No start

[alik]

The engine turns over, but won't fire.
Ran previously with starter fluid. Has spark, ignition pulse, fuel, air. Just swapped the plugs. BR7ES.
Ran before on some substitute plugs, and those came out (were in the car for less than 1 running hour) looking like this.

Clearly the car is running rich, actually, not running at all, but I'm at a loss...

 

[MellowVR4]

check the coolant temp sensor.

 

[alik]

The entire CTS bundle was replaced prior to firing the car. So the issue is not with the wiring, but could a faulty temp sensor cause the car to run this rich?

 

[MellowVR4]

oh yeah!

 

[BENE38A]

where is the coolant temp sensor is it the plug that screws into the thermostat housing

 

[alik]

Hmm, thinking out loud, when the car ran, the temp gauge came up to normal without any issues. Could it still be that the temp sensor is malfunctioning if the temp gauge read "12 o'clock" when the engine is hot?

 

[ktmrider]

^^ There are two temp sensors, one for the gauge ( single wire ) and one for the ECU ( two wires ).

You have a logger? Of course you do, this is a 20+ year old car. See what the ECU thinks the coolant temp is, yes it will dump a bunch of extra fuel if it thinks things are way cold.

 

[alik]

My logger has been sitting for so long, I don't even know where it is. :/

I think I'll start by swapping the ECU temp sensor, and see what's cooking.

That's the bad boy, right?

 

[marvinmadman]

Yes

 

[alik]

Replaced the CTS (coolant temp sensor). Still no start.
Mechanic says "too much fuel".

His guess is that the ECU is f***ing up. My guess is that I'm close to ripping a stick of dynamite under this f***ing car simply out of frustration.

Help!!!

 

[strokin4dr]

I had a bad sensor ground wire causing this issue on my car. Check all the wiring and put a scanner/logger on the car to see what temp the ecu thinks it's at. Probably going to read -40.

 

[Fish]

If the sensor reads -40 unplug it, should still read -40. Then use a jumper wire or paper clip to jump the two terminals together. It should then read about 250ish. If it does this your wiring is good and you need a new sensor.

If the temp is stuck at -40 even with the connector jumped you have an open wire somewhere. This will cause it to run very rich. If it is stuck at around 250 with the connector unplugged and NOT jumped together your signal wire is shorted to ground. This will cause the car to run very lean.

Hope this helps.

 

[alik]

Thanks!
Turned out bad fuel was the culprit. I still have an engine check light on. Gonna have to dig up my logger...