about a year ago, i had an issue with my ever-trusty '95 hatch not starting. it happened in the parking lot of my old apartment, and after a few days of dead-ending diagnostics, it turned out that the main on the distributor had melted somehow and the issue was fixed.

nothing major happened in between.

now it's stopped running again, but this time it's worse - my girlfriend and i were on our way to catch a train to chicago for new years and the car died - of all places, on the way. fortunately we managed to cover the remaining ground on foot, and the train was running late.

i noticed a few blocks earlier that the idle was dropping at stoplights. it stalled once, and after a few unsuccessful cranks, it turned over and i was able to make it a couple more intersections by keeping the revs higher...before it died again, anyway. after a few more cranks the battery started to give up and i managed to push it into a nearby lot and decided to deal with it when i returned.

so far, i have had the alternator tested (3 times to be sure - it passed), replaced the battery and the battery negative cables (i damaged the old battery trying to get the corroded negative terminal off before i even started working, and the cables looked pretty bad), and also the distributor cap and rotor.

the car is still only cranking and not even attempting to turn over.

i still haven't been able to actually check for spark (i've been working alone) but when i pulled the cap, there was a little oil inside which told me i should replace the thing anyway.

i know i should check the following:

-that i am actually getting spark (which would narrow it down to the coil or ?)
-if i am, i need to check that i'm getting fuel (if i'm getting both...then what?)

sooo....i am hoping someone can tell me if there is anything else i should look into. the car wasn't exhibiting any symptoms before the day it died on me.

i can't go very long without it, but i can't really afford to put it in the shop just yet.

thanks so much for reading.

Check if your getting spark first. Since you have a 95 your dizzy has an internal coil. Just pull spark plug from cylinder one with a screw driver grounded to your motor check to see spark. If no spark I would assume the dizzy is bad. It might be the coil too, but since its inside the dizzy just replace the whole thing. I have a dizzy here from my 5s thats barely even used. Looks brand new. You can buy that from me and I'll ship it asap. To check for fuel have someone in the back with their ear against the seat to here the fuel pump when you turn the key to the on position. It should be a faint sound. OR you can jump the diagnostic box in the engine bay to get fuel.

If you have oil in the distributor, replace it to start with. Listening for the fuel pump will tell you if the pump is working, it won't tell you if you're getting good fuel pressure INTO or even AT the engine, you can disconnect the fuel line from top of the fuel filter and turn the key on while somebody is watching for good fuel flow coming out of the filter, this is easy to do and will let you know that the pump is good AND the filter is not clogged. The ECM fires the injectors based on the NE+ signal from the pickup coil in the distributor, if you have or can get your hands on a noid lite then you could check to see if the ECM is firing them or not. If you have oil in the distributor then the pickup coil could be bad from oil conamination. Most of the possible causes for your issues are related to the distributor, and they are known to go bad on 5S-FE's all the time.

thanks for the replies!

i did a spark and fuel check on sunday, everything was good there.

i towed the car to a shop on monday and they suggested a new dizzy, wires, plugs, cap and rotor, and fuel filter - to the tune of $1100!

needless to say i ordered the distributor assembly (including a new cap and rotor) for $160 and towed it to a friends house. as of today the distributor was replaced and the engine STILL wouldn't turn over.

after exhaustive sensor testing (iat, map tps, etc.), i suspect that it might be the coolant temperature switch. i noticed that the fan kicks on when the key is turned to the "run" position and the plugs are getting SOAKED in fuel, so everything seems to point to that...and it failed a continuity check with a multimeter. i should have a replacement in the morning and i HOPE that solves my problem.

i'll post up how it goes afterwards. if this doesn't fix it, i don't even know what i'll do.

alright, it's not that either.

here's the list again: alternator checked - good. new battery and ground cable. new distributor, cap, and rotor. new coolant temperature switch. getting spark, getting fuel. iat sensor is good, coolant temp sender is within specified resistance range, there's gas in the tank and the battery is charged.

the fans turn on when the key is in the "run" position, and the engine will not turn over. won't push-start either.

i have spent $400 on parts and 15 hours in parking lots and driveways in the michigan winter trying to fix this thing and i'm running out of ideas.

Did you check your grounds?

i checked the grounds. it's getting a nice, blue-white spark when i pull a plug.

if i pull the plugs right after cranking, they come out soaked in fuel, so i gather it's not a fuel delivery problem other than it's getting enough to foul it out.

check your idle air control. tap on it while somebody cranks the car over.

if the a/c low pressure sensor dies or is disconnected both fans will turn on. check that. Are all 4 injectors soaked or just certain ones? If just singles could be jammed open injector. Really the IAC sounds bad and it extremely expensive.

if you hold the throttle full open will it stumble and start after a bit of cranking?

true...good question

it could just be flooded.

turned out that something i did fixed the problem but the timing was way out after putting on the new distributor.

thing fired right up and runs well after a timing adjustment and fuel treatment.

unfortunately, now i have a clunking driveline issue.

i swear this car is going to be my undoing.

check your timing belt. May have slipped a tooth due to a worn out belt.