First off its a 96 Sunfire SE. ive noticed it starts perfect in dry weather but sometimes if it sits for a day and its raining out it will crank crank crank and finally turn on after alittle while longer than normal..
ive only had trouble starting it in damp and rainy weather. and now its raining out and i decided to drive the sunfire and it just keeps cranking but wont kick over.. it gives an occasional putt putt but doesnt turn on and if i hold it to long i smell gasoline.
any suggestions?
EDIT: i can hear, wat i believe to be, the fuel pump turn on when i turn the key to the on position
Gonna say plug wires possibly.
2009 Ford Mustang V6
well i when out to check for spark and it has spark.. pulled the last plug wire on the driver side and stuck a screwdriver in it and it made spark against metal while cranking..
so i plugged the wire back in and got in the car to try and start it again. crank crank crank crank putt crank crank putt crank putt putt putt crank crank putt putt crank putt putt putt putt putt putt putt and it finally started so i gave it alittle gas to keep it going and then it ran fine. so i drove it around for alittle while and it drives fine and starts right back up if i turn it off.
but i just know its gonna do it again tomorrow after sitting in the rain overnight
anymore suggestions out there?
do a compression test while cold.also, just because it sparks against metal doesnt mean the spark is strong enough to light off the compressed fuel air mixture.
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My 96 2.2 did the same thing. No start in wet weather
Do you have an intake on it? I had a @!#$ty filter when it happened to mine.
good suggestions guys.. no intake just the stock airbox, but it cant hurt to put in a clean air filter cause idk when it was last replaced. if that doesnt work ill do a compression test
Idk if that would be the problem. All I know is since I replaced my @!#$ty old apc cone with the K&N, it has stopped.
My main focus would be the ignition system when it's running after it's warmed up, take a spray bottle and spay around the wires and the coil, see if the car starts to misfire any.
2009 Ford Mustang V6
cool.. for a few bucks, any little thing like that is worth a try.. the thing is i dont drive it everyday even tho its my DD. i will be driving it more now that winter is coming and the corvette is tucked away in the garage, so i wanna have it starting/running good.
XtremeTRD wrote:My main focus would be the ignition system when it's running after it's warmed up, take a spray bottle and spay around the wires and the coil, see if the car starts to misfire any.
ok but once the car finally starts, it runs and drives fine even in the rain.. the problem is actually getting it started, but i will try this also..
how hard is it to get to the distributor on these cars?
You don't utilize a distributor, you run a DIS "Distributorless Ignition System" So it runs 2 seperate coil packs which should be on the back side of the engine under the intake manifold. Being as your car is a 96, I have heard of the metal plates that the coil packs sit on rusting causing ignition issues as well. I would just look over everything really well and see what you have to work with.
2009 Ford Mustang V6
XtremeTRD wrote:You don't utilize a distributor, you run a DIS "Distributorless Ignition System" So it runs 2 seperate coil packs which should be on the back side of the engine under the intake manifold. Being as your car is a 96, I have heard of the metal plates that the coil packs sit on rusting causing ignition issues as well. I would just look over everything really well and see what you have to work with.
good to know, thanx u... so I've gotta remove the intake manifold to work on it.. I figured as much when I followed the wires back and they went underneath. it was night time so I couldn't see wat they went to.
hmmm Im very interested in this also, my 97 sunfire does the same, but it does start, sets a CEL for the cam and crank sensor (CKP is brand new) and runs rough, and sometimes wont start at all, so im going to follow this post!
SC454SS wrote:XtremeTRD wrote:You don't utilize a distributor, you run a DIS "Distributorless Ignition System" So it runs 2 seperate coil packs which should be on the back side of the engine under the intake manifold. Being as your car is a 96, I have heard of the metal plates that the coil packs sit on rusting causing ignition issues as well. I would just look over everything really well and see what you have to work with.
good to know, thanx u... so I've gotta remove the intake manifold to work on it.. I figured as much when I followed the wires back and they went underneath. it was night time so I couldn't see wat they went to.
I'm a few days late but no, don't remove the intake, that's a heck of a job. You reach the coil by going into contortions from under the car. They are on the firewall side of the block behind #3 and #4 cylinder up near the head/block joint. A bear to reach, tougher to work on!!
My first guess is the coils have gone weak, I'd replace them both (fairly cheap) and put on new plug wires while you are at it. They are so hard to work on you don't want to do it twice. The ignition module they sit on, while they do go bad, rarely go. The coils are marked differently, 2 4 and 1 3. Don't mix thing up! They have two screws and plug into a plug on the mounting plate which is also the ignition module.
Dave
well, not starting in the rain, lets think. fuel is there(or at least the pump is audible), so the next thing we need is air. just for the heck of it, check to make sure your filter is clean(but that's not the problem). ok, so, we have everything after the pump to test still, and the ignition. which is easier? IGNITION! it doesn't even have to be while its running, just have a friend crank the car, and spray all over the engine with a fine mist of water. something in your secondary is grounding out. could be a plug went bad, could be wire, could be coil(but i lean more towards wires). thats your problem. find the bad spot on the ignition, and you're all good. probably a common problem...good idea to remember this one. no start in rain, just cranks, but starts fine in dry. SECONDARY IGNITION IS THE FIRST THING TO CHECK! let us know what happens
