Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Car wouldn't start, had to get it towed home

So my bro and I went to the store to get some things for dinner, take care of that, come out, and yeah you get the idea..

*sit in car* *turn key*

*starter does it's thing*

*no start*

#@(%&*%#@

It started up fine when I left! No fair!

I tried a few more times, gave a little on the gas to see if I could get it.. nope, smelt gas though wouldn't be surprised if I flooded the engine.

Or not, so we call a tow truck and it gets us home.

Grrr.

The tow truck guy suggested I give it a few more cranks anyway, when I did such he thought it sounded as if the starter wasn't working right (bad solenoids or just not catching on) -- sounds like a response to a post from here

Watcha guys think?

Dead battery would be my first guess. that or your tank was so low on gas it actually froze.

If only! Those are the simple ones!

The battery is rather new and has had plenty of opportunities to charge (I just drove the car across town and back -- put about 20-somewhat miles on it yesterday), and the tank was at least 1/3 of the way.

Thing's been a bit tough to start sometimes, gotta give it a little gas once you hear the engine start or it won't fire up. Dunno, there's still the EGR cleaning that needs to be done (not to mention I'm sure the plugs are dead even though my last mechanic [not the bad one] who checked the car said the spark plugs weren't the prob even though he did say they were worn out). Hrm.

I'll get out my jumper cable and grab the codes off it tomorrow maybe (If there are any new ones).

Timing Belt could have slipped (hope not). Crank or cam position sensor is a possible cause.

origional timing belt? How many miles? I know when my Timing belt snapped, if I tried to start it, all I could hear running is the starter, just a constant hummmm.

I'd love to think the timing belt was it, but I'm almost positive (I might even head outside in a second to double check this) that it's not. If it was, wouldn't the car have stalled while I was driving it there? It could have snapped in JUST the right timing.

I think it might have been something that's been a problem that finally gave in once I parked at the store and shut the car off -- it was a strange bit of driving that day because it was raining and the car had been noisy, then again it fired right up.

Funny one that was, I was driving to the store to pick my bro up (who had gone out earlier to the mall) and forgot my glasses (makes reading signs from far away a bit easier), so I went a few blocks, realized that, turned around and got em.

For some odd reason I left the car on when I went into the house, what it being cold and such I figured getting the car started again wouldn't be easy (sometimes it gets that way), haha if I had, I would have not left the house!

Anyway, the reason I mention all this is when I came back and was slowing down to turn into the driveway I thought I saw something like uh.. a quick burst of steam? I thought one of my headlight bulbs blew out, then figured it was just my imagination.

Could have been head gasket busted? For some dumb reason when the car wouldn't start at the store when I popped the hood (making sure the sparkplug wires were tight, etc) I checked the oil and noticed it was spread about way up the dipstick. Wiped it off, stuck it in, and still saw a few random spots that were halfway up O_o...

Of course, if that was the case, you'd think I'd have noticed while driving to the store -- which on that 2nd attempt (ahem, with glasses ), seemed very much normal (albeit the rain).

It could very well be timing belt though, the last time it was wet and I started the car, I heard something kinda like a silent "squeak" when the car fired up, I heard it this time too! [AHH! Belt slippage?!]

brb.

I didn't bother trying to start it (maybe I should but I don't feel like it), but here's some pics -- the belt's still there though.

http://www.talesmud.com/car/car.html

Last pic's a closeup of said belt, and I checked the spark plug cavities as well, they actually seem alright (vs the [censored] our first mechanic gave us about oil on the sparkplugs!) -- though I only checked 2, I'll check the other ones later.

The belt your showing in the pictures is the Serp belt , to check the timing belt just remove the plastic cover at the end of the rocker cover covering the cam gears (2 10mm bolts if i remember correctly). If the belt has snapped/stripped teeth it will sound like the motor is turning over faster than normal durning cranking.

This is the cover to remove (with F5 on it )
web page
Good Luck

I think you've got it!

I'll pull off that cover and check, but when the car would start normally (and hesitate while doing so), the part where the engine was starting to fire up would be faster than normal cranking).

I'll go ahead and pop that cover off and get back to ya.