1985 Dodge Daytona turbo Z 2.2 starts and just stumbles

I have a 1985 Dodge Daytona 2.2 Turbo Z with a 5 speed manual trans. It was recently running very well, until the other day I went to start it and it just cranked, and then stumbled a little then died. Now when it cranks all it does is stumble a little and die and will sometime pop back out of the intake or the exhaust. I put the scanner on and it shows no codes, but the coolant temp sensor does read a little warm, like 79 degrees when the ambient temp is like 30 degrees (. Has anyone ever had this happen? The previous owner had installed a new timing belt just before I bought the car, but almost seems as though it jumped? It still sounds normall when it cranks.

Check fuel pressure and check the hose to the map sensor. If the map sensor is working but the hose has fallen or rotten off, this won't set a code. Also if you're concerned your temp gauge is reading wrong, try unplugging it. It'll start but will just rev a bit high on initial start-up and the rad fan will engage. You can pull a tire, pulley, belts and the plastic covers on the engine to check cam timing but I doubt it jumped. Can't hurt to check though. Does giving it a bit of throttle keep it running or does it still die? A compression check wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Start with the basics..... fuel pressure and spark.

Check inside the distributor cap to see if the plate that holds the pickup coil has come loose from its rivets. That will let the timing jump all over the place.

x3 on fuel pressure.

Idle speed sensor? I remember back in the day 2.2's had lots of issues with them....

If the car sits for weeks at a time, ethanol could be the problem.
The fuel in the tank would still be good but under the hood where the gas can evaporate, the ethanol can turn to gunk.
I'm not trying to bash ethanol, but I've seen it create starts-and-cuts-off problems on several cars that would go a week or 2 between starts.

It seems like it pops more if I hold the gas to the floor while cranking, but does not make a difference if I let off or wood it once it starts stumbling. I will put the fuel pressure tester on this weekend and see what it says. What should the fuel pressure run on these cars? The fuel pump runs when I turn the key on, and when I had the scanner on it I turned the fuel pump on, and can hear fuel rushing through the fuel pressure regulator. I ran a test on the Baro/Map sensor, and it showd 28inHg Baro, and 29inHg Map not running. The actual baro was 30.75inHg. That seems pretty close, but I will check the hose inside the car to the map sensor, the hose under the hood looks fine. Thanks for the info guys..

So it won't run at all, it'll just pop when cranking? Sounds exactly like what mine did when the logic module crapped out. But I'd think that would have shown when you hooked up your scanner...?

I know on the later 80's turbo fwd's the base fuel pressure is 55psi. Goes down to around 45psi when the regulator sees intake vacuum and goes up 1psi fuel pressure per 1psi of boost developed. I'd assume 1985 would still be the same. I have at least one spare logic module for a 85 turbo 2.2 if you decide you want to try swapping it out you can PM me.

By all means check all basics (fuel pres, spark, cap/rotor etc) but also check that the timing belt did not jump . I had an 85 turbo datona that did just that. I drove thru some snow and it got under the cover and all of a sudden it ran like a slug. It jumped 1 tooth. If it is off more than that it will not run.It's an easy check bring the crank to TDC #1 and pull the top cover and see where the cam is. The dist also runs off its own shaft that could be out of time. It happened in the morrning pulling out of the driveway going to work I went over some snow at the end of the driveway.

You need to check the MAP with the engine turning over. An open line will show atmospheric pressure while the engine is off and while the engine is trying to run.

You cna check the cam timing without removing the valve cover. You simply line up the holes in the timing gear with the parting line of the cam bearing caps.

Well, I did some more tests. The fuel pressure is at 55 psi with engine off (using fuel pump test function on diagnostic scanner), and great spark. I put the engine at TDC and the rotor was pointing at #1 tower on cap, and the small hole on cam gear was straight up. I forgot that the larger holes should line up with the cam bearing cap, I'll recheck that tomarrow. Is the little hole supposed to be straight up? (Been a while since I messed with a 2.2 timing belt). I ran a test to check injectors, they were all clicking. All relays and solenoids seem to be functioning correctly. I noticed when cranking it tonight that if I wood it while cranking it will pop and kinda stumble then it will quit poping, and if I lift the gas while still cranking it will start to pop and stumble again then will quit popping again. If I rapidly pump the gas while cranking it will start and kinda barly run for a second or two then die. I have an 85 LeBaron GTS 2.2 turbo 5spd parts car that was runnung and should have a good logic module to try, but it is buried under a large snowdrift I'm begining to think the logic module may be the cause? Sorry for the long post

The hole in the cam gear should line up with the hole in the timing cover when cyl 1 is at TDC on the compression stroke. Only other thing I can think of being your problem is a trashed hall pickup in the distributor. It must be at least somewhat working if your injectors are firing. I'd try swapping in a spare one of those, then the logic module.

I wish I had a spare hall effect pickup laying around to try. The one in the LeBaron was bed when I parked it. That one had a bad wire in it, and would intermittantly lose injector sync. I read in a 1985 service bulletin, that 1985 and maybe a year newer also had a dual pickup, one for injector sync and one for spark. And supposidly the computer has a limp in mode for losing injector sync. That car would lose power and the power loss light would come on. The Tach has never worked in the Daytona even after installing an NOS unit. Also the diagnostic computer shows it at 3 RPM whith the key on engine off...

two things that you might try: unplug the map sensor-the ecm will default to baro then see if it will start, if it does you need a new map; the other will require either a second person to turn the motor over with the key or you could use a remote start button, with the motor turning over tap the distributor cap with the handle of a screwdriver if the motor tries to start or stumbles more than it has replace the hall effect pickup.

Problem Solved: Upon closer inspection, it appears as though the timing belt jumped the sproket on the shaft that runs the distributor and the oil pump. I just turned the distributor until it would run, and unpluged the coolant sensor and set the timing. It runs good now. The only thing I noticed is that it idles way down and will sometimes stall when I step on the clutch coming to a stop sign, but if I rev it up once or twice it will stay running. Any ideas on what is causing this? I set the base timing to 12* BTDC as shown on the emissions label. Also any ideas on why the timing belt would jump? Its tension feels ok, and the belt looks like new. Why do they have marks to line the distributor shaft with the crank on the timing belt sprokets? As long as the timing is set correctly this shouldn't matter if the marks arn't lined up, right? Thanks for all the info and advice..

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Why do they have marks to line the distributor shaft with the crank on the timing belt sprokets? As long as the timing is set correctly this shouldn't matter if the marks arn't lined up, right? Thanks for all the info and advice..

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Probably just so all the distributors are setup at about the same spot. Probably made it easier on the assembely line and this way the guy doing repairs can have them all rotated at about the same position.