legacycentral bbs

I have a problem and my car won't start and think its an electrical problem. Seeing if anyone has insight to what could be causing the problem.

At first it was intermittent then over the weekend got worse and now won't start at all. It started when I was driving long distance and when I filled up it wouldn't turn back on. We tried for 10 minutes then magically it turned over instantly. That night it did it again and I had to wait longer but did work later. Then this went on for a day, getting longer and longer til it would start after shutting it off. Now its just off and won't start.

What's wrong is it seems the car isnt getting spark or fuel, but it cranks just fine and everything else seems in order. We thought it may be a bad fuel pump and swapped in a new one since the old one didn't seem to even prime when the car was turned over. We put a new one in and seemed fine and primed but the engine still didn't start. We then checked the fuel line right after the fuel filter and there was plenty of fuel so fuel was being pumped.

So we pulled 2 plugs to see if they were foiled dry, etc and to see if they were firing. When we pulled them they looked shot and looked to be missing their electrodes but didn't smell like gas or looked fouled. We then cranked the engine over and we didn't see any spark and didn't smell any gas being injected.

What could the problem be?


I did just finish a 5Mt swap Thursday but didn't mess with any electriconics. This shouldn't be effecting this but you never know.

Possibly starter solenoid contacts.

Legacy777 wrote:Possibly starter solenoid contacts.

Well it cranks just fine. I'd figure if the starter solenoid was loose it wouldn't crank.

Others are thinking crank position sensor.

It does kind of sound like a cam or crank sensor, except that either of those signals being missing would trip a trouble code in the ECU, and you didn't mention the Check Engine light being on.

Plugs missing their electrodes?! I hope you did a tuneup after that.

vrg3 wrote:It does kind of sound like a cam or crank sensor, except that either of those signals being missing would trip a trouble code in the ECU, and you didn't mention the Check Engine light being on.

Plugs missing their electrodes?! I hope you did a tuneup after that.

My CEL is always on since I'm running a catless downpipe, so the CEL would do no good.

I'll definitely be doing some plugs before I try starting it again.

Dude. If you think the problem is electrical, check the engine trouble codes!

Also, on 1st-gen cars missing cats will not throw a trouble code.

vrg3 wrote:Dude. If you think the problem is electrical, check the engine trouble codes!

Also, on 1st-gen cars missing cats will not throw a trouble code.

Even if the rear 02 sensor is completely disconnected, which mine is?

wrxpeed wrote:

vrg3 wrote:Dude. If you think the problem is electrical, check the engine trouble codes!

Also, on 1st-gen cars missing cats will not throw a trouble code.

Even if the rear 02 sensor is completely disconnected, which mine is?

1st gen cars are OBD1, there is only one O2 sensor, and thats right behind the turbo.

what about the ignitor? @ the center of the firewall? maybe something during the swap got loose, or grounded to the body. a signal wire perhaps telling the ECU it is in gear. maybe the bad plugs is just lack of mainenance.

If the plugs were missing their electrodes it wouldn't be from a rich condition, so they wouldn't be fouled or smell like gas. Assuming the plugs were the right ones, sounds like you have a lean condition or timing problem. Most likely, lean condition. Check the codes.

evolutionmovement wrote:If the plugs were missing their electrodes it wouldn't be from a rich condition, so they wouldn't be fouled or smell like gas. Assuming the plugs were the right ones, sounds like you have a lean condition or timing problem. Most likely, lean condition. Check the codes.

I've only owned the car since October and was in the garage for the past 3 months. I never changed the plugs since I bought it so don't know what they looked like. They could've looked like that for a whil.e