Engine dies again, and again, I wasn't there... -.-
 

I doubt anyone remembers my previous thread, where the engine just died while my father was driving the car somewhere. Turned out to be just a clogged fuel filter. Cheap fix :D

Not long after that, it had to be taken in for body work (small dent on the right front fender, near the bumper). My dad has taken his Mercedes and I've taken mine to get body work done there - we know this is a reputable shop.

I'm only going from what my dad is telling me - the manager or whatever he was commented on how it was a nice car, and how they don't see that many there - I'm thinking, in other words, they've never had one there... Anyways, time passes and the car is done. The work they did on the fender is, as usual, very good. When my dad went to pick up the car though, a couple of the workers were under the hood, messing with the battery - they told him they couldn't get it to start. So we got it home on a flatbed.

I figured they had flooded it - so I went through the unflooding procedure, and added in new spark plugs in for good measure. No start. So then we drain the tank: when we get to the last bucket, all of the liquid coming out is murky, opaque. So we get all that shit out, and put a bit of good fuel in. No start. My dad finds a replacement fuel pump, and we install that - no start. We replace the fuel filter, just for good measure. No start.

I followed the guidelines in the workshop manual on page F-191, at the top. For those that don't have a digital copy, it lists things to check if the car cranks normally and won't start, with no indication of the engine firing. I checked everything there but the connection of the injectors and the crankshaft position sensor - in other words, the main relay, fuel pump, ecu connections, and igniter connections.

So... we're lost. Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Let me also add... the CEL doesn't come on when ignition is in ON position, nor will it come on to check codes... It won't come on at all. I'm searching for what would cause it to not come on at all, but any quicker replies would be helpful. Thanks

check everything that you can, and do it with a fine toothed comb, especially the electrical system, and fuel system.


do you have spark? if not test the coils and their connections

Have you checked compression? I have read too many horror stories about people dropping off their rx7 or other sports car, and people at various shops, reputabible and otherwise, that would go for a ride... Needless to say you know the rest.

Definitely check the compression. You can use a piston compression tester, just remove the bleed valve out so it does not hold the pressure and u should see 3 even bounces. Hold down the gas peddle while doing this, and pull the egi relay and fuel pump relay. I like to pull both.

Let us know.