Ok so my 99 chevy S-10 pickup 4 cylinder, 2.2L, broke down.
Alright upon inspection I found radiator fluid in my oil, so i replaced the headgasket, (it was a bitch!) Alright got it all put back together replaced plugs and wires. And the damn thing wouldn’t start, the motor cranks, starter engages and there is gasoline reaching the engine.(this is the same behavior it exibited before i did any work on it) So I pulled off the ignition coils and ignition control module and had them tested, coils were good, module was bad, so i bought a new one of those and put it on.
Now heres the kicker, stupid thing still won’t start, its doing the same thing, cranks,starter engages, serpentine belt moves but engine will not fire, I havc already checked the fuel pump and its working and I replaced the fuel filter. Plugs are gapped right and the wires are installed properly.
Any sputtering or any sign of combustion whatsoever?
If you’ve verified fuel in the cylinder but don’t hear any sputtering, I think its still sounds like an ignition fault.
Seriously though, have you been able to pull any codes from the computer? You may still have a funky ignition problem. And are you sure that gas is getting to the engine? A fuel pump relay went out one of my cars, and it was one of the last things I checked.
Ok, to get your truck to run you need three things:
Fuel
Air
Spark
You need those three things at the right place, at the right time, and in the right amount.
Fuel:
You said gas is getting to the engine, is it getting into the engine? Are the injectors clicking and spraying? Hold your hand on the injectors and have someone crank the engine. Do you feel them click? If you don’t, you probably have a problem with either the power supply or ignition primary (Injectors don’t come on until engine RPM is detected, therefore if you have no injection, you need to check the RPM sensor.)
There are some additional test for fuel pressure and the like, but we will leave those for later.
Spark:
Have you checked to see if the plugs are sparking? No spark, no start. Also I believe that this is an overheard cam engine. Are you 100% sure, as in you would bet your life on it, you got the cam timing right when you reassembled the engine? If the cam is out of time, the engine may not start. If the cam is far enough out of time you can bend the valves, and I guarantee it won’t start.
Air:
Did you get all of the hoses and air trunks re-installed correctly?
In addition: Why did the head gasket blow? If it was from overheating, you might have killed the engine coolant temp sensor. If the ECT is reading wrong, the car won’t start. Also are you 100% sure you got all the various sensors re-connected correctly? I have seen pros screw this up, so it won’t hurt to recheck this stuff.
Alright i just took a look at some stuff, i’m getting a pretty large spark from the electrical connections to the starter whenever it cranks, i’m thinking the wires may have come loose and i’m losing juice, i just hope there isn’t a short and i just fried my brand new ignition control module.
Starter is bolted up tight, its two dark for me to mess with the wiring though right now, the starter is engaging it just seems like it is not turning the engine over fast enough to start the motor.
That’s not what Rick was talking about when he queried spark. He wants to know if a spark plug, connected to the ignition wiring is producing spark at the grounded plug electrode when the engine is cranked.
“That’s not what Rick was talking about when he queried spark. He wants to know if a spark plug, connected to the ignition wiring is producing spark at the grounded plug electrode when the engine is cranked.”
I know that remember i did change a head gasket myself…i was saying there are sparks coming off the wires of my starter and i think i am losing charge there
Ok got an update, i was informed that if the crankshaft sensor were bad than it will prevent the ignition control module from sending fire to the the plugs so i pulled the sensor i don’t know if it is bad or not/
There are two ways to find out. One is to test the sensor with appropriate equipment (ohmmeter, oscilloscope). The other is to replace it. Testing by parts replacement is cheap if you guess right. It can get very expensive if you guess wrong.
But backing up a step, have you checked for spark going to the plugs? That’s the first thing I would test. If it’s present, then I would see if the engine will start on ether. There’s about a 98% probability that it’s lacking spark and/or fuel to the cylinders, but that incorporates a long list of possible faults. Without testing those systems and their components, it’s all guesswork.
Go back and read post #7.
Then check these three things.
If you pull out a spark plug, hold it against the engine, and have someone crank the engine it should spark. If it does not spark it might be the RPM sensor. Then again it could be something else.
Again if the injectors spray, while cranking the RPM sensor is doing it job. If the injectors don’t spray it could be the RPM sensor or it could be something else.
Also check the fuel pump and see if it runs during crank. Again no pump could be an RPM sensor. (I seem to recall that some GM cars don’t turn on the fuel pump until oil pressure reaches a minimum value)
The reason I told you to check all three of these things is that any one of them could be caused by a different failure. If all three point to a failed RPM sensor, it is more likely to be a failed sensor (it could still be a wiring or bad connection issue)
Did you go back and recheck all of your connections and cam timing?
