Motor turning over won't fire!

[deathtrigga]

Hey guys today i had a horrible day it sucked when i woke up to find my p5 not starting. Past couple of days when id start it sometimes itd feel like as soon as i started it, there would be kind of a hesitation if i pressed the gas and it seemed like the engine had a rough idle and whatnot. But it would go away after a couple of seconds if that, anyway today i went to start the car and it just keeps turning over but it won't fire. I recently replaced the radiator because it was leaking and i was seeing anti freeze all over the floor and after i replaced that i would still see antifreeze. Today i went to the car and there was a lot of anti freeze on the floor and it seemed like there was a leak from the radiator hose so i just tightened them up, still nothing keeps turning over but will not start, attached a battery pack to add juice to the battery as it was cold; still nothing. Later i went to an auto parts store and bought the fuel line deicer thing because it was REALLY cold today and that stuff didn't help either. There was a couple of occurances where the motor fired for like half a second then just died again. any suggestions ?

 

[P-Funk!]

clogged injectors?

Sounds too late to seafoam the gas tank.

Probably need to tow to a garage at this point - unless you know how to remove and replace injectors...

 

[imola.zhp]

Mine started doing the same thing, on the same day, lol...

Well, no hesitation at start-up. Fired right up on two of the coldest days in Memphis in over 5 years. 2nd day (Friday), drove to work (26+miles) stopped to get fuel, fired her up, then went on into work (2.5 miles) then when I tried to leave, no fire...

Plugs are wet, so they are getting fuel. I'm just not sure the fuel is any good. Pulled the plugs, plugged them back into their respective boots, grounded the tip, cranked, they are sparking...

Pulled the valve cover, timing belt looks brand new. Tension seems just right, too tight to jump timing...

 

[nullbyte]

yup, pull your plugs and check if they are wet to make sure the injectors are working. When it gets really cold fuel is the first thing which starts to go wrong. Maybe move your car somewhere warm. You can also get someone else to turn on the car while you listen to the back to hear if the fuel pump is working.

Based on your description of the hesitation before it sounds like a fuel issue.

Also if you had water in your rad/coolant line and it froze....that is what could cause a break or crack which would cause it to leak out. Once you filled it back up did it leak again? (did tightening the hoses work ?)

 

[imola.zhp]

^ a friend told me to check the fuel pump too. My carpet is already out (dont ask) so I popped the back seat, pulled the cover and someone has been in there before...

Should I be able to hear the pump with the back seat up and cover off? The car is outside and its windy, but I don't hear anything...

Hopefully its just a bad or clogged fuel pump. My plugs have been wet, but if its not getting enough fuel, I don't think it will run...

 

[silver slotege]

if you are having coolant issues, I would check the radiator for oil. You could have a blown head gasket. This would let water/antifreeze into your cylinders which, if enough, could quench your spark, preventing ignition.
Were you having any smoking issues prior to this?

I would start by pulling the plugs though, always a good place to start.

 

[deathtrigga]

Ok guys heres an update, i took it to my shop looked at it nothing. couldn't really figure it out checked fuel pump was working, moved it to teh mechanic's shop nxt door and he looked at it, This is what he did, he removed the plugs and the coil and ended up Air blowing TONS of gas out of the valves because apparently from all the cranking i did to turn it on got gas stuck inside. So once he did that he put the plugs and coil back on and tried starting nd she fired up but wasn't sound too good at all! the motor was sounding very rough. We shut it off and tried turning it back on and it wouldn't start. So i went bought new plugs, coils, Pcv valve and replaced them and she started up. I couldn't get a hold of plug wires for some reason most auto places where out of them in my area so im going to pick them up tomorrow. It starts up almost everytime now but it runs SO rough, and it was very very rich, there was a heck load of white smoke that came out in the begging but i thought it could have been the unfreeze your gas lines fluid that you can buy at an autoparts store because i thought the lines might have gotten frozen. I took videos of how the car runs and sounds like if you could please watch them and just let me know what you think it is. At the end the mechanic said i should change my fuel pressure injector regulartor, but i dotn think there is such thing and he probably just meant fpr. he pointed at it too, he didn't really know english well so im pretty sure thats what he meant. Anyway the car likes to Almost stall out if i shift to netural and let the revs drop it gets reallly close to dying.
first video a couple of days ago when it wouldn't fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkurGHepXqw
2nd and 3rd are me driving car today after going to mechanics and changing the plugs coils and fpr haven't changed plug wires yet, mechanic said they weren't good either
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd-zYn67iTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFOGIqpCYEI

and please disregard the stupid belt that is super loud.
anyway one of my friends thinks it could be the TPS and not the fpr.
another person suggested cleaning the throttle body.
Im totally clueless, thanks in advance guys

btw mechanic used scanned because the check engine light was on before but after he used it i believe he cleared it and i don't know what code came up. After driving it around today the light came on again and it was blinking this time

 

[jamesk]

your cel light is blinking. that means an important sensor is going off. good chance its your knock sensor and it senses knock.

