95 Probe refuses to start.

You might want to get a diagnostic tester. There are cheap ones at WalMart that come with a very good book to tell you all the codes. (beep sequences). Just make sure you read the instruction through all the way before using one of these diagnostic testers.

Thanks! Any help appreciated.

Ken opined in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Are you SURE the injectors arent firing? Go to parts store, buy an injector test lite... Or check a plug.. damp?

Have you checked timing?

I'm but the donator of the Probe to a family member. It was originally my son's car and it up and quit running.. even despite that, and the fact that the body is mint, I took over the car and donated it to my older brother for fixup for his daughter's first car..

I was down working on it last weekend with my brother, and did plug in a scan tool and pulled several codes. everything that's needed to make the car run is there. We turned the engine over while listening for the intjectors to fire, and there didn't appear to be any sound coming from any of them.. My brother's first instinct was that the ecm was dead, and or at least the cirucuit that fires the injectors is dead. My feeling was that the ecm is good, but there's some other underlying problem causing it to not run. The engine won't even sputter. We don't know enough about the controls in this car,so we're simply taking pop shops in hopes of finding the problem.

Thanks

I already own an OTC scan tool and have pulled several codes. one or two of the codes have no meaning in the code charts I've been looking through.

Thanks.

Ken, post the eec codes from your scanner, and what your book says they are.

Also, what is your fuel pressure on the rail while cranking? Sometimes the pump will run but will not pump, and/or your regulator could be stuck too.

Have you tried some ether to confirm that the mechanicals are capable?

How did you confirm that you have spark?

Rob

Ken opined

Codes ARE??

HAve you checked timing?!!!!

You're asking for help but you arent sharing your info.

The ECM isnt DEAD, may be crippled.

Wanna throw money at it? Find a yard that likes probes.. they'll have plenty of ECM's on the shelf

Backyard Mechanic opined in news:Xns93EC738A0FD27BkMch6d@216.168.3.44:

I'm starting to get the idea that you would like one of us to go into the EVTM and post the troubleshooting tree, Well maybe someone will but I aint gonna do it.

The REASON for these boards is to share what we know, exercise our minds analysing problems, and learn something in the process.

You are posing a puzzle without setting out the assumptions OR answering the clue questions.. which leaves us with nothing to proffer but wild ass guesses.

So either play fair or get the f*ck out.

From the sound of everyone, it seems that unless you do the job yourself, the service station mechanics can't fix the problem.

I don't have a home or a garage, but do you think it's worth it to buy the Chilton or Haynes manual to try to troubleshoot the problems myself? I'm pretty handy with electronics, but have only recently gotten into car repair, and I'm very much a beginner.

My brother and I are capable mechanics, and it's what I do for a living, although my expertize is on large trucks, cat engines, and the like. I don't own Ford products, and have a very limited experience with them. We've got Haynes manuals, and as per usual the information in the off the shelf manuals is sketchy at best.

I'm guessing from another post that there may be a timing problem, and the problem isn't limited to the injectors. The car was brought to the local Ford dealer where my son is a dealer, and they wanted to put a new engine in the car. We're are simply trying to get the engine running to see if it infact does need an engine, or just some other work. The engine just up and died on my son and it ran fairly well up till that point. I'm not looking for the answers, just an idea where to look since everything else we've checked (ie ignition, fuel delivery, relays, fuses, etc) had turned up nothing at all.

The car also came with a factory alarm system, and because the key was needed every time to get in and out of it to avoid setting off the motion alarm, it was disabled.

Thanks

I figured if the ecm is storing codes, and they can be read, then there's a good chance that the ecm is still good. My brother though perhaps the cirtuit that controls the injectors might be dead. I'll be heading down there this weekend and I'll bring the codes back and post them here.

Alll of your help is greatly appreciated.

thanks

If you understand the total basics, the factory manuals shop and PC/ED are the way to go.

Stop right there. I do not care what the product, or use. The basics of how they work is the same.

You indicated you have checked the basics. You have fuel pressure (hear the pump running?). You have seen the spark? Usually a mechanical problem does not show itself by the car simply dying without a lot of fanfare (like a big bang).

Just had this exact problem with my son 87 Taurus. Driving to the school (1st day) the car just died. Had it towed home. Discovered right away the fuel pump was not running (and was recently replaced). Armed with my voltmeter and the electrical diagrams for the car I went backwards through the fuel system to discover there was no power to the ECU. Turned out to be a corroded connection (crimped connected inside a rubber sleeve) at a fusible link that powers the ECU. Without the electrical diagrams not only would I have never figured it out, I would have never found the link which was located at a harness near the bottom of the radiator!

Last 3 failures for this car have been electrical. good luck!