So I'm having problems with my 89 200QT. It doesn't start the first time, but it will usually start after a few tries. Well, anyway, today, I just got my car out of the shop (it needed a new alternator and a clutch rebuild, along with a few other small issues). So, as I leave the shop, it starts on the 2nd try (better than usual) and I drive to walmart, less than 5 minutes away. As I try to leave walmart, the car will not start. I try to start it, and the battery level drops. So the battery is near dead, and I call a friend to help me jump it. We get it jumped after about 45 minutes to an hour and as I go to drive away, the car is bogging down, and just not running the same way it was when I left the shop, which was better than it ever ran before I took it in. I keep driving, thinking that it just needs to stretch its legs a little. When I tried to get it going a little faster, it just would not accelerate very quickly at all, and was sputtering. The "bar" reading on the computer thing (still haven't figured out if it is oil pressure or what) reads 0.5bar, and the battery gauge reads nothing (all the way at the bottom, as if the battery is dead). I pull into a driveway to check if it was just doing it when I gave it some throttle, and when I stop, the car all but dies. I shut it off, and call my buddy back to give me some help. We tried getting it started about 30 times (at least), and it just WILL NOT START. We tried jumping it, we try a rolling start (get it rolling and pop the clutch), everything we can think of. It just will not start. I had heard something a while back about there being a magnetic pin on the flywheel that lines up with a sensor, and those can get out of alignment, which can cause some starting issues, but would it be possible to have the flywheel be that far out of alignment that it bogs the car down and keeps it from starting? And if that is what's happening, what should I tell my mechanic to do in order to fix it? Do i just say that the flywheel needs to be realigned? What can you guys suggest to help?

 

I don't have much experience with the older cars because im just a young buck, but you have to start with the basics. First find the fuel supply hose to the engine, take it loose and put it in a water bottle or something, turn the key to the on position, it should fill the bottle. If it doesn't test voltage at the fuel pump.
If fuel is ok, check for spark by pulling one of the coils or wires or whatever it has on the old school car, and crank the engine while grounding it out. If it has no spark your down to the crank sensor, or ECM.
If it has both, its most likely a crap load of carbon build up on the intake valves, in which case take off the intake hose to the manifold, grab a can of carb cleaner and spray the living hell out of it while your friend cranks the engine. This could take a long damn time, and maybe a couple of cans. It may also back fire when doing this so don't keep your hand too close to the intake hose.
I think the 0.5 bar your seeing on the dash is the factory boost gauge, this would only be true if you have the 5 cylinder turbo engine though. I believe thats what the 200 had in them.