Need some help please.

[mollydog]

Here is the deal. I have a 2WD 1998 Astro. 77,000 miles. This morning I went out to start it and it cranked and cranked but it wouldn't start. I called mechanic and he wants $400 to replace spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, ignition coil, PCV valve. This hasn't been done on my car. My question is this, wouldn't I have had rough idling or trouble starting if these things were going bad? Also is it hard to do these things myself? I don't know were the spark plugs are. I think the distributor is behind the center console. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[ggcatt]

I would agree that you would likely have had some other problems (rough running, misfiring) if these parts were your problem. Having these repairs may be needed after 77K miles anyway, but probably won't solve the problem. You may be low on fuel, or the fuel filter is plugged, or you aren't getting fuel pressure to the engine (bad fuel pump). These problems are that uncommon. I'd check the fuel system first. Also, changing plugs on Astro's is doable, but not a snap. You normally have to remove the engine cover and work both on the top and underneath to get to all the plugs, with proper tools and extensions.

[tableman]

I agree, doing a tune up is not going to get the van started, something else is wrong. But you have to start with the basics, see if you have spark, then fuel, and go from there. If you don't feel comfortable doing it youself, take it to a garage that will fix the problem first.

[mollydog]

Okay, thanks for your replies. It actually was the dist. cap and rotor. Both bad. Very weird. On our Wrangler we knew exactly that it was time to change. As soon as it was changed, the car started right up. Removing the doghouse was a pain. We went ahead and replaced the plugs and wires also. I knew it wasn't the fuel pump. I just had the fuel filter changed a couple months ago and I could here the fuel pump for those couple seconds before it started. So the moral of this story is I guess you can wake up one day and have dist cap go out. The good news is with new spark plugs and wires and dist cap and rotor I should get better gas mileage.