- Jul 13, 2014
- 60
- 0
- 6
A couple of weeks ago my 96 4.6 overheated on the freeway and shut itself down. It was ticking when i gave it gas and losing power and the whole engine was smoking for a while after it shut off. I had it towed home and tried to start it that night but it only cranked over and over but wouldn't start. I have since gotten a new battery, changed the plugs and wires (plugs looked okay, just had some oil on them, wires on the driver side were apparently very heat damaged and basically fell apart in my hands.) Wires from passenger side seemed better but I replaced them all. My buddy and I confirmed I am getting spark and the fuel pump primes each time i turn the key. Also the oil looks okay, and there appeared to be no coolant on the plugs and the cylinders looked dry and relatively clean so I am not thinking it's a blown headgasket.
The anti theft light sometimes flashes when i take the key out, and it sometimes flashes while I am cranking the engine. However, the anti theft light comes on for 3 seconds and then turns off when i put the key to the "on" position, which I have read means it has accepted my keys transponder and will allow the engine to start. I also read that in the 96-98 cars the car will not even crank or turn over if the anti theft system is enabled, so I am thinking anti theft is not the issue. It still concerns me that the light flashes sometimes though.
Today I was looking at the battery cables and the negative cable had a lot of corrosion on it. I trimmed it back and it is looking a lot better now but still somewhat corroded. I will replace the whole cable later on if needed. I pulled all fuses and looked at them closely with a flashlight and they looked okay. I checked relays too and I think they were okay as well. (although I've never checked relays before but was told they would look burned up if they were bad.) Could it be a fuse or relay even if they look okay? The last thing I checked today was the crankshaft position sensor, and I was not getting any power to the harness. I could not reach the sensor itself to check resistance and didn't have time to take off the ac compressor to pull it out today.
Anyway I am pretty stumped here guys. My next moves are to pull the crankshaft position sensor and check it for resistance and then do the same to the camshaft position sensor. Also I need to do a compression test (been saving that for last because I am pretty scared that I may have cracked the head or something and essentially toasted my engine.) Any idea why I wouldn't be getting power to the crankshaft position sensor harness? Is there a way to check fuses with a voltmeter? Any advice or ideas are welcome and thank you if you read this all the way through. I am giving as much info as possible so you guys know the whole situation.
The anti theft light sometimes flashes when i take the key out, and it sometimes flashes while I am cranking the engine. However, the anti theft light comes on for 3 seconds and then turns off when i put the key to the "on" position, which I have read means it has accepted my keys transponder and will allow the engine to start. I also read that in the 96-98 cars the car will not even crank or turn over if the anti theft system is enabled, so I am thinking anti theft is not the issue. It still concerns me that the light flashes sometimes though.
Today I was looking at the battery cables and the negative cable had a lot of corrosion on it. I trimmed it back and it is looking a lot better now but still somewhat corroded. I will replace the whole cable later on if needed. I pulled all fuses and looked at them closely with a flashlight and they looked okay. I checked relays too and I think they were okay as well. (although I've never checked relays before but was told they would look burned up if they were bad.) Could it be a fuse or relay even if they look okay? The last thing I checked today was the crankshaft position sensor, and I was not getting any power to the harness. I could not reach the sensor itself to check resistance and didn't have time to take off the ac compressor to pull it out today.
Anyway I am pretty stumped here guys. My next moves are to pull the crankshaft position sensor and check it for resistance and then do the same to the camshaft position sensor. Also I need to do a compression test (been saving that for last because I am pretty scared that I may have cracked the head or something and essentially toasted my engine.) Any idea why I wouldn't be getting power to the crankshaft position sensor harness? Is there a way to check fuses with a voltmeter? Any advice or ideas are welcome and thank you if you read this all the way through. I am giving as much info as possible so you guys know the whole situation.
