1999 ZX2 No Start Problem

[chcs28]

My son was driving home at 35 MPH when the car starting bucking- starved for fuel. He heard a clicking sound coming from under the hood. Got it started, but would only run with a heavy foot on the gas. It eventually died.
The fuel filter was plugged-replaced it- have 55lbs of pressure on the fuel rail now, have spark but doesn't even attempt to fire. The timing belt looks good, everything is turning. Checked injector pulse with noid light-everything is fine. Replaced cam position sensor-didn't make a difference. I'm hesitant about changing the crankshaft sensor as I will need to drop the exhaust . If crankshaft sensor was bad, would it still signal for the plugs to fire?Compression checks out on each cylinder, installed and gapped new plugs-but still not even attempting to fire. Also, no codes were recorded either.
Any suggestions?

[Davescort97]

Welcome to the forum. If the crankshaft position sensor was bad it wouldn't signal the plugs to fire.
More likely the plugs are firing at the wrong time. Check that the ring with teeth on it behind the crank pulley isn't separated from the pulley. If the car was bucking it could have separated the two. They are pressed together. Some debris could have made it past the fuel filter and could be plugging the injectors. Spray some starting flulid inito the intake. If it starts you'll know the injectors are plugged.

[chcs28]

Thanks for the quick response. I have tried the starting fluid and that doesn't seem to fire either.
How can I view the ring with teeth?

[chcs28]

I don't have a ring with teeth. The engine is a DOHC Zetec- the timing belt looks good, no teeth missing and everything is tight.

[rhandwor]

Pull the camshaft position sensor use a flashlight and look in the hole check if the toothed ring is moving.
Take an ohm meter unplug the camshaft sensor the meter on a DVOM will go from zero to one. Then pull the crankshaft position sensor plug it also should go from zero to one when cranking. Both have to work for a start.
If the electrical pull it and check the teeth. The crank shaft sensor is closer to the road check it first.