1989 sidekick stalls

[quicktech]

Hey Guys
I Have A 89 Sidekick That Last Fall Would Start And Run For About 10 Mins And Stall Then All You Had To Do Is Wait Awhile Try To Start It And It Would Fire Up And Then Die Again.i Put It Away For The Winter No Time To Work On It,yesterday I Jumped It ,it Fired Right Up , Ran It For 3 Hrs In The Driveway And It Never Stalled Once I Checked The Egr Valve And It Is Good ,the Ignition Switch Seems Sticky You Have Turn It A Few Times To Get The Motor To Kick Over Any Ideas What It Might Be

[ranger88den]

When it stalls, do you have spark? Fuel pressure?

[jtgh]

by stick do you mean "Ignition Switch Seems Sticky"

it is physically hard to turn. (lube it)
or
it some times makes the cranking sound and next it dont.?
then measure the voltage (when failiing) from the ST pin on the igntion switch
and walk the meter from this point, to the clutch switch or park sw.(you didnt say) and to the starter solenoid, the point where the voltage dies, the bad part is just prior , or
a bad connector.

any time a car wont crank.
wiggle these;
key
clutch.
auto shifter
rap gently on starter solenoid with leather faced mallet. (or rubber )
( AZ will tell you never to do that, but they sell more starters that way (guessing sells way more parts, dont you know)


kick over , means , wont crank to some, others means engine will not fire up and run.
tells us more.

BTW: Tune Up (plugs,wires, cap ,rotor, and all filters?) Works wonders .
then as above, spark, fuel pressure , and.

look down TBI bore, and does it give a prime pulse ,each and every key on?
look down TBI bore, again, and does is spary gas while cranking.

no, dont tell me its a CARBI, (yah, you forgot to say)
Carbi on the barbi. ( just skip prime pulse test, replace with accel pump test, wiggle throttle ,must squirt down bore, no? ,bowl dry,or pump in carbi bad )

TBI cars are easy to troubleshoot, MPI , you have to be really creative , under a tree.

[jtgh]

yes, bad battery.

you had a shorted cell, 2 volts each times 6.
one drops and you can loose ECU or other sensors.

the key is to watch other signs, like dimming headlights , radio acting funny. etc.
I have a volt meter and a fuel pressure gauge on mine.
that VM , IMHO required on all EFI systems.

another trick, in the field , off road if this happens, just roll battery on the ground , put back and many times the shorted cell clears , long enough to get out of the woods.
lead mud on the bottom rises to short cells is the method of failure on most batteries. I even kicked a battery to life one time, far afield.

thanks for posting solution. bless you and cheers.