 

[imola.zhp]

That first video is exactly what mine is doing. When you hold the gas pedal to the floor it wants to start so bad, but doesn't...

I don't get it, your mechanic blew air into the combustion chambers through the spark plug holes? I've replaced plugs and tried new coil packs (which I took back) no luck...

But yeah, I think a blinking CEL is BAD! Most "chain" parts stores can read the code for you.

 

[deathtrigga]

yeah this light came on after it started up and i could actually drive it. i really don't know what to do, you think its a knock sensor? jamesk? The engine is rocking around back and fourth at idle in correlation to the sound that you hear of the engine idling

 

[jamesk]

Yea deff. sounds like it is knocking. Would not drive it around until it is fixed. Too bad i went to college today, I live in Jersey too and I didnt do much over break at all, could of help, lol.

 

[deathtrigga]

haha damn, well so what should i do replace the knock sensor?

 

[jamesk]

well it could be a few things. The cel would tell you what is going on. The engine might be knocking, but just because the knock sensor is going off and retards timing, i do not think this would cause the problem.

If you changed the spark plugs and wires, I can probably say it is your cam sensor located on the valve cover. The car relies on this sensor to know the position of the cams relative to the spark in each cylinder. Therefore, if this sensor is bad, and our cars rely on this little sensor since it is a distributorless ignition system, this sensor may be the problem.

All your symtoms lead to the cam sensor being bad because of all the problems you have stated. But I cannot confirm that since I do not know your CEL codes.


Another sensor could be the crankshaft sensor. This sensor is also important and the ecu relies on this sensor to make sure spark is happening relative to TDC.

If the car is still not starting with Ignition and fuel occuring, then check the compression in the cylinders. If no compression is happening, then the engine will not start.

But you are getting fuel since you stated that above, so check the CEL to see whats going on, and go from there.

 

[deathtrigga]

coool thanks ill get it checked out tomorrow and let you know

 

[imola.zhp]

well it could be a few things. The cel would tell you what is going on. The engine might be knocking, but just because the knock sensor is going off and retards timing, i do not think this would cause the problem.

If you changed the spark plugs and wires, I can probably say it is your cam sensor located on the valve cover. The car relies on this sensor to know the position of the cams relative to the spark in each cylinder. Therefore, if this sensor is bad, and our cars rely on this little sensor since it is a distributorless ignition system, this sensor may be the problem.

All your symtoms lead to the cam sensor being bad because of all the problems you have stated. But I cannot confirm that since I do not know your CEL codes.


Another sensor could be the crankshaft sensor. This sensor is also important and the ecu relies on this sensor to make sure spark is happening relative to TDC.

If the car is still not starting with Ignition and fuel occuring, then check the compression in the cylinders. If no compression is happening, then the engine will not start.

But you are getting fuel since you stated that above, so check the CEL to see whats going on, and go from there.

Would either of those sensors keep the car from starting?

Which would you try first?

Shoot, I might just get them both and throw them in to see if she'll fire up, then take them back if she doesn't...

I hope deathtrigga doesn't think I'm trying to own his thread. I was about to start my own thread when I read his, instead of posting almost the same exact post, I thought I'd jump in on his.

Thanks for all of the help jamesk!

 

[nullbyte]

Yeah, before anything else get that code read....cause that will really help you nail down what is going on with this thing. Good thinking in getting a new pcv valve. I would also check the EGR valve while you are there....

I'm interesting in hearing how this turns out!

 

[deathtrigga]

omggg i was GOING to drive it to get it scanned but guess what it didn't start again this morning! this is driving me insane, my dad orderd a new fuel pressure regulator and seloniod so lets see what happens. Also im about to try spraying the starter fluid into the throttle body and see what happens

 

[deathtrigga]

and ofcourse not i don't think that your trying to own the thread, we both have the same stupid problem so all the more inputs the better

 

[jamesk]

Don't play the guessing game, try and find out the problem is and correctly diagnose what the problem is rather than changing everything you see.

Take everything slow. Make sure you are getting fuel, ignition and compression.

 

[slavrenz]

I agree - throwing parts at it won't usually help. If the CEL was blinking that means you are in iminent danger of damaging the catalytic converter - this is usually caused by a misfire. DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR unless you feel like dishing out $500+ for a new converter. Since you said that you replaced the plugs and coils, check to see if your wires look bad. You can check their resistance too with a multimeter, but if they look OK, they're probably fine.

A misfire can also be a fuel issue as well, if your cylinders aren't receiving fuel reliably. The key is that CEL code. If it is a misfire in only one cylinder, it's probably a bad injector. If it's a random or multiple misfire code, that FPR is a good bet.