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'91 Sidekick Won't Start

2K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  Bex 
#1 ·
Just got a '91 Sidekick / 153k miles / MT / 4wd / 8v / USA.

Drove it 57 miles straight and the car died when I stopped for a turn 3 miles from my house. I thought it ran out of gas. Put in 2gals, still no start. Checked the fuses and the 15A FI fuse was popped, replaced and it blow again. When I have the ignition on I don't see a check engine light. Car will only crank every few tries. Othwise the oil and battery light come on. I suspect this is a short but I'm a bit lost at the moment. I saw a wire near the driver side headlight that is broken. It goes to a ring terminal and looks like a ground wire???

Found this thread... Blown FI fuse Help

Is that thread a good place to start? Any other ideas? My current goal for the car is to daily it for about 20miles a day.

Cheers
🍻
 
#2 ·
Reading between the lines I get the impression that you're a little lost with the electrical stuff - if I'm right about this, consider taking it to a shop.

Fuses are fire protection devices, they blow when there is a short circuit to prevent the wiring from catching fire, and setting the vehicle alight - a loose wire (ground or not) will not cause a fuse to blow, unless it comes into contact with something it shouldn't.

If the FI (Fuel Injection) fuse is blown, you won't get a check engine light and the engine won't run, but, that shouldn't stop it from cranking, so it sounds like you have more than one problem.

The FI fuse is the main power source for the injection system, it provides power to just about everything involved with the injection so locating the short becomes a matter of getting hold of a wiring diagram (try Acks FAQ), identifying what is fed from the fuse and disconnecting them one by one until you find what it is - wire a 12v side lamp bulb in place of the fuse, so that you don't have to keep on replacing fuses every time one blows, as long as the lamp lights at it's normal intensity, the short is still there.
 
#3 ·
I'm not sure where to start. I was under the impression the CEL should be on when the ignition is on. It is not. I also know the FI fuse is blowing. The car intermittently cranks but won't start.

Is step one to track down the short on the FI fuse circuit?

Thanks
 
#4 ·
See post #2 here;
It will give you the circuits that the F1 fuse runs, as well as a link to Acks FAQS. If the F1 fuse is blowing at key on, the CEL won’t light.
 
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#6 ·
Ah, yes - that link was in an older forum post, so it’s changed since then. But glad you found it.
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
Thanks for the help. I fixed 2 broken wires and 1 relay and I'm up and running! The main issue was that I crushed the FI relay under the clutch pedal while stopping when I was driving the car home after purchasing it which caused the car to short and not start.

Next job is to get power to the side mirrors. Thanks for the help! I'm also looking for skid plates and undercarriage protection.
 
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