XS-Style

And thats about all lol Ive only really gotten into the simple stuff.. done the oil change, checked the coolant, changed the spark plugs and wires, and fuel filter. Up for today, as long as the rain holds off, is the transmission filter and the o2 sensor.

Im not getting any readings in the gague cluster to go by either... the only thing that happens up there is the tach needle bounces when I try to crank it.

Its spinning over, but not catching and firing. What should be the first thing I check out?

Goofy

Check compression.

Russ-R

After that check that you are getting spark. I dont remeber but i think ive heard something about the needle bouncing while cranking means that your not getting spark? Not too sure. After you checked for spark. Crank the car over a couple of times then check a spark plug to see if it has some fuel on it. Disable your ignition while you do that.

rick_tj

If that doesn't work, try unflooding. Pull the EFI/EGI/whatever fuse it is under the hood (should be 2nd from the inside 30Amp) and crank it over. Wait 5 minutes. Hook up a booster battery to make sure, and try it again. With the fuse put back in

XS-Style

Ok... lets see here. Im not sure how to check for compression, I guess Ill need to search on how to do that. I did check the sparkplugs, pulled one of the lower ones and found the tip to be dark brown.. Im guessing that means it is getting fuel. Ive done the EGI trick several times over the course of this, with no luck... so Im guessing its not that.

Anyone know a good way to check the starter? Ive tried tapping on it with a ballpin hammer, but that wouldnt work if the starter had totaly gone out.

Goofy

New spark plugs. Sounds like you fouled yours. Probably just flooding due to leaky injectors.

peachykeenwight

I'm no expert and I won't claim to be, but I got this info from Brian (BDC motorsports) and it was the first time my car EVER started:

First, do the deflooding technique that rick_tj suggested, but try it this way: Pull the EGI fuse out (in the fuse box as he said, it is clearly labeled), remove spark plugs and hang the spark plug wires over the chassis. Now, crank the engine for 5-10 seconds (it will make a wicked noise, and you should hear clear "pulses" as the rotors spin) and then turn the car off and let it sit. During the sitting time, clean one of the spark plugs - I used a leafblower, haha... just get excess deposits off of them and make sure they're dry, it's not so bad. Now, go in and crank it for a few more seconds, clean the next sparkplug, and repeat until all the spark plugs are done. When you're all done, reinsert the spark plugs and install the wires again.

Now, restab the crank angle sensor: This is a particularly annoying task, and it might take a few times to get it just right... directions are from Brian once again...
-First thing is to unscrew and remove that black cap that's on the top of the CAS
-once its off, you'll see the top of the shaft as well as the two trigger pickup points, each 180 degrees out from another
-From there, yank it out of the front cover
-Manually align the engine to the yellow marker on the crank pulley -- match the yellow marker (5 ATDC) up to the timing mark on the front cover - that is physically aligning the engine to 5 degrees past top dead center on the front rotor
-then, on the CAS, look at the gear at the base of the CAS for three dimples -- the center one will be above the outer two. Align the center dimple up to the alignment marker on the bottom of the CAS on its aluminum base.
- after it's aligned, look at it from the top -- the two trigger pickup points will be at 2:30 and 8:30 oclock, roughly. While using your thumbs to hold the shaft/trigger pickups inplace, re-insert the CAS
- once its in, rotate the CAS to where the pickups sit approximately 2:30 and 8:30

I'd print this out and have it handy, as it took me a while to get it right.

Good luck, I know how much of a pain it is to have a non-starting motor.

XS-Style

Goofy: would they be fouled already? I just installed them 2 days ago. Ive only tried cranking maybe a 10-15 times since.

Peachy: thanks man, Ill deffinately try anything to get this thing running again. Its starting to remind me why my last two ended up in the junkyard lol

Goofy

Could, depending on condition of flooding and how you tried starting it. Though I thnk a better bet is probably cleaning them off really well like peachy said.