Turnover but no start

[mechanicaldj]

the plugs are fouled out

have you replaced them yet?

[canlboater]

Same problem as,
No start or still sparking all over the place ?
If is not arcing now, and it is still a no start situation ,can you smell fuel while you are cranking it over ?

Same problem meaning it turns over but will not start.

[canlboater]

the plugs are fouled out

have you replaced them yet?

I will try that today

[canlboater]

Okay so since I was seeing arcing across the coil I replaced that with a used one last night. Now the whole car does not light up like a christmas tree at night....but I am still not starting the car. Any other ideas besides the spark plugs?

[packrat427]

Do you smell fuel while cranking it over ?
Have someone crank it over while you tap on top of the fuel pump .
The pump is under the little access plate under your rear seat ,hinge the rear seat up , and pull the carpet forward to access that panel,
While you are in there ,if you have a test light ,you can probe the fuel pump wires " while someone is cranking it " and see if you have power going to the pump.

[canlboater]

Do you smell fuel while cranking it over ?
Have someone crank it over while you tap on top of the fuel pump .
The pump is under the little access plate under your rear seat ,hinge the rear seat up , and pull the carpet forward to access that panel,
While you are in there ,if you have a test light ,you can probe the fuel pump wires " while someone is cranking it " and see if you have power going to the pump.

can smell fuel when you crank it. I do not think it is the pump.

could it be that there is too much fuel left in the cylinder from cranking it when the electrical was bad? I am going to try pulling the plugs and spraying compressed air into the cylinder to dry them out...then starting the car.

[packrat427]

Did you try holding the gas pedal all the way down while cranking it over ?

[canlboater]

Did you try holding the gas pedal all the way down while cranking it over ?

okay here is the latest.

I replaced the fuel filter (been about 75000) and the spark plugs.

The wires are in the right places but I am getting a back fire and front fire (into the intake). It sounds like it wants to fire but it can't.....please help

[25Horseplay]

Is it possible that your timing belt slipped?

[canlboater]

Is it possible that your timing belt slipped?

I checked it 2 days ago. I used a wrench to move the belt and both pullys to make sure they al lined up.

[25Horseplay]

Your only like 45 min from me, maybe one day this week I could run down and see if I could help if you want.

[canlboater]

Your only like 45 min from me, maybe one day this week I could run down and see if I could help if you want.

You have no idea how much I would like that......email me at adamtohill@gmail.com so that we can work out a time.

[canlboater]

I am now firing on cylinders 1 and 4 (not 2 and 3) an d seeing arcing across the coil from the coil to the distributor wire


any ideas could it be a bad icm?

[packrat427]

Did you replace the coil wire ,If you did you may have a cracked tower on your coil ,leaking voltage there ,
Pull your boot at the coil all the way back then make sure the wire is seated all the way in the coil ,then pull the boot down over it , there should be no arcing .

[canlboater]

SOLUTION PROBLEM SOLVED

SO....tonight my fiance, her dad, and I wear watching a movie. we were talking about the car only firing on 2 cylinders. He said something about sounds like the timing is off, like it is not firing right. That got me thinking. I just got home. There were 2 critical errors that I had made in this problem. Please note that I am a computer geek and a food technologist...not a mechanic. I realize now my fatal flaw. Anyway, my first mistake was that when I checked the timing the other day I removed the air intake box and disconnected the top (mass air flow sensor) from the intake. Second mistake was that in my infinite wisdom I put the spark plugs on the rotor in the order 1-2-3-4. The firing order is 1-3-4-2.
I got home tonight and put the spark plugs in the right order and it fired up.....but died quickly...couple of times doing this made me think about the mass air flow sensor....plugged it in and it fired right up. I have the original coil in the car (I had bought a used one at a junk yard), new plugs, new wires, new distributor, and new rotor. I am not sure what the original problem was but this is one of those times that you quietly close the hood of the festiva and pat it nicely so that it will not happen again.

Thank you for all of your help alone the way. It really really helped me out.