Pontiac Repair: sunfire wont start, has spark and fuel, flood mode, gm dealer

Question
my brotherinlaw asked me to get his car started. its a 97 sunfire but i know the engin in there isent the right one and i dont know what year its from.. but it worked fine for years till now so i know its not a botched engin swap. it stalled on him and and wont start again. iv checked all the basics. it has spark and fuel. it even floods if i keep cranking it. in clear flood mode with the peddle all the way down it backfires and flames come out of the throtle is that normal? if not im thinking its a timeing problem? any ideas?

Answer
Hi Phil:

well I would do a compression test on the engine and see what you have all of them should be withing 10% from highest to lowest cylinder. was the engine making any noise prior to it quitting.. When these engingine get a lot of miles on them the timing chains stretch out and the cam timing could be out and that could be your root cause.. This car was involved in a recall here in the states about PCM corrosion and to the wire harness if he is the orignal owner he would know if it has been done or not if not call any GM dealer and see if that recall has been done or not they need the VIN # of the car... when the PCM's corrode on these they doo all kinds of wierd stuff that could be your issue to.. have you actaully checked the fuel pressure to see what you have other then the fact that the car floods out? That is where I would start looking... good luck :)