91 2.3L won't start

kcserv · May 14, 2006

Hello all,
My wife's 91 Mustang was rear ended the other day and it caused the car to stall out. Since then we have been unable to get it started. I don't know if the fuel shutoff tripped or not, but the tow truck operator said " it's reset ". I checked the switch following some of the tips posted here and I have voltage through the switch, I checked all the fuses, I hear the fuel pump at startup, and the engine turns. I cannot find the shrader valve mentioned in the manual so I can't confirm fuel pressure, but the relay under the seat has power as well. I'm working on getting to the ecc relay to check that (hard to get to), but am wondering if I am barking up the right tree. I just assumed it was a fuel problem because it happened from being rear ended. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated !

JosephB · May 14, 2006

can't start

The fuel pressure valve should be at the fuel rail. Does the car's engine turn over but not start? Is the exhaust restricted from being rear-ended? Check for spark too.

kcserv · May 14, 2006

Thanks for the reply. The back end has no visible damage (tailpipe looks good). I have spark. Does the valve have a hose connected to it ?

JosephB · May 14, 2006

can't start

The fuel rail is where the injectors get the fuel. It should be by the intake manifold. There should be a valve on it that is abou 1/2" tall, 3/8" round and sort of looks like a short metal tire valve stem. It's threaded and may have a black cap on it. Don't confuse it with the a/c shrader valve.
If the engine is cold,well of course it is, with safety glasses and a friend, disconnect the fuel line from the rail or the regulator (looks like a U.F.O) and disconect the distributor cap. Hold the hose into a container and have a friend turn over the engine. Fuel should pour out. If it is, the pump and shut off switch is good.

rd · May 15, 2006

Oops, I missed that you believe you have it reset.

My neighbors truck and a friends f150 had this problem. The second one would trip the inertia switch regularly, for month or so, randomly, so its worth checking.

The easiest way to check the rest is to pop the cap off the fuel rail valve and see if gas comes out.

The easiet way to check for spark is just put a timing light on it and crank it. If it sparks at the right time, it shold start.

Next step is to read the codes and see what it says.

kcserv · May 20, 2006

Thanks for the replies, here is where I'm at. I found the shrader valve and I do have fuel. This of course puts me more at a loss. What could have happened being rear ended that would prevent the car from starting ? It has, fuel, spark the engine turns over but it never really sounds like it's gonna start. I have a hard time reading the codes but It may be about the egr valve. could that prevent it from starting ?
Thanks for your help.

Swarzkopf · May 20, 2006

You have fuel and spark, and the engine turns over? Pull off the timing belt cover. Make sure the timing belt is still in place as it should be and still intact with all of the teeth in place.

Mr. Rustypwnz · May 20, 2006

Your egr shouldnt have anything to do with this. I would check the timing also.

Josh

rd · May 21, 2006

Only suggestion is to go back through the basics.

Make sure it has gas in the tank. (Yeah, sounds dumb, but our 2.3 ran out of gas exactly when parked in it's high school spot, and would not restart. Ultimately, I shorted my scanner and the ECU module trying to troubleshoot it..Put gas in it and it fired right up.)

Put a gage on the fuel rail and make sure it has the right pressure when the pump comes on. And that the pressure stays up for a while after you shut it off.

Put a timing light on the no 1 plug wire to verify proper spark and timing.

If it has the above, I guess I would next go to pulling codes.

Sounds like the impact killed some item or sensor.

The TFI module perhaps.

If you go over to the 5.0 tech board, look around and searh. Jrichker has lots of tips on EEC4 troublshooting, and especially some checklists for situations like this.

kcserv · May 23, 2006

Thanks for the replies- Shawn and Josh are right on the money. It's the timing belt. It looks like it was on it's way out when the jolt finished it off.

Thanks again for all the help

Swarzkopf · May 23, 2006

Man... I'm just so damn good.

Now if I could just figure out why my own 2.3 Mustang won't start.

Glad you got yours all fixed up.

91 2.3L won't start

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