Well i was driving my car and it just broke down on me. well it just cut out on me and when i pulled over it died. now it wont start. when you try to start it it just sounds like a sewing machine then back fires. my neighbor sound it sounds like a timing issue but i checked the timing the best i could. all the marks line up. any help would be great. i kinda love this car. i dont want to have to take it to a shop. cause i dont have that kind of money right now. cause i would have to tow it there, then back, and pay for a diagnostics fee. personally im thinking about just slapping a new motor in it. but if this is a minor fix then ill do it.

What else is going on with it?

Where there any CEL's showing? Are you sure you're getting enough fuel? Or if the fuel is good?

check spark, fuel and compression, gotta have all 3 or a car won't run.

Pull the plugs out and try to crank to see if there alive. Smell the cylinder for gas. Rent a compression tester from a local shop, total cost for what the dealership will do is free.

My assumption would be that a coil went bad and your not getting any spark in one or more cylinders.

Another possibility is the fuel filter is all clogged up and needs to be replaced.

Only 3 things that I can think of to cause it just to die are:
empty tank
no spark (plugs, coil, wires), coil is the only thing i know of that would just cause it to die.
clogged fuel filter


-Chris

Well i just checked for spark. Spark is good. Doesnt really look strong enough to me though.
I took off the tube for my intake. Its sucking air.
I can smell fuel under the hood.
No codes have been thrown.


I dont know what else to check for

I really need help here

IamRascal wrote:check spark, fuel and compression, gotta have all 3 or a car won't run.

This is sound advice. On mine it cracked the head and lost compression on two cylinders and it had the same symtoms as you discribe. Replacing a head is actually pretty easy.

Are you leaking anything? How bad is the fuel smell? You should not be able to noticably smell it with just the hood open. Right? Somebody back me up on this.

I would check the fuel injectors and FPR on the right end of your fuel rail for leaks...

Well i had the head milled recently. because i had an over heat and the head warped. i had the head re-surfaced. they said there was a minor crack that they couldn't fix. so they told me to add some crap that would seal any minor cracks. so i reinstalled the head and it ran fine for atleast 7 months or more. i hadn't had any problems since then til now. i changed the oil and there was no oil in the coolant. but i guess that doesn't mean that it ain't cracked any where else huh?

Can i check the compression myself? i dont think i can but not sure.


is there a way to check to see if im getting enough spark from the coil packs?

You can check your compression yourself and I belive it's a kit that is relativley cheap form an auto parts store....but sadly I'm not sure how you do it.

I thought you just removed one of the spark plugs and something screws into there but ask one of the guys at the parts store they should be able to give you a rought idea. Not sure if you run the engine like that though.

Sorry wish I knew more....