95 Stratus won't start
#1
09-04-2011, 08:52 PM
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95 Stratus won't start
95 Stratus ES 2.5L v6
So my daughter is driving home on the highway last night and according to her she said it’s like the gas pedal became disconnected. The car just started slowing down regardless of where the gas pedal was. Car was in gear and she could feel it shifting down as the car slowed down. She could hear the motor idling But was unresponsive to the gas pedal. No CEL or any other lights came on. She pulled over and put the car in park, motor still running. She then turn the motor off and waited a couple of minutes then tried to start the car. It now won’t start. Had it towed to my place and here is what I see: obviously the gas pedal is connected and nothing appears to be wrong with it. Car turns over find but doesn’t even give a hint of starting. I have NO spark at the plugs. I can hear the fuel pump but haven’t checked pressure at the rail. (leaning toward the no spark issue first)
Thinking it was the Distributor I went to the wreakers and replaced the distributor, cap, and rotor. I believe the camshaft sensor is in there to. Still won’t start. (I know, counting on the distributor from the wreakers was good to begin with.)
What else could cause this problem? Computer? TPS?
Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.
So my daughter is driving home on the highway last night and according to her she said it’s like the gas pedal became disconnected. The car just started slowing down regardless of where the gas pedal was. Car was in gear and she could feel it shifting down as the car slowed down. She could hear the motor idling But was unresponsive to the gas pedal. No CEL or any other lights came on. She pulled over and put the car in park, motor still running. She then turn the motor off and waited a couple of minutes then tried to start the car. It now won’t start. Had it towed to my place and here is what I see: obviously the gas pedal is connected and nothing appears to be wrong with it. Car turns over find but doesn’t even give a hint of starting. I have NO spark at the plugs. I can hear the fuel pump but haven’t checked pressure at the rail. (leaning toward the no spark issue first)
Thinking it was the Distributor I went to the wreakers and replaced the distributor, cap, and rotor. I believe the camshaft sensor is in there to. Still won’t start. (I know, counting on the distributor from the wreakers was good to begin with.)
What else could cause this problem? Computer? TPS?
Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.
#4
09-05-2011, 09:04 PM
Join Date: Sep 2011
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thanks for the replys
bad venge:
i can hear the ASD relay clicking, I pulled it out and tested it, it's fine, also tested the relay socket for voltage and ground and apears to be working correctly.
I can hear the fuel pump turn on for a second or so when i turn the key on. (tested the fuel pump relay and socket while testing the ASD relay, it to is fine) I need a special adapter for my pressure tester to test the fuel rail pressure, plan on doing that tomorrow.
master tech:
I removed the front three plugs and they look very good.
any other sugestions?
is there a way to bench test the distributor/camsaft sensor or is there any other sensor that would be causing this?
thanks in advance
bad venge:
i can hear the ASD relay clicking, I pulled it out and tested it, it's fine, also tested the relay socket for voltage and ground and apears to be working correctly.
I can hear the fuel pump turn on for a second or so when i turn the key on. (tested the fuel pump relay and socket while testing the ASD relay, it to is fine) I need a special adapter for my pressure tester to test the fuel rail pressure, plan on doing that tomorrow.
master tech:
I removed the front three plugs and they look very good.
any other sugestions?
is there a way to bench test the distributor/camsaft sensor or is there any other sensor that would be causing this?
thanks in advance
#5
09-11-2011, 09:23 PM
Join Date: Sep 2011
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Follow up:
The problem ended up being a faulty crankshaft positioning sensor.
This threw me for a loop because, from what I’ve read, when you first turn the key on, the PCM turns on the ASD relay sending power to the distributor and the fuel pump. Then the PCM cuts power to the ASD because it does not receive a signal from the crankshaft and camshaft sensors (because the motor is not turning). Then when you turn the key further and start cranking the motor over, the PCM receives signals from both the crankshaft and camshaft sensors and turns on the ASD relay again. I could see this by hooking a test light up to the ASD input wire on the distributor, turn the key on and the test light lit up for a second, then when cranking the motor the test light came back on and stayed on as long as the motor was cranking. Telling me both the ASD relay, camshaft and crankshaft sensor were working. I only found the problem when I started testing all the circuits and sensors separately. The crankshaft sensor was producing no signal. I pulled it out and tested it again and it started producing a signal, taking no chances I replaced it and whola she fired right up.
Hope this helps someone in the future.
The problem ended up being a faulty crankshaft positioning sensor.
This threw me for a loop because, from what I’ve read, when you first turn the key on, the PCM turns on the ASD relay sending power to the distributor and the fuel pump. Then the PCM cuts power to the ASD because it does not receive a signal from the crankshaft and camshaft sensors (because the motor is not turning). Then when you turn the key further and start cranking the motor over, the PCM receives signals from both the crankshaft and camshaft sensors and turns on the ASD relay again. I could see this by hooking a test light up to the ASD input wire on the distributor, turn the key on and the test light lit up for a second, then when cranking the motor the test light came back on and stayed on as long as the motor was cranking. Telling me both the ASD relay, camshaft and crankshaft sensor were working. I only found the problem when I started testing all the circuits and sensors separately. The crankshaft sensor was producing no signal. I pulled it out and tested it again and it started producing a signal, taking no chances I replaced it and whola she fired right up.
Hope this helps someone in the future.
