QuestionI bought a 1994 labaron 3.0 v-6, the battery i had started it up once but won't start now. So i went out and bought a new battery and new starter and it still won't start. when it did start with the old battery I got a test on it by turning accesories on and everything was fine. so that would still mean that it's still good right? but still won't start with NEW battery. what should i look at or for?
AnswerHi Jerry,
It is possible that one of the systems necesssary to run the engine gave out after the first start: spark, fuel pressure, or compression. So we need to treat this in the classical manner, starting with the spark.
While it could be a fuel problem, the typical approach to a 'no start' is to determine if you have a spark. Take a phillips head screwdriver with a plastic handle and insert the metal tip of it into one of the rubber caps that you can remove from a spark plug (don't pull on the wire, just grasp the cap itself, rotate it back and forth while pulling to free it from the spark plug). Once the tip of the screw driver is put in the cap so as to touch the wire clip at the bottom of the cap which normally touches the tip of the spark plug, hold the 'assembly' via the plastic handle and rubber cap and position the metal shaft of the screw driver about 1/4" from the cylinder head or other metal part of the engine which is in contact with the head or block of the engine which serves as a ground. Then have a helper crank the engine while you observe whether a spark jumps across the gap from the screwdriver shaft to the metal ground point during a 5 second cranking period. See if you get spark for 5 seconds, 1-2 seconds or not at all.
If not at all, then disconnect the two wire plug to the spark coil and use a voltmeter or 12V neon glow lamp to measure the presence of 12V at the 'crossbar' contact of the T-shaped contact pair inside the plug to the coil. Put one lead of the tester on the crossbar, the other lead on the engine head. Let me know the results.
You might also want to check the engine controller for any faults it may have observed and stored as two digit code numbers. Try using the ignition key: turn it "on-off-on-off-on" and leave it "on" (doing this quickly, no longer than 5 seconds). Then watch the 'check engine' light to begin flashing, then pause, flashing, pause, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause and keep track of the numbers. Repeat the readout and verify the counts are correct. Then group them in pairs in the order that they came out, thus forming two digit numbers. You may notice that the pause is shorter between the digits of a given number, and longer between the numbers themselves. Then send me a 'follow-up' question telling me the results of your readout. By the way, 55 will be the last number (two groups of 5 flashes each) and that is the code for "end of readout".
I have the troubleshooting manual for the 3.0L engine and we can look up the possibilities of what is wrong based upon what fault codes you show.
There is also an essay on fault codes at the site:
http://www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html
which gives the meaning of the code numbers. But then you need to get specific info for what exactly might be the diagnostic tests or parts to replace to complete the repair.
If the spark tests and the fault codes are unremarkable we may want to do a test of the fuel pressure. One thing to do now about that system is to listen, when you first turn on tne ignition switch to the 'run' position, to determine whether you hear a hum for about 1-2 seconds coming from the fuel tan to your rear. It might be easier to hear it if you open the driver's door so the sound coming from underneath the car is louder. Let me also know whether you hear that or not.
Roland
