QuestionI have a 16 year old daughter who was on her way to school about 3 months ago driving her 91 Plymouth laser, when it just stopped. It has never started since. At first we thought it had just ran out of gas. It was low. She said she had stopped at the stop sign, started and and maybe got it to go 50 foot. She said when she gave it the gas it just seemed very weak, it never took off appropriately like a normally start.
It is a five speed.
We towed it to our mechanic and it has us all dumfounded. We first thought it was out of gas so we poured gas in it. This did not help. Once the mechanic got it he said it wasn't firing. They replaced the distributor, no luck. Then the rotor button, no look. They tried to put it on a machine to diagnose the problem. It was just dead. It could get no readings. We then replaced the computer, to no luck. What can it be? The mechanic is such an honest man and has not charged us anything for his service although he has spent many hours trying to help us. We have a family of 4 teen daughters(17, 16 yr old twins,and a 15 year old) and he is trying so hard to help, but we are all frustrated. Please give me some idea of the problem if you can help. Thank you for your kindness
AnswerBecky:Asked a few friends and got many ideas. To say nothing bad about your mechanic, sometimes we over look the easy things as we are sure it is something big. But here are some ideas, a short, a bad fuse, bad relay, there are fuses all over on that car. A bad cable running off the battery, timing belt broke or bad. You did not put down what the engine was, kind and size. There is a switch on the clutch that sometimes keeps the car from starting. But then the thought of your daughter saying she started off from a stop sign, the car was weak and then nothing. Says to me something let go. If nothing else, maybe you should think about having the engine rebuilt or replaced. You could go to a junk yard, get another engine and try that. I have worked on cars that took a long time to find what was wrong. Also could be a sensor, I know you replaced the computer but if a sensor is out it could keep the engine from getting a stark. I work on Mitsubishi mostly. Now here is an idea for you, start with the easy is what I do... Connect a voltmeter across the battery terminals, if battery voltage is not at least 12 volts, charge and test the battery before going on. Dead means no power nothing. The battery even when the car is not running powers the lights, computer well everything. I hope this helps and good luck!
