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Engine over revved, will not start

G

gdk771

New CEG'er
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
19
Location
Loganville, GA
I was driving my ZTech 1996 Contour GL down a hill and decided to release the clutch to coast going around 55mph. When I hit the clutch, the cruise control did not disengage and redlined the engine to around 7500rpm. I immediately shut off cruise but the engine died. I could not get it to restart. I coasted off the road and towed it home. The engine turns over just fine but will not start. I checked the timing belt and it is OK. Both camshafts appear to be turning. I checked a spark plug and there is no spark when cranking. I checked the wiring harness going to the ignition coil and there is 12v on the middle pin of the connector with ignition on. I am assuming I either have a bad crank sensor or possible bad coil? Does anyone else have any ideas? Car was running fine before it over-revved. I don't know of any way to check the crank sensor. Is there any way to check a coil? I also removed power to reset the engine computer but this did not make any difference. Car had no trouble codes before I disconnected the battery.
 
check that your timing is correct, its possible that the timing belt jumped a tooth.

you can test the coil with an ohm meter. to test the primary side of each coil, check resistance between the 12v pin (center pin i believe) and each of the other pins. both sides should be between about .3 and 1 ohm. to check the secondary side just go between the 2 towers (1/4 and 2/3) and check the resistance, IIRC it should be between 12.8k and 13.1k ohms.
 
Almost guaranteed it's the timing. My friend did that in his zx2 on the highway,it died (bad alt) and he tried to kind of jumstart it. With an older belt its bound to jump, pull the valve cover off and see how non parrallel the grooves in the driver side end of the cams are off. His was off like 25*.
 
Wouldn't I get spark even with timing off?

Wouldn't I get spark even with timing off?

That is what has me stumped. I'll check the coil next. I would think even with the belt slipped off a tooth or so I would still get a spark when turning over the engine?
 
Well, I found the problem but...

Well, I found the problem but...

Coil checked OK. It was the crankshaft position sensor. The tip on the end is broken off. Which begs the question, WHAT HIT IT?? I am afraid to put a replacement one in until I can verify the same thing won't happen to my new one. Anyone ever had this happen before? Is there a magnet or something on the flywheel that might have come loose?
 
It's running now

It's running now

Replaced the crank sensor and it is running fine now. I guess the flywheel must have "flexed" at high RPM. Glad nothing else was damaged.
 
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