wiring.

 

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#40 ·
OK. So petronix connected to fuse box.

Resistor connected to coil in proper spot

Mystery blue and white wire removed from coil.


Starts on first crank and runs fine.

However, oil pressure gage, gas gage and temp gage not working. I try to connect blue and white to coil again. It starts but won't run.
Note: when I press the wiper switch, those gages come on and work properly. But the wipers do not come on.

So now the car runs.

But I need the gages to work. So can I plug the Blu and white elsewhere? Or is there a short somewhere?
 
#41 ·
First order of business would be to find out what that blue wire goes to.
 
#44 · (Edited)
Check the ammeter.. headlights/wiper motor probably shorted and killed it.

While cranking the coil builds up power and that power is from the cranking circuit of the switch is direct to the battery.

So when you kill the cranking circuit.. the engine has enough juice and fire to run.

Try running a wire from the (+) of the battery to the (+) Of the coil. Then start it up.. if it runs.. then you have a bad ignition switch or blown Ammeter.





The wire - To Coil ( From Switched Side of Fuse Panel ) is feed from the AMMeter
 
#45 ·
The blue/white wire is needed, eventually it needs to be hooked up to your alternator. I have an internally regulated 70 amp alternator, on mine, the wire goes to the D+ post on the back of the alt. Your alternator may be self-exciting, but it's nice to have the idiot light function to let you know something's wrong.
 
#61 ·
I'm thinking it's even a simpler. He forgot to REPLACE the resistor wire with a 12 from the key.
 
#63 ·
Doing electrical work over the internet is mind numbing.
Everyone wants a simple "silver bullet" fix.
What kills me is they are to lazy to post any type of electronic test results
as in voltage drops,resistance or current values.

Oh well I should just go with the flow.
 
#64 ·
It's OK.
Many uneducated people don't know the difference between "electrical" and "electronic". We forgive you.

Electrical requires little more than a test light. Electronics require a device to measure voltage drops, resistance and/or current values.

If you ever figure out the difference, feel free to chime in.
 
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