shinto99

I have a 1997 2.8 V6 and the serpentine belt (ac, alt, ps) shredded while going down the road at 40mph. Everything just shut down. I had the car towed home and replaced the belt, but now the car won't start -- it just cranks over. I can smell fuel (and there's 3/4 tank), so I'd assume an electrical/computer problem. I unhooked the battery for about 5 minutes to clear any "shutdown" codes that may have been in the computer, but it still won't start.

I've checked all the idlers and they rotate freely with no play and I've pried back the timing belt covers to inspect that belt and it looks fine as well with no cracking, etc.

Any reason it shouldn't start? Why did it just shut down when the belt broke? Most cars will run on battery power for awhile...

Help!!!

4Driver4

Sometimes the belt bits get jammed down behind the crank pulley and displace the timing belt. Borrow some timing belt tools and check the cam timing.

shinto99

Okay... how do you do that without dismantling the entire front end? Shouldn't it at least try to start then violently self destruct if the timing is off?

I pried the cam belt covers forward and the belt is in place and turning the cams when it turns over and the belt is soft and pliable with no checking, cracking, or missing teeth that I could see.

Aren't there some easier things I can check before tearing the whole car apart, like testing the ignition to see if its firing?

4Driver4

Did you pull codes?

shinto99

I don't have an OBD scanner. Is there a way to manually pull the codes? With GM cars you can short pins A and B and the CEL will flash out any codes stored in memory. If not, I'll try to borrow one from the auto parts store...

Also, there may not be any codes because I pulled the battery ground off to reset the computer trying to get it to start.

If I let the car sit for several hours and try to crank it over, it will sputter for about a second and then it just keeps cranking. If I try again right away, nothing. It just cranks with no other signs of life.

WARP1

Verify you have spark and fuel pressure. The car should start without the accessory belt.

shinto99

Well, I just did a quick and dirty test -- I pulled #4 plug and it was wet with gasoline and when the engine cranked over there was spark, albeit a weak looking one. The more I crank it over,the more I smell gas, so I know the fuel pump is working. I can't vouch for all the injectors or plugs firing, but it's something. The ignition module is probably good.

I will attempt to pull codes tomorrow if I can borrow a scan tool and I'll do a compression test to make sure the valves aren't bent to heck. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else I can do (checking cam timing is a bit out of my depth and it appears I have to pull the whole front end apart to do so). Can you even see a timing mark to check ignition timing?

The car died immediately when it happened and wouldn't restart then and still won't now that the belt has been replaced and the battery fully charged.

David.Norton

Sounds flooded. I've seen engines jump a tooth, and they will not start just as you describe, however, as you are not hearing bad noises when you crank it (one or two teeth on the belt will usually clear, so there might still be an issue), I'd try and get the engine to dry out before I'd go in deeper as flooding might be all you are dealing with. My tricks are to first pull off the boot to the throttle body, then crank it with the throttle held open for a good twenty seconds. Don't go too long as you can burn up the starter. The MAF doesn't see air flow this way, so it doesn't inject any more fuel, and the open throttle will let air in to dry off the plugs. Then put the hose back on and see if it starts. I got a flooded A4 out of traffic this way. My next trick it to pull all the plugs and dry them, then put them back and see if it starts. If these fail then it is time to think about going in deeper. Good luck with it.

shinto99

Well, pulling the boot off the maf sensor didn't work, so I pulled all the plugs and blew out the bores with my air compressor. Plugs all looked good, evenly gapped, and no fouling or electrode degradation. Unfortunately, I pulled a bonehead move and broke the electrode off of one of the plug wires on the coil end.

The engine started and ran for about 4-5 seconds before shutting down again. It sounded like a diesel VW Rabbit, although I don't know if that's because it's now misfiring on #5 or because of valve interference.

It won't restart again. The local auto parts stores won't loan a code scanner and I really don't want to buy one for $70-200 to use one time. Anyone in the Elk Grove, CA area that has one?

4Driver4

Check cam timing. Don't tear the front of the car apart. Just take the bumper off and put the nose in service position.