Pontiac Repair: 1997 pontiac sunfire turning over but not starting, 1997 pontiac sunfire, rubber mallet

Question
hi, i have a 1997 Pontiac sunfire se, 4cly, I'm not 100% sure but i think it is a 2.4L engine.  my girlfriend went to start it Thursday morning and it turned over like it wanted to start but would not start.  the lights and everything came on like it normally should.  we had to replace the starter and solenoid may of last year.  the check engine light has been going on and off since before we replaced the starter.  we got the car in 2008 and have had to have the engine and starter replaced within 1,800 miles.  we live in Maryland and the car has passed our state emissions test every time.  i hope you can help us get our car fixed and i can do myself since we have limited funds and are disabled.  thank you.

Answer
Hi Jim:

well the ses lamp may have lead a clue as to what was going to happen that could have lead to the no start. for the engine to start and run it needs 3 things fuel spark and compression. so it's missing one of those things. have someone turn the key to run and listen back by the gas tank to see if you can hear the fuel pump run in the tank. if you don't hera it run that try tapping on the bottom of the gas tank with a rubber mallet while some attempts to crak/start the car. the fuel pumps on that car had a tendency to quit. if you can hear the pump then it may not be the issue but it may not have enough pump pressure to run. if this is an SE then it has a 2.2 liter engine only the GT has 2.4. pull off a park pluyg wire and get a tool called a spark checker it looks like a spark plug with a clamp on the side of it attach the clamp to a piece of meatl on the engien and crank the engine there should be spark try it on all 4 cylinders. if ther is n o spark then it could be an issue with a crank sensor or an ignition module. As far as compression goes if you have a compression gauge test all 4 cylinders they should have anywhere between 135-150 PSI I would think and not vary by 10% from hi to low. good luck :)