2003 Protege 5 turns over but won't start. Puzzler.

[swmiller944]

Hesitant as I am to post another help my car won't start topic I feel that I have no other option. I've looked through the others and the solutions that have been presented end up being fairly simple and I'm hoping that this is the case in my situation. About 6 months back my father purchased from a friend of a friend a 03' MP5 Sport Shift Automatic with 155k on the clock. He got it for 800 because the car had a motor knock and was obviously on it's way out. The car was running perfectly however and had no other problems aside from this. We had this confirmed by another local mechanic and we found a 35k used motor and installed it. We took our time correctly hooked everything up and we did the timing belt and water pump change at the same time. Everything was put back into place using all the parts from the old car which was running perfectly aside from the knock. At this point we have tried everything we can think of to figure out why it won't start. We've had it to the dealer who said it was the lower crank sensor charged us another $500 and didn't fix the problem saying that if that wasn't it that it must be the ECU which they wanted $1400 for. Having none of that we purchased a used ecu from the same model and no luck. The car turns over but will not start. We've replaced the fuel pump and are getting good pressure, good battery, starter, etc. We've tested the coil packs and they check out as well. We're completely flummoxed by this thing so if anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate them. On a final note we've we've determined that the injectors are not receiving a signal but we have no idea what would cause this. We've checked the codes numerous times and disconnected the battery to hopefully reset and still not luck. It's been about four months of trial and error and pouring over factory manuals and wiring diagrams trying to discover a solution but thus far nothing. My suspicion is that there is some security feature that got triggered but even a step in the right direction would be a great help.

Checked and working.
-timing
-ignition
-fuel pressure
-ecu reset
-ecu swap
-all electrical connections
-fuses
-battery
-starter

 

[IshSonP5]

I was thinking injectors and then you said they are not getting a signal. Unless you figure out why they are not getting a signal the car will never start...everything else is good but with the injectors not spraying gas, there is nothing to burn and no turn over...double check all the injector connections, double check the ecu with the dealership to have them see if the ecu is not broken and the injector wires are not screwed...other than that, all I can think of is somewhere wiring was done wrong...Good Luck

 

[swmiller944]

I was thinking injectors and then you said they are not getting a signal. Unless you figure out why they are not getting a signal the car will never start...everything else is good but with the injectors not spraying gas, there is nothing to burn and no turn over...double check all the injector connections, double check the ecu with the dealership to have them see if the ecu is not broken and the injector wires are not screwed...other than that, all I can think of is somewhere wiring was done wrong...Good Luck

We were told by the dealership that they have no way to test the ECU. I called bs on that myself but they're not going to be much help or so it seems. It's definitely fuel and that was confirmed thanks to a little starting fluid. [UPDATE] I ask again about the injector pulse so we decided to test them again, constant voltage with ignition on and fluctuating voltage while cranking so the injectors are getting some type of signal so I can't understand what the problem could be at this point.

 

[IshSonP5]

Hmmm. Pull the spark plugs and see if there is gas in the cylinder. If there is than I am lost on this one

 

[RicoP5]

yeah there is plug another p5 ecu and if it works then its obvious the ecu is messed up...

 

[tweety2300]

Ecu's rarely go bad dealerships say it when they don't have a clue as to what's wrong. I'm not sure about protgs but I know on Hondas there is a relay that sends power to the injectors. When they go out it can range from not starting to misfire to missing when it's cold when the electronic choke is still on

 

[Ali G]

Posting this because it took me a couple days to figure it out and I didn't see this solution online anywhere. I just had a similar issue on a 2003 P5. The engine would crank but the engine wasn't getting fuel. End of the day for me it was a mouse that chewed through 2 ground wires on the left side of the engine bay. There are some wires that go through the left fender behind the left wheel well splash guard. Repaired those two wires and it fired right up.