Engine Flooding Tip
 

Hi I am new to the forums but I have been reading just about everything.

I want to share my story just in case if it will help anyone in the future.

Day 1
Installed new Alternator due to low voltage read out (about 13.0 while the car was moving). Tried to start the car, and always died. Threw code 9 (water temp sensor). Installed new water temp sensor but the car was difficult to start (most likely from minor fuel flood).
Drove it around, car charged at 14volts everything seemed fine.

Day 2
Fired up the car early in the morning to goto work. I always let the car warm up of course before driving (After 7 years of owning a MR2-Turbo just something I always did with turbo cars). Drove approx 25 miles. Engine shut off by itself. Popped the hood and saw smoke. Looked under the car and noticed that the cat was smoking like it looked it was on fire (Later determined that the car was dumping too much fuel). Car started after 10 mins of sitting. Drove for approx 3 miles, died again. Later had it towed to my work in San Jose.

Day 3
After long research on engine flooding, I read many many different methods. I followed the advice from here. Pulled the plugs, fuses etc. Crank - wot- repeat. Etc etc etc. Replace plugs and tried to start. It would not fire. I thought maybe the car was not getting fuel.

Day 4
I have had similar problems starting the car in my 240SX. Both times the fuel pump died on me. So I checked the diagnostic procedure to ensure if my fuel pump was working. At the time, I thought it didnt. So I bought a Cosmo/Supra pump and installed it. Same problem again. Car did not start. Later on I started to kick myself because I noticed I jumped the terminals in the wrong slots. Stupid me. But I have a Power FC coming in the mail so I guess the pump will serve a new purpose. Determined to figure out this problem, I was searching the boards and found a response by AcesHigh. I tried this method since it seemed like the most effective one. Ran out got a can of WD40 and borrowed a 1000CCA battery from Paul at Rotorsport. Also got two new leading spark plugs. After an hour of trying, I gave up. The car would still not start.

Day 5 (Today)
Still struggling to find a solution I used www.fd3s.net's walk through with the ATF fluid. Followed, repeated, no start. So I looked for a new way. I browsed the board again for types of Ignition failure. If my fuel was working, then my spark wasn't working. I found a good response saying that "The coils will not fire if there is a bad ground". Makes sense. But which ground was it? of course... the one on the engine block that is directly under the front leading plug. All 4 plugs were soaked with WD40. So what did I do.. could it be that simple? that dumb? I jacked up the car and looked at the ground on the engine block. Wow it was covered in the shit that was spitting out of the rotor when the plugs were not installed. Took the ground off, cleaned it with a napkin (I guess brake cleaner is better but I didnt have it in my work parking lot) and re-installed the ground. Cranked the car once and it fired up on the first try.

So after all that hassle for the past 4 days, I think all of this trouble could have been solved by checking my ground AFTER I expunged the rotors of Fuel and WD40.

Car runs now. Thanks for community help even though I never asked.