I have a '98 2.4 with 137,000 miles. It has been sitting for about a year and a half without running and without a battery in it.

It will stay running on starter fluid and carb cleaner , so I know it has spark.

I've tried the passlock reset procedure a few times, but the theft light on the dash does not always stay lit after a failed attempt to start it. When the theft light does stay lit, it has stayed on as long as 20 minutes without going out. I've tried re-synching the fob to the car and I have some suspicion that might have something to do with my problem.

I've taken off the fuel rail and pulled out an injector, and fuel pours out of the rail, so I'm fairly confident that the problem is not the fuel pump and/or fuel filter.

One really weird thing is that the gas gauge read less than 1/4, and I know that's all I had in it when it started sitting. I put 2 gallons in and now the gauge says full. Could that be an indication of a problem with the sender unit in the tank, and could that be the cause of my problem?

Has anyone had a similar problem? Can anyone think of something I'm overlooking?

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Since the car sat for a year and a half, my guess would be clogged fuel injectors since you say you have fuel as the rail. Chances are the fuel in the injectors varnished up and is keeping them from opening properly.

Can you get another set to test?

Maybe try removing the rail from the car and set it some sort of container and try and start the car, if you get gas, not your problem, if no gas, then you know.


"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"

I can give that a shot this weekend... I am not able to get another set of injectors to test, but your idea should be able to help me figure out for sure if the problem is under the hood or in the gas tank.

If fuel comes out of the rail with the injector disconnected, obviously the pump and filter are good enough. If there's no fuel at the rail, then I guess my next step is to disconnect the filter and see if the pump will at least push gas that far? Also, if I stick my head under the tank and have someone turn the key to on, I should be able to hear the pump whirring and/or clicking, right?

I have a lot more experience with carbs than fuel injection. Can I just soak the injectors in fresh fuel to try to un-clog them, or spray them with Gumout?

I've had decent results soaking injectors in sea foam for awhile and blowing them out with compressed air. You could also try soaking them in regular injector cleaner from your local auto parts.store.


"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"

Spiff. Thanks.

As it turns out, I might not be able to get to it for another week. At least when I do I have a game plan. I'll post when I have an update.

Have you checked you're fuel pressure on it? If its staying running with carb cleaner and the pump relay and wiring is good, then its more than likely the fuel pump.


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If I understand correctly the car starts and shuts off? Sounds like a pass lock problem, but check the above, fuel pressure, power to the pump etc.. The reason I say this is because we had a sunfire at work that took four or five tries to get the pass lock to reset.


- Your not-so-local, untrained, uncertified, backyard mechanic. But my @!#$ runs

Thanks everyone for the replies. I was able to mess around with the car more this weekend. Long story short: I'm pretty certain that it is the fuel pump, which is the last thing I was hoping it would be.

I pulled an injector out of the fuel rail and turned the key on and got nothing. In frustration, I tried banging on the bottom of the gas tank hoping maybe the pump was just stuck or something, but that got me nowhere.

I also tried swapping the relays for the a/c compressor and fuel pump, hoping maybe it was just a bad relay. After removing the cap of the relay, I could move it with my finger and get the a/c compressor clutch to cycle (a loud, clear click every time I pushed and released the relay while the key was on) but, when I moved it to the socket for the fuel pump and tried the same thing, I got nothing. No clicks from under the car, no whirring, nothing.

Is it common for a fuel pump to fail just from sitting for too long? Could I be lucky enough that it's just gummed up and a few good shots to the bottom of the tank with a mallet would fee it? I really don't think I have the patience to drop the gas tank and change the pump.

Oh, also, I checked to make sure all the plugs for the wiring back near the gas tank and fuel pump weren't loose or anything.

Can anybody think of anything that I could be overlooking, or anything else to try?