Help! Suddenly It Won't Start! !@@#$_)(&!! S _ _ _!

[Donne Trav]

Drove it Saturday morning, everything fine & normal. Absolutely no
warning or sign of any problems. Park it until this Monday evening. Went to start it and the starter just kept turning and turning and turning! When I shut it off, the engine "sputtered" a while and stopped. This happened each time I tried to start the car. It did rain over the weekend and earlier today (Monday). Rain & dampness has never caused a problem in the past. I don't have a clue as to why this is happening. Can someone
please explain. Thanks.

 

[laurence spillman]

hard starting

Drove it Saturday morning, everything fine & normal. Absolutely no
warning or sign of any problems. Park it until this Monday evening. Went to start it and the starter just kept turning and turning and turning! When I shut it off, the engine "sputtered" a while and stopped. This happened each time I tried to start the car. It did rain over the weekend and earlier today (Monday). Rain & dampness has never caused a problem in the past. I don't have a clue as to why this is happening. Can someone
please explain. Thanks.

You may have moisture in the distributer cap WD 40 will solve that also if your plug wires are old they may short out on metal or motor.you could also have water in the fuel tank,theres no quick answer you will ha

 

[Highway Man]

I can relate

Drove it Saturday morning, everything fine & normal. Absolutely no
warning or sign of any problems. Park it until this Monday evening. Went to start it and the starter just kept turning and turning and turning! When I shut it off, the engine "sputtered" a while and stopped. This happened each time I tried to start the car. It did rain over the weekend and earlier today (Monday). Rain & dampness has never caused a problem in the past. I don't have a clue as to why this is happening. Can someone
please explain. Thanks.

I recently experience the same thing with my 92. It quit all at once. As others before me have stated the car has to have three things to run air, spark, and fuel. If you haven't added new gas to the car you can probably rule out bad fuel if you have been driving on you current gas for awhile. The next thing I would check is the fuel system. Listen to see if the fuel pump is priming the system when you turn the key on. If it is go to your auto parts store and get a fuel pressure tester and check your fuel pressure. I was able to rent one and do the job. Its easy. On mine there is a valve on the right side fuel rail that looks like a valve on a tire. Not only check pressure when you first turn the key to on without trying to start but look to see if the pressure holds or bleeds off. It should hold with maybe just a little drop but probably no more than three or four pounds of pressure. If it drops suddenly that would indicate a problem in the fuel system. Now have someone crank it and see what happens to the fuel pressure. It may drop a little more but should hold a steady pressure. If it doesn't that indicates again a problem in the fuel system. If that checks out check the ignition system for fire. I went to my auto parts store and got a noid light to check for fire to my injectors and check more than just one injector. Hook the noid light up to the injector plug and try and start the car. If the noid light flashes regularly it indicates fire to the engine. If it doesn't then go the next step back and check your plug and coil wires for damage that maybe causing the fire to ground out. If they look okay you can take your ignition control module to your auto parts store and have it checked to see if it is good. For me that was where my problem was. I would write more but I've got an appointment and I've gotta go but this will get you off to a start. Good luck!

 

[vetteboy86]

Yep process of elimination. I had a similiar circumstance. Car was running great, put it away for a few days fire it up, and it is missing. Always start with the easiest simplest fix. I found that I had a plug wire that was resting against the drivers side header, and actually burned thru and was arcing to the metal surface. Repaired the plug wire, and all was well again.

 

[Highway Man]

From where I left off

Okay I'm back. If the ignition control module checks out it could be the coil has gone bad. I could be all wrong on this statement but I have seen things like this before and that is that people always want to jump on the opti-spark. Like any manufactured item it is subject to failure. So far mine hasn't given me any trouble (knock on wood). Like another person wrote start with the small things and work your way up. Oh by the way the day my car wouldn't start we had gotten rain for two solid days and the morning dew was so heavy it looked like it had rained yet it had no apparent effect on the opti. I have learned that there are a lot of variables on these cars and it just takes time to look. Sometimes its better to if a person feels themselves getting frustrated and don't feel like they are making any progress is to just take it to a reputable shop and let someone else fix it. I've done a few jobs I wish I hadn't and some I wish I had. My .02