this is about a honda accord but the troubleshooting should be similar.

 

the car wont start. and its not the battery or starter. the battery is full of life and can crank for a long time.

 

it is not my car so i dont know how long it was cranked for or how many times.

i think the longest crank was 10 seconds.

 

no fuses in the fuse box in the engine bay appeared blown.

 

 

if the fuel pump is working then the engine may be flooded. - what does that mean? whats the next step if that is true? how do

 

 

how do i test the coil pack? im guessing pop off one of the spark plug wires... and touch a positive multimeter to the coil and ground the negative side or to the negative terminal.. is that correct?

 

 

 

 

any other first things to look for when a car doesnt start?

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited February 12, 200917 yr by greenleg88

how do i test the coil pack? im guessing pop off one of the spark plug wires... and touch a positive multimeter to the coil and ground the negative side or to the negative terminal.. is that correct?

 

Only if your meter reads 75,000+ volts!

 

The old school method is to stick a screwdriver in the end of the plugwire, then lay it near the block or some other ground, crank the engine to see if you're getting a spark jumping from the screwdriver to ground. Coils are very high voltage! You don't want to be on the business end.

He is right, you want to be nowhere near the spark. I usually pull a plugwire and then a spark plug. Put the plug back in the wire and lay the plug on the engine or something metal. Have someone crank the engine and look for spark at the plug.

I would guess a sensor of some sort.

He is right, you want to be nowhere near the spark. I usually pull a plugwire and then a spark plug. Put the plug back in the wire and lay the plug on the engine or something metal. Have someone crank the engine and look for spark at the plug.

I would guess a sensor of some sort.

 

i used a piece of wire, one end inserted into the coil connector with the plug wire the other end near a ground. step back and crank it over. actually, before i did this i just removed the plug wire at the coil, the spark jumped to the manifold with out a problem. i could see and hear it.

hokay thanks for that little lesson then..

 

what about if the engine is flooded with fuel...

if pull a spark plug and its all wet from being over cranked..

then what needs to be done?

 

i guess ill either be getting spark or a flooded engine..

hokay thanks for that little lesson then..

 

what about if the engine is flooded with fuel...

if pull a spark plug and its all wet from being over cranked..

then what needs to be done?

 

i guess ill either be getting spark or a flooded engine..

 

i guess you can clear the 'flooding' by disconnecting the wires on the fuel injectors and then crank the engine.

 

if this is a subaru, i'd ask when was the timing belt done? does the car crank faster than normal? is the t-belt broken?

i guess you can clear the 'flooding' by disconnecting the wires on the fuel injectors and then crank the engine.

 

if this is a subaru, i'd ask when was the timing belt done? does the car crank faster than normal? is the t-belt broken?

 

hm aright.

 

its not a subaru. but it doesnt crank faster than normal. and i cant see.. i cant imagine it is.. the car was reported to have been running normal and it was parked for two days and now this..

If the engine is flooded it helps to also push the accelerator all the way to the floor and crank the engine. It opens the throttle body valve to let air in.

 

I suggest you first get a spare spark plug and place it in one of the plugwires and rest the plug body on a good engine ground. Then crank the engine to see if you have spark. If you do then try spraying some starter fluid into the intake and see if that fires the engine. If neither of these things work then you may want to do a compression test to see if something bad has happened.