Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Do I need a new starter?

The car is a Contour GL 4 cyl with 164,000 miles and it is not starting. The car will crank but not turn over and it seems that you can make it want to turn over, but it just ends up falling out again. Would a new starter be able to help solve this problem. The smell of gas is noticed when trying to start the car and I have tried jumping it, but it does not help. The batt. is fine so I believe it is not this. A few other ideas I have read are the spark plugs or ignition system.

First let's define someting.

Cranking means turning the engine over. The starter motor turns the engine over. If the starter is working, the engine is turning over. If the engine is turning over, the starter and battery are working.

Saying that the engine does not turn over is saying that the starter is not working, the battery is dead, or the engine is siezed.

An engine cannot crank AND not rutn over.

It sounds like you are trying to say that the engine cranks but will not start or will not light off.

If that is what you are trying to say, a new starter would not help.

There are three basic reasons that an engine can crank and not start. 1st, lack of fuel reaching the cylinders. 2nd, lack of ignition spark to light the fuel. 3rd, lack of compression to compress the air/fuel mixture.

Possible problems:

1. Empty fuel tank, plugged fuel filter, bad fuel pump, something wrong with the fuel demand circitry including the computer and all that it entails.

2. Worn spark plugs, bad ignition coil, engine flooded with fuel so that the plugs are fouled, something wrong with the ignition control circuits including the computer and all that it entails.

3. Broken timing belt or belt that has jumped timing, worn out rings and cylinder walls, etc.

Thank you for informing me of my mistake, I just read other posts and used their terms thinking that they are correct.

Fuel tank is half full, fuel pump works fine, and the fuel demand is alright so number 1 is out.

I believe that my problem lies within number 2...

How would I check for:

Quote:

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Worn spark plugs, bad ignition coil, engine flooded with fuel so that the plugs are fouled, something wrong with the ignition control circuits including the computer and all that it entails.

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I believe it would be flooded because I can smell gas inside and outside the car while trying to start the engine.

I know that the timing belt is fine.

If the engine is flooded, shut off the injectors by holding the throttle wide open while cranking. It may clean up enough to fire up. Alternatively, pull the spark plugs and inspect them. See if they are covered with fuel. Clean them up with compressed air or ether (starting fluid). Hold the throttle wide open and crank with the plugs out to blow out as much fuel as possible then reinstall the plugs and try again. If the flooding washed down the cylinders so that the engine cranks super fast from lack of compression, it may help to squirt a small amount of oil in each cylinder before reinstalling the plugs to help regain compression.

If you are still not sure that there is fuel getting to the injectors, you should be able to find the schreader valve on the fuel rail. It looks a little like a tire valve stem to which it is related. After trying to start the car, remove the cap and depress the valve to see if you get a small squirt of fuel. If not, fuel pump and filter are in question.

To see if the injectors are getting a signal from the computer you need what is called a "noid light", a little test light that flashes when it gets a signal to inject. Don't try to use any other kind of test light or you may fry the computer.

Sometimes an engine will crank and not start because it is not getting enough air from the IAC (idle air control) being stuck shut. The test for this is if the engine starts by holding the throttle slightly open when cranking.

Before chasing fuel too far, it may help to confirm that you have ignition. You may already know this, but pull a plug wire off a plug, find a fairly long screwdriver that will make contact with the wire clip that attaches to the spark plug, attach the screwdriver to the wire clip, hold the bare screwdriver metal portion about 1/2" away from some metal part of the engine (but keep your hands off the metal part of the screwdriver), and have someone crank the engine while you check to see if you get a strong spark to jump from the screwdriver to the metal ground.

Have fun, this is only enough information to make you dangerous.