Like an idiot, I drilled all the way through a plenum pan hole on intake after it stripped, thinking I cld put a wing nut on the inside to hold the bolt on. Bad idea, then I fixed threads, got a tight bolt in there and put some black gasket maker on bottom of hole, under bolt. Had no start problems ever since.
Could this be the reason and do Ineed to replace the intake manifold no matter what or wld the bolt being tight give it an airtight seal? Thanx for any help guyz.

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Vacuum leak won't give you a no start. You probably missed a connector/ground somewhere.

 

I checked to make sure all the grnds and connectors were bk intact numerous times. Tries to crank and turn over, sounds strong but I believe thr are 0 rpms on tach when trying to start. Does that mean a bad crank snsr?

 

If it ran good before you pulled the intake, but won't start now.... Then it is highly likely it is something you did in the process preventing it from starting. Did you do anything with the crank sensor during the work? Cam sensor? Is the temp sensor by the thermostat housing plugged in?

See what you are missing. Does the fuel pump prime when you first turn the key on? Are you getting spark? Adequate fuel pressure? Is the PCM firing the injectors?

 

Tested the crank snsr by turning crankshaft and it passed. It initially said cam snsr was bad but after repl cam sensor a few times, replacing it did not do anything for it, after it was running and driving fine for awhile.
Temp snsr was plugged in, possible it cm loose but pretty sure I alwayz checked it to make sure.
Anytime it wld not start, I cld not see a spark w light test, when I sat in driver seat and tried turning it over.
Gotta listen to fuel pump prime. Gotta test for spark again and see how I can test for fuel press, thr is no schrader valve along port rail. Gotta also see how i can test pcm firing injs.
It has been a nightmare since it last broke down.
Drove abt 40 mis, made a few stops then wldnt start after sitting at a rstrnt for an hr. Wld not start but started after i held gas pdl dwn, as I turned key. It coughed a little as it started, which is sthing it never did before. Drove it home and that was last time it started and ran. Engine has alwayz been strong.
I did add a valley pan in process of repl manifold gaskets but I dnt think it shld matter. When cranking, it sds like compression is strong, I think. Took it to a tire ctr and they worked on it for 11 hrs and cld not fig it out. Then had it towed to career ctr/HS who does free wk and they cld not fig it out when virus shut dwn the school.
Now, I am thinking of having it towed bk home and testing this stuff that I shlda tested before.

 

Yeah, drag it home so its more convenient to work on. You can rent "Noid lights" to test for injector pulse. Fuel pressure is gonna be a problem on the 97, plastic fuel rail... no test port. So, need a selection of adapters. (parts store *might* have it for rent....)

Something is getting hot, and failing.

 

Is it possible valley pan has something to do w it? Went to a hotter thermostat, OEM recc, than I had alwayz used also and repl oem ignxn coil w a cheaper yellow one that resembles an accel coil somewhere during these times. Orig ignxn coil had a crack in plastic housing on it. Cld cheap aftermarket coil be frying out components?

 

Probably not. More likely its a sensor, or the PCM itself that doesn't like heat...... Or it may be the coil itself..... Some of the aftermarket coils, including accell, and msd, were pretty famous for failing within a year or so there for a while.