94 Taurus cranks but doesn't start

[daniella2706]

So last friday i got into a fender bender going 10 mph. car is fine! drive it all day saturday and then I wake up sunday morning to a non functioning car! It cranks like its going to start but never turnsover! So my friend who's a mechanic comes over and takes a look. He tests my battery which is great. My coil is giving and receiving enough spark. Then he tests a spark plug, no spark. So he replaces all the spark plugs, the wires and the cap does a whole tune up. still cranks, no spark and doesn't start. So i send it off to my mechanic. Well that was tuesday, now it's friday and all he can tell me is that it is something electrical. At first he just thought it was the fuel pump, but that was ruled out. My car also will need a master cylinder soon, but is the problem why my car won't start? Can someone please help me out here. I miss my car!!!

[lectraplayer]

Put an ohm-meter between the engine block and the negative terminal of the battery. You should read a dead short, and if you don't investigate where the break is. You may have knocked the ground loose.

Also, it may have a inertial switch (though that is usually for the fuel pump). Try to check it (it may be in the trunk).

[shorod]

Your car will need three things to start, proper air/fuel ratio, compression, and proper spark at the proper time. If one of these is missing, your car won't start.

Your car will have an inertia fuel pump cutoff switch mounted on the driver's side (in the US) of the trunk. There will be a hole in the trunk liner about the size of a quarter that you can stick your finger through to make sure it is pressed down. If your car has fuel pressure (which may be what the technician checked for) this switch is not open. If the technician did not verify fuel pressure, then have them check for it.

Next, verify that none of the air intake hoses have fallen off. If the air intake hose at the throttle body or at the Mass AirFlow (MAF) sensor fell off, you may experience the no start condition.

Also have the technician use a spark tester to verify each cylinder has spark. If you don't have spark, then determine if the coil is getting a signal from the PCM to fire.

-Rod