Chrysler Repair: 98 chrysler sebring: no start, obd ii code reader, chrysler sebring

Question
hi! i own a 97 chrysler sebring convert that has been setting for 8 months in florida just had plugs wires and valve gaskets put on it it was running in fla and i recently moved to michigan and for some reason it wants to kick over but wont start. i draind all the gas out of tank figuring it was water build up put new gas in it and it still wont start. engine is crankin but wont fire. do you have any ideas whats goin on?

Answer
Hi Shawn,
First you want to check for fuel and spark action. For fuel: turn the key to 'run' and listen for whether your hear the fuel pump run for about 1 second, then stop. If that occurs that is a good sign that the fuel will be pumped when you start cranking it. Then check for spark: by pulling the cap off of a plug, stick an insultated-handle screwdriver in the plug cap until the tip touches the wire that is deep inside, then hold the two parts like that and position the metal shaft of the screwdriver 1/4" from the edge of the cylinder head. Have a helper then crank the engine over and watch for whether a spark jumps across the gap. It should.
If both those things work, then we have a need to get a fault code which may tell us why it won't start, and that may or may not be done with the ignition key. Try turning the key 'on-off-on-off-on and leave on' doing that in 5 seconds of less elapsed time. Then count the flashes if the check engine light (which remains on when you leave the key 'on') begins to flash, pause, flash, etc. If it does that, repeat the process and count again to be sure of an accurate set of flash counts. Tell me the counts and we'll go from there. If you don't get flashing, then watch the odometer reading to see by chance if it changes from mileage to show 4-digit fault code numbers. If neither flashing nor numbers appear, then unfortunately you have to plug in a code reader to the socket under the dash next to the steering column to get the codes. And that means buying or borrowing from a friend an OBD-II code reader.
If you don't hear the pump or don't get spark, tell me which and we'll go from there.
Roland
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