hello,
Today when I went to start my lovely 1992 GXE it wouldn't start.

When I put the key in the "start" position and hold it there, the engine turns but as soon as I put it back to "on" position the engine stops moving. I can smell gas from the car when doing this but I never hear the gas igniting in the cylinder. I don't think its a battery issue otherwise engine would not turn right?

To diagnose the problem I got my buddy to attempt to start the car while I tested to see if there were sparks coming from the spark cables as I removed them from the rods on the cylinder. The result was no sparks.

Could a bad starter or ECU be causing this problem? I'm not really sure what else I can do. How can I further diagnose this problem? Any tips, hints or guidance would be appreciated.

 

check your fuses, yet?
does the wire from the coil to the distributor spark?

 

Thanks I will look into this. Do you have a guide (or quick explanation) on what I'm looking for? I know that may sounds like a stupid question but I'm learning slowly. A general guide would be loads of help!

Also this may be important, for the last month (while my car was working) I heard a distinctive ticking noise while driving. I found that when I opened the windows the sound would get a little clearer. Could this ticking sound possibly be a component that was failing?

 

possibly. or it could simply be something else. typical ticking is exhaust manifold is leaking.

or something could have died (timing belt or tensioner )

a brief explaination:
with the engine off, find the high tension lead from the coil to the distributor. pull it, and find somewhere nearby that is metal, and away from wires. I don't recommend touching it as your buddy turns teh key. if you are holding it, you should get the bejezuz shocked out of you (if you dont get knocked out), or see a spark. if there is no spark, that is a relatively good thing (means the t-belt is not the culprit).

 

Does the starter feel weaker than normal when it turns the engine. It's possible the starter is dying.

If you download the service manual, and reference the EF&EC section, there is a large section on Trouble Shooting. One of them is NO START. Cold, warm etc.. You could read up on your scenario and do each of the tests they recommend.

 

Thanks for your help guys!

I've tried some of your suggestions, fuses are all working, starter is great but I think it may be the distribution cap.

Thing is, I started up the car yesterday with no problems - it instantly started up and purred with no starting problems at all.
I thought the problem was fixed but today I decided to go out and get some Ouzo for my New Years party. However, when I went to start the car it had the same problem as before. So, I held the key in the starting position for 10 seconds and tried many different things. No matter what I did it wouldn't start. Unfortunately I am sitting here without the ouzo and without a car and I'll probably be taking public transit to my party

Anyway, Its a rainny day today so that's why I'm guessing it may be the distributor cap. I guess I'll have to open it up and check.

Thanks for the help!

 

At least you got the ouzo!! Nothing better to turn a dark grim situation into a glimpse of heaven. Now you are like the greater portion of the population in Greece: living the dream...............

 

It is most likely and you managed to diagnose it yourself - aside from wondering into dark assumptions about bad ECU and starter(?!). I had a rental once which refused to start on a foggy day - it seems cap/wires were at fault. I bought some magic spray from Canadian Tire which worked wonders despite my strong desbelief it would change a thing. I don't recommend you such a fix if you're keeping the car as I'm sure it will fail on you again at the most inconvinient moment.

 

Do you mean - literally, coming from another part of his shocked body just the moment before he passes out? ))
I actually saw this once when I touched anode wire on CRT TV being young and say inexperienced . TV was off, just holding the charge for the first one to touch it. The spark came from my finger on another hand which was within 1 cm proximity of the chassis. I learned that moment that air conducts electricity too . My hands were shaking at least for the next 30 minutes.

 

what is this stuff___>get some Ouzo

 

You may have a bad connection from your ignition coil to the distributor... I had that wire break apart (physically on the inside of the wire boot) on me causing all kinds of starting issues... check all your wires to make sure you have spark... when was your last tune up?