Friends car won't start after I worked on it

[tinmanSC]

Ok, everyone who told me in this thread that I would get blamed for future car problems if I worked on a friends car... ok. you were right. I could use some help on the problem however.

This morning, 2 days after I worked on it, the car will not start. I went over there tonight and did some testing. The engine does crank over, he is getting spark, and he is getting air (compression is good ~150). I tracked it down to fuel delivery. The fuel pump relay is good, I have it here at my desk. However I cannot tell if the fuel pump is on or not. When turning the key, I can hear the ABS pump run for a second, but I can't hear the fuel pump. Now, I really don't know if it's running, it's kinda noisy by his house. I'm going to pick up a fuel pressure gauge tomorrow. Assuming the pressure gauge shows good pressure, what's my next step? It is not throwing any OBDII codes. I was reading online and this model seems some have an issue with the passlock security system getting confused and causing this problem, in those situations if I understand correctly the SECURITY light on the dash stays on after attempting to start the engine. In his case the light does go out.

One other thing, something "clicks" seemingly randomly under the hood. It's hard to localize. It sounds like it's coming from around the throttle body area. It clicks perhaps 1-2 times a second. No idea if this is related or if it was doing this before, the car didn't spend any time on but not started when I was working on it.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[tinmanSC]

Just an FYI, he did drive it and it worked fine for the 2 days since I worked on it. He put approximately 35 miles on it.

 

[The Critic]

Sounds like you have an idea as to what's going on - check for fuel delivery first. You seem to have all of the other items needed for an engine to run.

Sorry to hear that this happened. This is why I generally restrict myself to working on cars that are < 4 years old and are in above-avg shape.

 

[01rangerxl]

There should be a Schrader valve on the fuel rail. Take the cap off and press the valve stem down and see if fuel comes out. Be careful! It's under pressure and will spray out if it's in the rail, so have rags ready and wear eye protection. That will at least tell you if fuel is getting to the injectors or not.

 

[KB2008X]

Well, how about the year, make, model of vehicle and the engine ?

Before you go off on a search for the fuel problem, confirm that it is in fact not getting fuel. Starting fluid will do that. Unclip the air filter housing and spray some starting fluid (not too much) into the intake tube, stand back, then have someone start the engine right away. If it is not getting fuel it should run briefly on the starting fluid.

Do that before you do anything else.

Keith

 

[tinmanSC]

Sorry car type was in my other thread. It's a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am 3.4L V6 w/ 138,000 miles.

 

[tinmanSC]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
There should be a Schrader valve on the fuel rail. Take the cap off and press the valve stem down and see if fuel comes out. Be careful! It's under pressure and will spray out if it's in the rail, so have rags ready and wear eye protection. That will at least tell you if fuel is getting to the injectors or not.

I'm going to pick up a fuel pressure gauge tomorrow.

I can confirm that it's not getting fuel. The spark plugs were dry and when I hooked up a compression tester to it, then took the compressor gauge off the top and cranked the engine no fuel spray came out of the hose and it did not smell like fuel -- it's the poor man's fuel injector tester.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

No good deed.....

 

[INDYMAC]

Did you check to see if something got stuck/lodged in the throttle plate? You mentioned clicking sounds in that area. This happened to me once after I cleaned the MAF and throttle body. After I put the air intake back together, a plastic clip must have broke off from somewhere and got lodged in the throttle body. The car went into limp mode on the test drive with lots of lights flashing!

 

[grjr]

check that the gas tank isn't on empty, no seriously

 

[yonyon]

If the fuel pump isn't running:

-Make sure the immobilizer isn't shutting the pump off. If a worn ignition lock or discharged battery is telling the car you're trying to steal it you'll get no fuel.

-Try smacking the tank while someone cranks it over.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
If the fuel pump isn't running:

-Try smacking the tank while someone cranks it over.


Yep, that's what I was thinking as well.

 

[Virtuoso]

Are you sure what you're hearing is the ABS pump?

 

[meep]

some cars don't spin the abs pump until a certain speed is reached. chryco products test it at 7 mph.

inspect/reconnect to make sure cam pos sens and crnk pos sens are still plugged in with good contact.

sounds like injectors aren't shooting. check ALL fuses. May be able to probe for power on the injectors.

 

[mechtech2]

Spray starting fluid in the intake.
If it pops and runs a bit, you know what half to concentrate on [fuel system].

 

[tinmanSC]

Originally Posted By: meep
some cars don't spin the abs pump until a certain speed is reached. chryco products test it at 7 mph.

inspect/reconnect to make sure cam pos sens and crnk pos sens are still plugged in with good contact.

sounds like injectors aren't shooting. check ALL fuses. May be able to probe for power on the injectors.

I just got back from his house, sure enough, it was the crank position sensor plug. I took the plug off, cleaned it out and all is well. Strangely, it did not throw a crank sensor OBDII code, but after plugging the connector back in it started right up. One assumes that after 3 weeks of leaky water pump, which is just above the clip, it was contaminated with coolant. At least it's fixed and running!