94 aspire help needed

[brianto90]

Car was running fine down the road, it died suddenly and hasn't hit a lick sense. I have a full tank of gas, blue spark at plugs, fuel pressure to the intake, fuses check out fine. Timing belt is on and the cam is spinning. Oddly I can not get a check engine light after cranking numerous times. It will not even backfire on starting fluid directly to the intake. What am I missing?

[ryanprins13]

You have a nice spark but it wont catch on starting fluid? I dunno, that sounds impossible, lol :p
Did you spray the fluid in the extra port on the manifold or where? Only thing i can think of is that you somehow suddenly developed a massive vaccume leak. But that still doesn't really explain not catching with ether.


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[TominMO]

If you have air, fuel and spark, then valve and ignition timing are the only things left to check.

Timing belt jumped a couple of teeth maybe? Since the B3 is a non-interference motor, you would not know from the valves crashing into the pistons that the belt slipped.

Also check that the disty hasn't somehow moved (loose bolts), giving you wrong ignition timing.

Question: have you recently done any work on the car? Might you have done (or not done) something that caused this failure?

Did you check both the fuses under the hood and the Engine fuse in the pass. compartment?

The only other thing I can think of is TPS (throttle position sensor), crankshaft position sensor, or CPS (camshaft position sensor). If the CPS is giving a faulty reading, that would tell the PCM (powertrain control module) to fire the injectors at the wrong time. On 94-95 models, the CPS and the CKPS (crankshaft position sensor) are both located in the disty, and you have to replace the disty itself to fix either faulty sensor--so says my Aspire Chilton manual.

If you disconnected the MAF to spray starting fluid in, I think it wouldn't start anyway because it needs the MAF signal.

[TominMO]

BTW how many miles on your car? Assuming the disty is original.

[tooldude]

Since TominMO already covered much, I'll only add this part of my original post: Think in terms of fuel, spark, compression, & air, making it all the way from the point of origin into the cylinder, all with the right timing, and you will track down the one missing. Possibly ignition timing, valve timing/seating or compression is off.

[brianto90]

Thanks guys! No work has recently been done on the car. 145,000 miles and I will check for correct timing. All the fuses have been checked. Question: Where is the best place to squirt a small amount of starting fluid?

[TominMO]

Thanks guys! No work has recently been done on the car. 145,000 miles and I will check for correct timing. All the fuses have been checked. Question: Where is the best place to squirt a small amount of starting fluid?

Probably the little hose that goes from the valve cover to the intake tube. But I'm thinking the issue is with one of the sensors in your disty.

[brianto90]

Thanks for the help everybody! Tom in mo was correct! Swapped distributors and all is good!! I'm only 2 hours south of you Tom, if you ever need anything give me a shout!!

[TominMO]

Thanks for the help everybody! Tom in mo was correct! Swapped distributors and all is good!! I'm only 2 hours south of you Tom, if you ever need anything give me a shout!!

$100,00 in small unmarked bills.......