95 taurus crank no start

[boostedtbird]

i hav a crank no start condition on a 95 ford taurus with the 3.0 ohv v6.cranks fine and it has new battery. have good strong spark at each spark plug . plugs , wires, cap, rotor, and coil were replaced about 3 months ago due to weak spark condition.ran good for 3 months until 2 days ago when car died while on highway, and would no longer start.checked for spark, good at each plug, checked fuel pressure at fuel rail, 38 psi. and i can hear the injectors clicking normally by using a long screw driver while having someone crank the engine.checked compression at each cylinder, they're all between 120 and 130 psi.not sure of where it should be but im sure this is enough compression so that it should start.any one hav sum advice it would be greatly appreciated

[shorod]

After cranking the car for awhile, pull a few plugs and check to see if they are wet. If they are wet, you might have bad fuel or the engine may be out of time.

You might want to try using something like throttle body cleaner or carb and choke cleaner directly into the air intake to see if the car will fire that way. You will want to disable the fuel pump so you are not flooding the engine.

Also, check the air filter and air inlet tube for obstructions.

-Rod

[boostedtbird]

Originally Posted by shorod

After cranking the car for awhile, pull a few plugs and check to see if they are wet. If they are wet, you might have bad fuel or the engine may be out of time.

You might want to try using something like throttle body cleaner or carb and choke cleaner directly into the air intake to see if the car will fire that way. You will want to disable the fuel pump so you are not flooding the engine.

Also, check the air filter and air inlet tube for obstructions.

-Rod

ok when i pulled all the plugs they all were drenched in fuel and the oil dip stick also smells like fuel.must be from all the cranking. and i dont suspect engine timing to be off as i cheked compression at each cylinder and it was pretty even amongst all the cylinders at 120 - 130 psi.i believe if engine timing were off there would be a great difference in compression and a couple with absolutely no compression at all which is not the case here. i hav tried starting it like you suggested already by using throttle body cleaner and disabling fuel pump(disconnected inertia switch).i believe the problem may lie in the ignition timing, but am not sure where to start looking.i doubt i hav a bad ignition module as i believe it would cause a no spark condition which is not the case here.a guy from autozone told me to replace the crank sensor which is used by the pcm to relay the position of the crank shaft to the pcm for timing purposes.but i dont see the crank sensor any where. does this engine even have a crank sensor?what about a cam sensor? thnx in advance

[shorod]

About the only experience I have with a Taurus of that vintage was my '93 SHO. It did have a crankshaft position (CKP) sensor (located at the crankshaft underneath the pretty plastic timing belt cover) and a camshaft position sensor. When I replaced the timing belt through routine maintenance, I also put a new CKP sensor and water pump in.

Sounds like if the plugs are drenched in fuel and the oil smells of fuel, you either not getting a hot enough spark or the spark is not occuring at the right time. Or, you have some leaky injectors.

What happens if you crank the engine a few times, then hold the throttle all the way to the floor (WOT) to shut off fuel that way. Will it sputter like it wants to start after a bit a cranking? If so, the ignition timing is probably pretty close to right.

-Rod

[boostedtbird]

Originally Posted by shorod

About the only experience I have with a Taurus of that vintage was my '93 SHO. It did have a crankshaft position (CKP) sensor (located at the crankshaft underneath the pretty plastic timing belt cover) and a camshaft position sensor. When I replaced the timing belt through routine maintenance, I also put a new CKP sensor and water pump in.

Sounds like if the plugs are drenched in fuel and the oil smells of fuel, you either not getting a hot enough spark or the spark is not occuring at the right time. Or, you have some leaky injectors.

What happens if you crank the engine a few times, then hold the throttle all the way to the floor (WOT) to shut off fuel that way. Will it sputter like it wants to start after a bit a cranking? If so, the ignition timing is probably pretty close to right.

-Rod

first of all i believe that i hav a very strong spark as it has new plugs,wires,cap,rotor, and coil. i dont hav the tool to measure the spark's voltage but believe me it is strong.i pressure tested the fuel system and i hav 38 psi with key on engine off, fuel pressure holds steady , does not drop at all so i can rule out leaky injectors,bad check valve in the fuel pump,and the regulator.when i crank it a few times with the throttle wide open it sputters sometimes like it wants to start.i hav checked and found that this engine in fact does not use a crank sensor to relay engine timing, but in fact uses a hall effect switch which is housed in the distributor and bases timing off the camshaft.do you think i hav a bad distributor?even though i hav a strong spark?gonna go to the junk yard when i hav time to get a used one to try it out.if you hav any other suggestions please let me know . again thnx in advance for your help.also hav u seen any threads with a similar problem to mine? i hav looked through hundreds but there are thousands more to look through.

[jethrom]

Ok, here is an easy check....I just got done with a similar problem with my '94 taurus. Good spark, fuel pressure, wet plugs, good crank, but no start.....What it ended up being for me was the Mass Air Flow Sensor went bad. It is the metal housing that is on the air intake right after your air filter. It has a 4 prong plug that goes into the bottom of it. Disconnect that plug then try to start the car. If it works, a used one online is about $35. My mechanic offered to replace mine with a new one for $234. I bought it online and swapped it out in about 3 minutes. You can drive the car with it disconnected but you will get poor gas milage.

Good luck!

[boostedtbird]

Originally Posted by jethrom

Ok, here is an easy check....I just got done with a similar problem with my '94 taurus. Good spark, fuel pressure, wet plugs, good crank, but no start.....What it ended up being for me was the Mass Air Flow Sensor went bad. It is the metal housing that is on the air intake right after your air filter. It has a 4 prong plug that goes into the bottom of it. Disconnect that plug then try to start the car. If it works, a used one online is about $35. My mechanic offered to replace mine with a new one for $234. I bought it online and swapped it out in about 3 minutes. You can drive the car with it disconnected but you will get poor gas milage.

Good luck!

thought id post an update to my problem. i tried the MAF along with nearly everything else i could get my hands on(used from the junkyard of course) Still wouldnt start.After pulling my hair out, i finally figured it out.I removed one of the O2 sensors from the exhaust manifold, and BAM, engine fired right up.It all made sense now.Clogged exhaust...yep,turns out one of the cats was completely disentegrated and all the crap was blocking the flow of exhaust from the engine, which is why it wouldnt start and everything i checked was normal.i ended up replacing the cats and muffler, and now the car runs like a champ.