Cranking but not starting - no spark of fuel
09-18-2005, 06:35 PM
#1
Cranking but not starting - no spark of fuel A little history. My car started intermittantly not starting about 15 months ago. It always started, but sometimes required extremely excessive cranking. Other times it would fire up perfectly. Chris turned the VAT's off, and it went away for a while. A few weeks ago it would not start at TDP, twice, but eventually fired up. The next day it was fine. It was hard to start the last time I drove it. Then last week it would not start at all, so I pulled the battery and put it on a charger for a week. Today I changed the plugs (which all looked great although gap was a little wide). It will not start. After cranking it for a while, I pulled a plug. No smell of gas. Put it back, and checked for spark. None.
In the past one mechanic looked at it and blamed the tuning. The dealer looked at it, and suspected the cam position sensor, but admitted it was a WAG. The fuel pump comes on when the key is turned and there is pressure at the rail. When running it drives and runs great.
Can anyone figure out what is wrong with it?
In the past one mechanic looked at it and blamed the tuning. The dealer looked at it, and suspected the cam position sensor, but admitted it was a WAG. The fuel pump comes on when the key is turned and there is pressure at the rail. When running it drives and runs great.
Can anyone figure out what is wrong with it?
10-13-2005, 04:22 PM
#2
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Originally Posted by 98_1LE
A little history. My car started intermittantly not starting about 15 months ago. It always started, but sometimes required extremely excessive cranking. Other times it would fire up perfectly. Chris turned the VAT's off, and it went away for a while. A few weeks ago it would not start at TDP, twice, but eventually fired up. The next day it was fine. It was hard to start the last time I drove it. Then last week it would not start at all, so I pulled the battery and put it on a charger for a week. Today I changed the plugs (which all looked great although gap was a little wide). It will not start. After cranking it for a while, I pulled a plug. No smell of gas. Put it back, and checked for spark. None.
In the past one mechanic looked at it and blamed the tuning. The dealer looked at it, and suspected the cam position sensor, but admitted it was a WAG. The fuel pump comes on when the key is turned and there is pressure at the rail. When running it drives and runs great.
Can anyone figure out what is wrong with it?
In the past one mechanic looked at it and blamed the tuning. The dealer looked at it, and suspected the cam position sensor, but admitted it was a WAG. The fuel pump comes on when the key is turned and there is pressure at the rail. When running it drives and runs great.
Can anyone figure out what is wrong with it?
10-13-2005, 06:47 PM
#3
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So many things it could be. But if you are not getting spark OR fuel, my guess, maybe the PCM. Could be the crank or cam pos. sesnsor, but I don't see how one of those could be intermittent as you described the problem started out.
One thing you might check, the PCM is in sort of a vulnerable place on these cars, where moisture might could get to the connectors..unhook the battery, pull the connectors off the PCM and make sure none of the contacts are corroded. Just another WAG. Still, I suspect the PCM.
One thing you might check, the PCM is in sort of a vulnerable place on these cars, where moisture might could get to the connectors..unhook the battery, pull the connectors off the PCM and make sure none of the contacts are corroded. Just another WAG. Still, I suspect the PCM.
10-14-2005, 10:28 AM
#5
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Originally Posted by 98_1LE
Could it be the tuning? The intermittent starting started right after (the same day) as tuning.
10-14-2005, 03:36 PM
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Take your ignition relay and swap it with your starter relay. If this takes care of the problem then your ignition relay was going out (and needs to be replaced). My car had your exact same symptoms.
