random death and now not starting
 

I was on my way to work this morning, I did one medium pull coming off the ramp onto the freeway. Then I was coasting (in decel) I gave the car some gas and nothing, once out of gear the RPMS drop. So I try to start the car turns over but wont start. I noticed a little smoke coming out of the hood where the air filter is.

Once I was pulled over and trying to start it a little smoke would come out of the air filter each time the motor turned over. That stopped after I tried to start it a few times


I checked the spark plugs they seemed normal nothing weird.. changed them anyway.
Sprayed starting fluid.
check all plugs for spark, all good.
Still won’t start.

It turns over without a problem but it won’t fire up at all, even when starting fluid is being sprayed in.
The fuel pump is working I can hear it come on if I move the flapper in the AFM.

As far as I can tell it is getting the three essentials (gas, spark, air) any ideas???

Tow truck is on its way.. :mad:

also checked for oil in the intake tract... nothing

Possibly broke a timing belt. They always break when pulling off the interstate. No idea why, but I could tell you 10 times when belt broke, and 9 of them were pulling off the interstate.

Pull the valve cover and it will be obvious. Also it would crank "funny" cause it has no compression.

I was just thinking that..
the timing belt is brand new though.. will deff check that though

Second thought you wouldn't have spark if the belt broke cause the cam angle sensor is driven off of a camshaft. Hmm. Dunno. I'd do compression test next for sure.

ahh true I didnt even think about that.. I am at home now so i guess I'll take the compression tester to the car while I wait..


Thanks man

I checked the compresion, all four cylinders were good.. not great

Switched the MAF still wont start..

Is there another sensor that would keep the motor from starting?

I cant think of anything else

Make damn sure you got spark on all 4 cylinders again. And check fuel pressure.

is it possible that the coil pack has gone bad so it can't make spark in the cylinder but it can when you check for spark outside the cylinder?

The spark seems fairly strong outside when outside the cylinder.. but even with a weak spark wouldnt the motor at least try to fire?

I am pretty sure it isnt fuel related as the motor wont even run off starting fluid, but I'll check the fuel pressure when I get home from work to see

The plugs should be wet if you're getting fuel. You could do a leak down, but it's weird it wouldn't be running at all. If the MS is sparking, that means you have enough timing information to get something running - it could be the timing is way off, but that's weird.

Dunno, kinda stumped.

could the ECU be fried?

I dont think the timing is messed up, unless the belt skipped. I checked the CAS and it wasnt loose.

Check all your fuses. I think you aren't getting fuel. Were the plugs wet with fuel when you pulled them? You said they looked normal. If you try cranking it and it never starts and then pull the plugs and they are dry, you ain't getting fuel.

I cranked it with the plugs out and you could see the vapor coming out. The plugs were wet when I took them out.

What was the compression when you checked it? Did you have the throttle open when you did the test and have a good charged battery?

Check the cas sensor,mark correct location, remove it and put the wires back on them.

Remove 1 sparkplug at a time, put them back on the cable.
Put ignition on ON, rotate the cas by hand while holding the sparkplug against the metal valve cover.(spark)
Test all 4, or at least both coilpacks (always have 3 inside the engine)

You have spark?

Next replace the afm with a good one...

compression was about 95-100 on all cylinders.. with WOT
(high elevation) battery was probably hurting as I had been cranking the engine several times before I got to the compression test

will try this method tonight..

I did switch the AFM with one I know was working though

thats super low compression

yeah that's really shitty compression. Put the motor at TDC and check the cam gear marks. I doubt it, but I guess it's 'possilbe' it jumped time. But likely, something in your motor broke or something to loose that much pressure. Did you blow a head gasket? Any water in oil, oil in water, water/oil in cylinders, etc? Leakdown test and verifying cam timing are next two things to check for sure.