IG-Coil , "FI" , Dome , IGN ... FUSES ?
I presume your car is unmodified, or with some crazy insane alarm or remote start system.
If you don't do 60k mile tuneups, I can garantee you will be at no-start soon.
Prelimary:
Loss of Electrical power the the Cranking system , the battery must read 12.6v DC rested , indicated full charge.
Loss of ECU or Ignition Electrical power.
You can see what the professionals say here.(offsite) @AA1car.com
The Macro Reasons: ( 1 engine compression bad, 2 fuel flow or 3 spark loss) In NO ORDER ! Yes tune up first , yes check spark next !
- A Bad Engine (engine no longer pumps air properly) My main bad engine index page is here.
- Loss of spark (or timing of same)
- Loss of fuel (add some) Spark plugs are dry? The fuel pump or related problems are here. The fast pump page is here.
- Too much fuel (called flooding) are spark plugs black and wet with raw gas?, look at all 4 to 6 spark plugs? on all MPI Engine.
- The engine and starter, just wont crank over. (weak or dead battery )
- Bad fuel. (water in fuel from , fuel station?)
- Motor never tuned up, ran car for over 60K miles. Huh? Your kidding , right?
Micro reasons , solutions and tests and diagnosis: ( I cover this 4 ways) These 4 ways show different tactics for the context of the failure ( it ran yesterday, or youi found this car, in an old barn?)
- No start basics ( long play)
- No start found on road dead (F.O.R.D) assumes car was just running yesterday, and is now a NO START.
- No start for dummies (fits on 1 page)
- My engine only runs on test fuel Test fuel is gasoline you put in a squirt bottle, that you spray into the induciton or just buy some, in a can.
- Non easy start warm or hot engine. It does start, but is difficult.
Do not use starting fluid on a hot motor or with no spark, never spray for more than 3 seconds each crank period. Spray into the 16v EVAP nipple. (any induction nipple works)
Do not repeat the test fuel more than 3 times. (until you dry out the engine, if it DONT FIRE off and RUN)
If you dont like store bought test fuel?, then , by george, make your own. (squirt bottle and yes, gasoline put it inside, bingo!)
Wild man testing ( use at your own risk):
Beware of back fire USE PPE .(goggles , gloves and long sleeves)
Yes ,you can keep ENGINE running , with no fuel pump or carb! See this man doing JUST that, a Human CARB the camera is on the wrong side, he is just squirting gas in to intake ports.
Scott Kilmer Next Video, (a sharp guy) and hates alarms , as I do..... (we know them well ,just hate them , they are anti automobile devices) So, if you have an alarm, do defeat the bugger NOW.
Better, is this fine video.SCOTT ! Just be sure not to soak motor with 40 PSI fuel pressure during his, crack open the RAIL BANJO test (danger) (use 2 people, one cranks , other screams STOP !)
Scott assumes the motor is good. I NEVER ! (but it fuel and spark are good..... follow that lead)
Be aware the 89/90 only have fuel pressure cranking. (never key on) ( this same rules is true on some 1.8L Suzuki sports)
All other problems with the motor , look here.
Tools you will need. (besides metric wrenches and sockets)
Compression guage, vacuum guage, ignition timing light, a DMM digital multimeter and a fuel pressure guage. Harbor Freight has all these, dirt cheap. (so cheap they can be trashed after)
The tools are worth one hour labor in a shop, therefore in your hands they are free. See? ( assumes you have wrenches , naturally)
Hints:
The 1.6L 8 valve TBI motor you can watch injection.
You can see the cam spin with the oil filler cap removed (is it?)
You can test spark directly from the firewall mounted coil with a test spark plug, or in 96+ make up a test wire to the inside distributor High Voltage Coil, connected to that terminal. (cap off)
You can check the cam timing (low compression ?) by looking here.
You can check ignition timing with a test strobe light, if way off, then the cam belt has slipped. (use the timing freeze jumper first ) YOU CAN DO THAT CRANKING A DEAD MOTOR. !
If your fuel is full of water or the car sat for 6 years, not ever driven , you will need to clean the fuel system. Get help, it's not easy to do that. clean it , rear to the front and do not key the ignition on until it is all clean.
You can start any car with test fuel, if the sparks are dry. Did you look at all 4 spark plug tips , removed?
Intermittents:
Some Tracker - Sidekicks may run perfect then stall.
My Dies, web page tries to cover that topic.
rev 1 ++++ 3-13-2011