My daughter's 2001 SL1 wont start and I'm hoping I can glean some info as to why. She's young and broke, so I'm trying to help her out. A couple of weeks ago she called and said her car was making a funny noise...she holds the phone up to the engine, and I can immediatelt hear that it has no oil. I tell her to turn it off...and her BF puts oil in it. I had serviced her car every 3000 miles until this last time...she took it to WalMart...so I'm not sure if they left the filter loose or what. Anyway, it appeared she dodged a bullet and all was going to be okay. She drove it for another week and then called me yesterday and said her car wouldn't start. I could hear it cranking....just not starting. I know on some vehicles the fuel pump won't kick on if there is not enough oil pressure.....not sure if that is the problem or not. The car has 100,000 miles on it....has ran flawlessly until now. Any ideas as to where to start.

 

Any other clues? Lights on? Cranking?


Not that I'll be much help since I'm new here... But I know that the others on here will ask so I figured I'd give a heads up...Edited by: GarrenNatas

 

Yep....has lights,power to accessories, cranks fine....like it hasno fuel. I'm just wondering if it might be related to her running it out of oil a week or so ago. Hope not.

 

Clogged fuel filter? And check the fuel line... My fuel line burst so it knew it had fuel in the tank, but there wasn't any going to the engine itself... Probably isn't the problem, but it's something to check until someone else gets on here to help you further...

 

The lack of oil pressure has no bearing on fuel pump operation and vice versa. Have the ignition key turned to ON/RUN only and listen for the sounds of the fuel pump whirring quietly, all accessories turned off. The fuel pumpwill runfor only a few seconds and then shut off as a safety feature.It can be done several times if necessary, turning the ignition key OFF and then to ON/RUN to listen for the fuel pump. Havingthe whirring sound indicates the pump is working. At 100,000 miles the fuel filter needs to be replaced but most likely isn't the cause of a no start problem. No pumping sounds may mean a fuel pump fuse or fuel pump relay is faulty. Replace the fuse and/or substitute the relay with a similar one to eliminate these items.


With assurances that the fuel pump is working an ignition problem may be the issue. Pulling the coil wires from the #2 and #4 coil towers and cranking the engine should produce sparks across the two coils. If there isn't any sparking at all then the most likely fault is the crank position sensor (CPS). This part is located behind and above the starter.

 

A little more info.....I'm told that when they are cranking the it over it sounds like it is going to start(like it is firing) but as as soon as they release ignition it stops. Ideas?

 

The engine may be flooded by too many starting attempts so the next step is to clear the engine if its flooded that interferes with ignition. Floor the gas pedal completely while cranking until the engine starts. Be sure the battery has a full charge. The wide-open-throttle enables the 'clear flood mode' of engine operation to prevent any more fuel injection during starting attempts. See if this works based on possible engine firing. The other alternative is to remove the spark plugs and cover the spark plug holes while cranking the engine for a few seconds to blow out any raw gas remaining in the cylinders.

 

Thanks Ducky....I know in the old days Mopars would do this same exact thing when the ballast resistors were bad. Also, I would think that if it was flooded that after sitting a few days it would start up. She's never had this problem b4, so hard to believe she'd flood the car twice....but who knows. Sure appreciate your ideas.





Danno

 

I told my daughters BF to turn on the key and listen for the fuel pump humming. He said he heard something, but that it was coming from under the hood.....not back by the gas tank. Any ideas what he may have been hearing. He's thinking the fuel pump is bad....I'm not as sure.....

 

Fuel pumps rarely fail as they're crucial to engine operations. They're dependable and if inoperative a very time consuming job to replace, another reason for their dependability. The 100,000 mile marker is a good reason for fuel filter replacement to eliminate filter restrictions from feeding the injectors by reducing fuel pressures.