QuestionHi Ted,
The past week has been a difficult one with this previously very reliable and good-running car, owned by me and driven by my daughter! It has about 114,000 miles on it, we purchased from Hertz Cars in 1998 and have owned ever since. Let me try to be brief while still providing all the facts:
Tues. May 24: Daughter calls me from her home and says the car will crank but not start. I get there in about 30 minutes and the car does start then, but idles quite rough, then smooths out after a couple of minutes and runs fine. Car does restart fine all day after sitting for short periods (under 2 hours)
Weds May 25 AM: It did the same thing as the day before -- wouldn't start, let it sit awhile, then did start. Same thing Weds. afternoon. Weds. night took to an independent garage for diagnosis the next morning.
Thurs May 26 AM: Garage says it did not start for them at first, they said they put in a used MAP Sensor and it started fine. We picked up the car that evening.
Fri. May 27: Car started fine in the morning and all day.
Sat Msy 28 AM: Car would not start again. I went over in a couple of hours and tried to start, about 15 times over 5 minutes, did not start. Called AAA for tow back to the garage and when they came, the tow driver hooked up jumpers and asked me to try to start, and it did! Just like before, it idled rough for a couple of minutes and then smoothed out perfectly. Thinking the used MAP sensor may have been bad, I ordered new MAP Sensor from Advance Auto Parts.
Also started the car at 6PM -- started fine.
Attempted to start car at 12 Midnight - would not start
Mon May 30 AM: Installed new MAP sensor, car would not start. Tried again after 30 minutes, still would not start.
Tues. May 31 AM: Would not start, even after sitting. At noon, tried the process again, trying to start, let it sit, tried again. Still did not start. Finally starter went out from all the attempts!
Installed new starter last evening and changed the plugs. Still will not start. Would not start this morning.
I can tell you that after cranking a couple of seconds at first, sounds like it wants to start but won't run. Repeated attempts do not produce better results. On some attempts, sounds like it backfires right when it seems like it wants to start.
I checked per a repair manual and do not hear a whirring for a couple of seconds when you first turn the key, which is an indication the fuel pump is not working, right? If this is the case why the odd sequence from last week, where it wouldn't start, then did start? It also smells like a gas odor from around the car after trying to start it several times. Do fuel pumps fail gradually? What should we try next?
Thanks so much, Ted!
AnswerI don't believe it's a fuel delivery problem, I think it's an electrical issue, these engines use an interated ignition distributor, remove all the spark plug wires, remove them from the distributor cap, remove the rotor and inspect it, remove the coil cover, there have been problems with the coils developing cracks and arcing through the insulation, there have also been failures with the distributors so the distributor assembly may have to be replaced since the only replaceable part is the coil, the signal generators and rpm sensors are not replaceable, I believe this is where the problem is located.
