99 cranks but won't start

[car3345]

I have a 99 Windstar, 3.8 liter that cranks great but will not start. Plugs and wires are new, fuel pump runs when key is turned, fuel rail is pressurized. It appears that the engine easily floods. Pulled all plugs and replaced with new but still will not start. The old plugs were very wet with gas. Did not check for spark, but engine occasionally tries to fire but will not. Any ideas?

[Airjer_]

Check for spark

[12Ounce]

Well, you haven't given us any history ... or any precursors...codes. ?? So you want a wild guess or two, here are mine:

1. Cam positioner sensor synchronizer way out of position.

2. PCM or fuel pump relays bad.

..... I've got a few thousand more. Do you have any more info so we can narrow it down?

[12Ounce]

Didn't mean to write in a sour note ... what I mean is, what is the recent history?

.... was the vehicle running well and then suddenly would not start?

.... why were the plugs and wires changed? Because of bad running? No running? Routine maintanence? By whom?

.... what is the overall condition of the vehicle? Not known? etc, etc, ....

[car3345]

Sorry I did not get back sooner but I have been working on van. I purchased van from co-worker a few months ago. Van is in very good condition and has 140K miles. It ran great yesterday morning for wife but would not start in the late afternoon. I tried when I got home, cranked great, would not fire, could smell gas and see gray/black smoke coming from exhaust. Plugs and wires were original so needed to be changed. Old plugs were saturated with gas. Installed new plugs and wires but still would not fire over. Today when I got home tried again but same thing. I removed #6 plug, it was saturated in gas also, and had wife crank, spark was great and engine started right up. Had her shut off immediately, installed plug back in and van started up easily and is now running great everytime. No codes stored???

[12Ounce]

Try testing system voltage ... should be 14 volts while idling. Replace PCM and Fuel pump relays .... near battery. Use new relays.

[car3345]

12 ounce, thanks for all of your help. It would start right up and idle great so I thought that it was now running good also. But when I tried to accelerate, it had low power at part throttle but would start running better at half throttle and above. It finally tripped a code for mass air flow sensor. Picked one up at junk yard and now it is running strong.

[12Ounce]

Good ... and that may be the end of it. Hope so. But if you ever get a chance to pick up the plastilc synchronizer timing tool ... check out the cam pos sensor timing. Do your homework first.