Acclaim cranks but won't start

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Tom Del Rosso - 16 May 2005 23:16 GMT

Any suggestions please.

1992 Plymouth Acclaim cranks strong -- battery at 12.5 volts -- but won't
start. Hasn't been started for 36 hours before discovery of the problem.
Engine code is 55. Fuel filter is several years old. Alternator is new.
Timing belt and muffler are fairly new.

I'm going to go check the tailpipe to see if somebody put a potato in it.

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Shep - 17 May 2005 00:26 GMT

Uh, any spark or fuel to the injectors?

> Any suggestions please.
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> I'm going to go check the tailpipe to see if somebody put a potato in it.

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Tom Del Rosso - 17 May 2005 00:54 GMT

> Uh, any spark or fuel to the injectors?

Thanks, but I never checked a fuel injector before. Is access fairly easy?

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Daniel J. Stern - 17 May 2005 15:42 GMT

"Tom Del Rosso" <ng01@att.net.invalid> wrote:

> 1992 Plymouth Acclaim cranks strong -- battery at 12.5 volts -- but
> won't start. Hasn't been started for 36 hours before discovery of the
> problem. Engine code is 55. Fuel filter is several years old.
> Alternator is new. Timing belt and muffler are fairly new.

Disconnect the battery for 2 minutes, reconnect it, crank the engine and
then re-check the codes. If you see an 11, your distributor pickup is in
need of replacement. A fuel filter that is "several years old" is very
likely in dire need of replacement. And you can check the fuel injector by
removing the air cleaner assembly and peering down the throttle body
throat while someone else cranks the engine. You should see atomized
gasoline hitting the throttle plate.

DS

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Tom Del Rosso - 17 May 2005 16:34 GMT

> Disconnect the battery for 2 minutes, reconnect it, crank the engine and
> then re-check the codes. If you see an 11, your distributor pickup is in
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> throat while someone else cranks the engine. You should see atomized
> gasoline hitting the throttle plate.

Thanks. I see here that 11 is sometimes much worse.

http://www.allpar.com/fix/80s-codes.html
11 No ignition reference signal detected during cranking (bad Hall effect)
OR timing belt skipped one or more teeth; OR loss of either camshaft or
crankshaft position sensor. Can cause the engine to stop working entirely
with no limp-home mode.

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Daniel J. Stern - 17 May 2005 16:40 GMT

> > Disconnect the battery for 2 minutes, reconnect it, crank the engine
> > and then re-check the codes. If you see an 11, your distributor pickup
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Thanks. I see here that 11 is sometimes much worse.

> http://www.allpar.com/fix/80s-codes.html
> 11 No ignition reference signal detected during cranking (bad Hall effect)
> OR timing belt skipped one or more teeth; OR loss of either camshaft or
> crankshaft position sensor. Can cause the engine to stop working entirely
> with no limp-home mode.

Don't scare yourself with unlikely scenarios.

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ed - 17 May 2005 16:46 GMT

or....
pull the dirstibutor cap and have someone crank it. Make sure your
distributor is even rotating to make sure your timing belt is at least
intact.
then.... if it is, (maybe look inside the cap make sure its decent) put the
cap back, take a can of ether (starting fluid), spray it in the air breather
for a couple seconds then crank 'er.

If she sounds like she wants to start, then you have spark at least. It may
even run for a second or two. I think I'd try that for a $1.69 first. If
it runs for the few seconds, you have a fuel problem. If it wont run on
ether you at LEAST have an electrical (spark) problem, most likely not
injectors.

my .02

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