QuestionCar: 1994 STS Northstar 148,000 miles.
1. Washed cold engine with Simple Green degreaser and rinsed with garden hose, fresh cold water.
2. Started car, ran a little rough, went for dive to heat and dry engine after a few minutes (30-40 mph)it began to run very rough, returned home.
3. Let car idle in garage, ran extremely rough, after than 1 minute engine popped a couple of times and quit.
4. Now it will not start.
5. Removed coil module, rear and front spark plug wires, air cleaner. Used hair dryer to dry spark plug cavities, spark plug connectors, coil connectors and replaced air cleaner.
6. Still won't start, acts like timing is off.
You help is greatly appreciated.
AnswerHi,
When diagnosing, before jumping to conclusions like timing, realize that there were no running problems before you washed the engine.
My guess would be the wires are soaked yet. That's a lot of running at 148,000. I have used sillicone and sometimes WD-40 to dry them out, but sometimes they are gonners!
If you have it parked somewhere dark and can look under the hood, if it is a little damp out, you will see your problem. You will see the wires arcing to ground. Kind of pretty.
You needed wires anyway at 15 years old. Belden seem to fit the best and have a life time garranty. While you are at it, change the plugs too, because 148,000 miles there can't be much of a gap.
Rob
