HP EFI will not start

[chpr1972]

I have a dual throttle body, tunnel ram, Holly HP EFI 8 injector TPI, running a stock 95 chev computer controlled distributor. It is a 489 BBC 10:1 compression and a 230/236 comp cam. I have fuel psi and sometimes spark and sometimes the car will not start. Cranks over good and fast. Sometime it will start or try to start when I release the key.
I called Holly and was told to jump the red/white wire to the battery and see if it would start.. I was told to send in the HP EFI computer and they checked it and it is good. Any suggestions on where to start, what to check?
I was idling thru the Bushnell military cemetery and it started busting up. It would only idle. I let it set for 10/15 minute and it started right up. Never had any trouble with it after that on the way home. The conv top switch stuck and ran the battery down over night so I swapped batteries with my sons truck.Thats when my starting problem started was when the battery died? I reset the throttle position sensor a couple of times with no help. How do I check power to the distributor while cranking? I should be able to pull the plug to the distributor. Which pin and what voltage should be coming out of it.
Kinda at a lost as where to start. I put EFI on so I would have no problems. Thanks to murphy that expensive great idea did not work lol! any Ideas will be greatly apprreciated. Thanks

[gray86hach]

Do you have consistent rpm when cranking amd how do your signals look in a data log. The holley dual sync distributor is really the way to go when having crank pickup issues

Tim

[andrewb70]

I would also post this on the Holley support forum, if you have not done that already.

Andrew

[chpr1972]

I called Holly yesterday and an engineer was to call me back today. I called again anout 11:30 cst and was told a guy named woody was at lunch and would be back in about 10 minutes and he would call me then. Its now 6:30 est and he still has not called back. I appreciate that Holley tech line now has about a 45 minute wait where as a few months ago you would be on line for 2 hrs with no help and call backs were not always done. what really got me was the car would sometimes start when I let off the key. what I wanted to know was how to check the current to the distributor do I could check that. It did not make sense. On a point car there was 2 start/run circuits. I wanted to know if the HP EFI has the same typei circuits. After several checks I took the distributor module to Auto Zone and they checked it. Bad module! $46 later I hit the key and it fired right up.

[BlackPearl]

I'm no expert but have you check the ground wires?

[nokones]

Also, it is very important that the power leads for the Holley HP EFI module be wired directly to the battery, not the solenoid. Also, Holley says you need a 4 or larger awg ground cable from the battery directly to the engine block in addition to the battery to frame/chassis ground. The Holley HP EFI will draw quite a bit of power and probably will need a lot of power when you are cranking the starter. It is very possible that your computer may be dropping below an acceptable level of power when cranking the starter.

There is a strong reason and a clue why Holley has a 40 amp fuse on the computer power lead.

[chpr1972]

I found the problem. It ended up being an ignition module on a 2 year old stock 95 chev pu distributor. The car would some times start and some times it would start after I let off the key. Really hard to find. I sent the HP EFI into Holly and it checked good. I run a 1 .0 cables to the starter and motor . I have grounds from the block to the frame to the fender at the motor. I have ground on the fuel pump to the body and to the frame HP EFI is grounded directly to the battery on the side terminal connection. Thanks for the help

[nokones]

Congrats on finding the starting problem. You may want to rethink on how you are powering the HP EFI module. Grounding directly to the battery is what Holley highly recommends. The reason they recommend wiring directly to the battery is not just for the power draw but, also for filtering the dirty power from your alternator and any devices such as electrical motors and ignition boxes interfering with the operation of the EFI module. The Pink Sheet that comes with the module states it is imperative that you follow their instructions for proper operation and the warranty.

The battery will act like a natural filter for the noise and keep the power draw even. The additional 01 ground cable from the battery directly to the block is also important. Wiring to the solenoid will cause the EFI module to pick up dirty power and cause the EFI module to not function properly and may cause the module to fail.

The Holley HP EFI is a great system and has a lot of features. I highly recommend that you follow the Holley instructions on wiring the power leads. I learned by mistake. I also had the power lead for the HP EFI module wired to the solenoid and I had problems with the idle and cold starting the engine. Also, it was discovered that some parameters and settings were changed in the module. It was assumed that the dirty power may have caused the settings to either change or were never saved properly when programming the module. Rewiring according to Holley's instructions resolved a lot of the problems.