Tech, Repairs, Upgrades > Capri XR-2 89-94

1991 Capri XR2 No Crank/No Start

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EShepherd:
Hey there, Team Capri brothers. I just yesterday purchased my 1991 Capri Xr2, got it home late last night. It wasn't starting when I purchased it, and I was hopeful the issue was just the battery. I brought a spare battery with me, hoping to get it to fire up so I could drive it onto my tow dolly. Well, that didn't work. In fact, I barely had any electrical power in the car, even with a known good battery installed. I was wondering if you guys had any insight into the diagnostic procedure for a no crank/no start issue on these cars. I am an ASE certified tech, so I don't need step-by-step instructions. I was just curious if there was something specific to this vehicle to start my diagnosis on. I also have a MASSIVE Chilton's manual for this car, but sadly it doesn't seem to have any diagnostic flow charts. I haven't yet taken the time to really tear into the thing, I've only had it for about 12 hours now.

Thanks guys, and I'm super excited to be a part of this community. I've got some big plans for this car, I'd just like to get her running before I start pulling the engine apart.

greywolf27030:
Welcome to the family. There is a full tech manual here on the site.

http://web.archive.org/web/20151002170440/http://techcapri.home.comcast.net/~techcapri/

Did you check the main fuse on the left front strut tower?

EShepherd:
You are my hero for that link, I don't have words to express how much I appreciate that. I have not yet checked anything. When I got the car home last night it was already dark out. Now its daytime, but it's still pretty damn cold. That wouldn't be an issue, but I've got my 1 year old son with me....and I don't think he'd be too thrilled about the cold. Once it warms up in a couple hours, we are going to go outside and start poking around with the multimeter. I'll make sure to check that main fuse first, thanks for the heads up.

Edit: Has anyone gotten ahold of the guy that makes the Rocket Chips? I sent him an email a week ago, but I still haven't heard back. Has anyone got experience using a full standalone setup on these cars? Will a megasquirt setup work? I've got no issue making my own wiring harness...

EShepherd:
Update: I went to pull out the 80A main fuse you mentioned. Ummm, well I suppose the prongs were corroded into the fuse block itself, because they stayed with it, but the plastic and fusible link came off. I'm going to assume that was indeed the issue. The other fuses come out, so I'm unsure if I'm going to rip out those prongs and replace that fuse, or replace the whole fuse block (and probably switch to blade style fuses). I guess it depends on how cooperative the broken-off prongs are when I try to pull them from the fuse block. Bummer, 10 minutes of work and I need to buy parts already. -.-

A lot of the wiring in this thing is fairly corroded. I might give up on trying to get it started, and just pull it apart. I'm going to pull the engine for a rebuild, which will leave me tons of room to replace all the wiring. That brings me back to my question about stand alone ECM's. Is it doable with this thing? If so, I need not bother replacing all the wiring...I can just yank it all out and build a new harness for the new computer.


I've toyed with the idea of swapping in a Honda engine, but I reallllllllllly don't want to modify the car that much. I'd much rather keep the original engine. That all hinges on the computer situation, though. I need to be able to tune it, otherwise there's not much point in building up the engine. Sorry for all the questions, I'm extremely unfamiliar with the Capri. In fact, I'd never seen or even heard of this car until I found it on Craigslist.

greywolf27030:
Unfortunately the fuse block is sometimes a problem. As for the megasquirt, it is workable. You might check the MX5 and Probe forums, for help on medications.  They are a lot more likely to modify their cars than Capri people are. We are more likely to put the top down and cruise. As for a swap, you might want to consider a Mazda BP series engine, same family but more displacement. Check Wikipedia for Mazda B series engines for info on the shared powertrain.  As for Matt (Rocketman), he usually has a lot of irons in the fire and sometimes it takes him a while to get around to his hobby.  Good luck with your project, You might hold off on the rebuild till you get it running , one of my cars has 200K on it and still running strong with a turbo and there are others with over 300K.

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