'94 Probe GT won't start. Fuel pump?

[sealpt]

I'd check the rear bank just to be thorough. Might be off enough that the intake valves are open on the compression stroke, shooting air and fuel back into the intake manifold.

When you crank it over are you smelling gas?

Crank it over a bit and then stop and pull the air intake elbow off and open the throttle. If you don't smell gas, then your injectors are not spraying which could mean a bad ecu.

You can also try to spray some starting fluid into the intake manifold and see if it fires. An easy route would be to pull off the pcv hose from the manifold (the one that comes from the front valve cover).

Ok, that beast has all the timing marks lined up.

I don't smell gas when I crank it over, interestingly enough, I had pulled out a spark plug on cylinder number 1, and the sparkplug is wet and it did smell like gas actually.

As far as the starting fluid, I would guess that I have somebody else crank it over while I open the throttle body and spray the starting fluid with the can straw in there, correct? Is there going to be any backfire or anything that I need to be aware of, like catching myself on fire, or any little detail like that?


Now what did you mean by "An easy route would be to pull off the pcv hose from the manifold (the one that comes from the front valve cover)"

Do you mean to inject the starting fluid in there or something?

On the the ECU. Is there a way to test this thing? Do I have to take to the dealer or something to have them test it? Also.. where is this thing in my '94? I'm thinking that I will have to be upside down under the steering wheel to reach it? Does anybody have a picture of it so I know what I'm looking for?

Again, I had the intake manifold off this summer. The connectors in the back were really a pain to deal with. Is that what provided the signal to the injectors to fire? My thought being that maybe I might have damaged that part when I put it back together. Although it did run, it never did start right off the bat like it did before I started that particular task.

Thank you again you guys for your help.
Shawn

[sealpt]

if you do end up needing a ecu i have one out of my 93 parts car you can get

I might take you up on that depending on what happens with this stuff.

[earl8245]

No, connectors in the rear are for the egr solenoids.

ECU is under the radio/heater controls.

How well did it run when you went to get gas?

Injectors are either completely clogged, leaking fuel into the cylinders, or simply not firing.

Yes, spray starting fluid into the pcv hose barb leading into the intake manifold. Intake tube/vaf needs to be hooked up. There is always a chance that it might backfire.

[sealpt]

No, connectors in the rear are for the egr solenoids.

ECU is under the radio/heater controls.

How well did it run when you went to get gas?

Injectors are either completely clogged, leaking fuel into the cylinders, or simply not firing.

Yes, spray starting fluid into the pcv hose barb leading into the intake manifold. Intake tube/vaf needs to be hooked up. There is always a chance that it might backfire.

Well, it acted like it was running out of gas when the people took it for the test drive... It kind of stuttered.

Is this the hose you are talking about to spray the starting fluid into?


http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/...0620113111.jpg

Do I spray close to the intake, or take off the valvecover end, and spray in there? I need somebody cranking over the engine for this to work, right?

Shawn

[earl8245]

Yes, spray directly into the intake manifold while cranking.

[sealpt]

Yes, spray directly into the intake manifold while cranking.

My assistants (wife and daughter) just left. I'll have to try the procedure when they get home.

[sealpt]

Alright, I just had my daughter crank the engine while I sprayed the starting fluid into the intake. Nothing happened. I told her then to pump the gas while trying to start.. Again I blasted it with starting fluid at the same time.

Nothing happened. I just cranks, but will not start.

Any other ideas?

Thank you,
Shawn

---------- Post added at 04:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:36 PM ----------

As a side note. This car would sit for a few days and the battery would drain out. No cranking at all. That was even while the car was able to run. Not sure if that has anything to do with this, but I thought I would throw that out there.

Thank you,
Shawn

[earl8245]

Bad distributor.

Unless the cylinders are so flooded it won't fire on the starting fluid.
Pull out all spark plugs, crank it over a bit. Then check for spark again on all plugs.

[Vitaliy]

flooded motor + starter fluid = fail

OP let the spark plugs dry and then use the starter fluid. You shouldn't need to even press the gas pedal while trying to start it.

[Caffeine930]

The fuel cut out light won't be on unless there's an issue. I've never seen that light in all the years and probes I have owned. I do know that the fuel cutout light being on can mean you have a bad alternator. How many times have you had to recharge that battery since you have been going through all of this?

[sealpt]

The fuel cut out light won't be on unless there's an issue. I've never seen that light in all the years and probes I have owned. I do know that the fuel cutout light being on can mean you have a bad alternator. How many times have you had to recharge that battery since you have been going through all of this?

Well, something is draining the battery, but I think that is another issue. When the wife was using the car regularly, a dead battery never came up.

My mechanic (type) buddy down the street thinks it is the coil actually, not giving enough punch. He said to put it on top dead center again, pull the distributor on Tuesday since I have no time tomorrow (grrrr), take it to autozone and have them test it.

(Thank you for the suggestion about the distributor above as well Earl)

Anyway, I want to thank you guys again for all your suggestions on this stuff. That baby will be up and running again before we know it.

Shawn

[earl8245]

I have a known good coil, '94 ecu and a set of injectors that leak a little but still work. (pm me) if you need any of them.

[mac1]

http://forums.probetalk.com/showthread.php?t=1701304856

[sealpt]

Thank you for the links and car parts offer guys. I'm now working some overtime so I'll have to wait until this weekend to get my act together again.

I'll let you know how it all goes.

[sealpt]

Well, finally was able to take out the distributor and take it in to have the autozone guys test it, which they actually have no test for. He did test the coil and it was fine. He suggested the crankshaft position sensor. I was able to get that out, and it was full of crud so I cleaned it all up.

While I was taking out the distributor I pulled the spark plugs out. They really smell of gas and oil and were pretty black. The elements looked fine though.

One thing is that when I put the engine at top dead center according to the harmonic balancer, I did some alignment stuff on the rotor, and it looks to me that at top dead center, the rotor isn't exactly on spark plug 1. It's maybe 5 degrees off from that. Not sure why that is.

At any rate, the car still won't start.

Again I checked for spark in all the plug wires and they are all fine. I'm not sure if maybe some new plugs might help at this point, although the worst of them still has plenty of spark.

I'm going to review the videos that Mac 1 left on the link above and see if there is anything up there that will give me a clue.

For some reason I just think this is a simple thing. I'm just running out of ideas.

Any suggestions?

Thank you again...
Shawn