Last time I drove my Car the Check Engine Light was on. Now when i went to start my car up, it ran, sputtered, and died. Since then i havnt been able to start the car. I was wondering if anyone could point me to a few things to check, so i could possibly at least get the car running so i can take it somewhere, or is this to vauge of a problem? Any advice would be appriciated, i dont want to have to get towed.

does the radio and or lights work? if theres no power at all then your batteries disconected, dead, or drained. Second if thats not the case can you hear the starter trying to turn over(engine sound). If you have lights but no starter sound then its your starter. There are other possibilities maybe your fuel pump died...it may have been diying thats why it was sputtering then it crapped out or maybe a bad ecu.

The battery and starter seems to be fine, the engine cranks, but just never starts. I think the fuel pump is working to, becasue you can hear the engine fire periodically as you crank it, it just never actually runs.

How's the Fuel Filter?


Alont

Fuel, air, ignition source. Is your air filter clean & no obstructions? Do you have a good spark at each cylinder? Is the fuel pressure within specifications? If all these are good, your car should start unless you have a timing issue. Good luck.

You need to figure out why the CEL was on. Get or borrow a scanner and see what it's seeing. That will probably give you some indication of what the problem is.

Brian

Quickest and cheapest way is like forcefed said, get a scanner and check it. If you cant do that learn to make good friends with those wearing Advance Auto or Napa shirts lol.

I root for the underdog...figured I might as well be one

Seriously should be able to run to Advance and get them to scan it get a general idea then see if they'll help you troubleshoot it without buying a bunch of parts ya know just ask nicely if you can try a plug here a coil wire there without gettin charged hopefully theyll be cool

I root for the underdog...figured I might as well be one

I live in a real small town, since the car dosnt run at all now and is in my driveway, i will have to have it towed a pretty long distance just to get the code read, unfortunatly, it looks like i may end up doin that. Thanks for all the suggestions tho.

Brad, If you have a weak spark, it could indicate a bad or poor ground. Good luck.

Brad

do you know when the Fuel Filter was last changed?

You say the car fires periodically but doesn't actually continue running.

A new fuel filter would not be too expensive or hard to fit and may well be your problem.

It may save the cost of a tow.

The car does fire sometimes so I would guess the ignition is OK.

Hope this helps


Alont

Do you guys have any type of "keydance" thing to read the computer? Like on my eclipse, you can turn the key on, then off, then on, then off....blah blah and it blinks the CEL? It's not as specific as one of the Pxxx numbers, but it's a start.


Brian

no all we have is the scanner but i agree with alont, check your fuel filter





04 Cav 2.2 Ecotec