91 steva... turns over... no start

[nik]

91 steva... just purchased, will turn over, doesn't start. Was told the motor is bad... by a kid who doesn't know what was bad.

Where would you start looking?

It's full of oil.

Radiator looks good, full.

It only has 149,000 miles on it, looks good, looks well taken care of.

It was on a long drive and the kid said, "the motor went bad".

Don't know what that means??? Any ideas of where to start??

[hawkdoc60]

My bet would be the timing belt jumped teeth or broke. Check top see if the timing belt is still wrapped around the two gears. Then I'd check for spark and then for fuel. If you have both, then I'd check for the crank and cam timing marks to be lined up properly with #1 on TDC. If all this checks out, then I would think we are talking about a sensor issue, which I am not as familiar with.

[Gforcefd]

I had a green festiva that would turn over but would not start, is was a spark issue, but we never found the problem, no matter what I replaced. I think I might of had a shorted wiring harness if that helps. HAWk covered all the bases. Once you know if it has spark and fuel then it would probably be a timing issue.

[nik]

Thanks so much for the quick replies. The timing belt looks to be in place. Husband sprayed something into carb or somewhere thinking that it might fire up. Said he didn't have starting fluid or something else (can't remember what it was) thought what he sprayed wouldn't work. (sorry... I'm not exactly sure... and husbands not home to ask questions right now.)

I just can't help but believe that it can't be that bad of a fix. It's in great shape for it's age and with only 149000 miles, I would think it should have a lot of life left. My first steva is STILL going... 18 years later with 250000 + miles and no major troubles EVER!

Thanks a bunch for all of your help! I'm sure I'll be posting more! This site is awesome!

Another question.. if it is timing belt... what will that require to fix??? What other damage if any could have been done?

[hawkdoc60]

Timing belt kits run around $40. It takes a couple hours to put in. It isn't that hard, just make sure the cam and crank timing marks stay aligned properly while installing.

[WmWatt]

You can remove the ignition control modue (small black plastic thing) from inside the distributor and take it to an auto parts to to be tested for free. Immediately put it in a plastic bag to keep it from getting damaged by ambient static electricity. You can call parts stores to find out which test for free. Hopefully it will pass and eliminate one likely cause of not firing.

[nik]

Thanks for all of your advice and knowledge! On the timing kit... does it tear anything else up on the car when it goes out?

If it is the ignition control module... what kind of cost would I be looking at?

Thanks!

[Gforcefd]

The timing belts are great, usually they break and don't hurt anything else. The motor is non-interferance, so your valves won't get damaged at all either. The timing belt kit should include at least the timing belt and tensioners. Some kits also come with a waterpump I believe.

[jglutz]

Some simple free things to test.....

Are the spark plugs/dist wires connected correctly?

Is there a rotor under the dist. cap?

Is the fuel pump inertia switch tripped.

I would think that if the timming belt skipped....the engine would start...run like crap...but still run. If the belt broke...that would be different. Anyway, easiest thing to do would be a compression test.

[FB71]

^^^ depends on how much it skipped. Usually if it's more than 3 or 4 teeth, it won't run

[mfoam99]

i had the ignition control module go out on mine a few years ago. It turns out the cause of this was my wires were resting on the engine manifold and shorting out the control module. Replaced the wires and of course the control module and everything was good.

[wrestler3025]

Both of my festivas had the same problem when I purchased them. It turned out to be a stuck injector. I did the same thing your husband did, and sprayed starting fluid in the intake tube. It took quite a bit to get it going, so maybe he didn't spray enough. I also had to have my wife crank it while I sprayed the fluid.