I know this is my first post here, but honestly, I've exhausted all my other avenues on this and even my master mechanic friend came up blank on this one.
History:
Car belongs to my wife's mother, she's had it for maybe a year, and she said it would occasionally lose power at stops requiring more gas peddle to keep it running. About a month ago, she ran it out of gas, and a friend brought over a tank of gas for her, and they got the car to her house, where it ran no more. She had another friend come look at it, didn't sound like the guy knew what he was doing, but he told her that she probably needed a fuel filter or her timing "belt" had failed (on a timing chain engine), then bolted.
Current Status:
Turns over, if you let it sit for 30 minutes or more then try to start it, it will sputter like it's trying to start, then die. Otherwise, it just turns and turns and turns.
No codes on the computer first off, of course, she and the guy that was looking at the car ran the battery dead before I could get to it, so maybe there were codes before it totally died. We keep having to recharge the battery with a trickle charger due to lots of testing. Battery will hold charge untouched though, so the battery is good.
So, had no fuel pressure, spark plugs were worn and fouled all to hell, oil was ancient (she hadn't gotten an oil change since she purchased it).
Checked compression - ~120PSI average on all cylinders (timing should be good then right?)
Changed oil/oil filter
Changed air filter
Replaced fuel filter, pulled and cleaned fuel injectors - 40 PSI at fuel rail (checked with a tire gauge, all the rental units in my town were broken, and the two I ordered online came broken)
Replaced spark plugs, wires, and coil packs - strange spark timing, check tach, no reading
Replaced ICM - tach is reading properly
Replaced Cam position sensor - Spark timing now seems to be accurate (checked by pulling a big no no - pulled plug, connected to wire, placed over plug hole, turned over engine, perfect little flames, although they were only about 6-10 inches tall)
checked impedance on IACV - 9Ω
checked conductivity on all wires between ICM and coil packs, all zero (no connection faults)
checked throttle position sensor, varies from north of 9KΩ down to 0.3Ω, so... perfect there
checked power to MAF, all good
checked MAF sensor - clean
checked signal from MAF removed from car in open air - With car on, voltage began to rise from 0.3V up to 0.6V when I stopped, figuring it was good.
Checked every fuse I could find, all good, checked the one relay I could find under the hood, all contacts good except for the switched point.
I don't have a timing light, I don't have access to a proper fuel pressure gauge, I don't have a multimeter that reads frequency, and I only have a basic OBDII code reader, no diagnostics. Biggest issue is that I'm doing most of my work in the dark, after I get off work, in her driveway, so I can't really pull the intake manifold or anything, or at least, I don't want to yet...
I'm almost ready to light this thing on fire, and she keeps wanting to take it to a mechanic in the area. I'm only $300 into the car so far but I can't help thinking that if it goes to a mechanic in town, she won't be able to afford to get it back. We're a small town, and the only mechanic that didn't screw people in town has been out for a month...
Any suggestions would be helpful. I'm planning on pulling the back seat this weekend, pulling the fuel pump, and cleaning all of its filters in the hope that it fixes things.
History:
Car belongs to my wife's mother, she's had it for maybe a year, and she said it would occasionally lose power at stops requiring more gas peddle to keep it running. About a month ago, she ran it out of gas, and a friend brought over a tank of gas for her, and they got the car to her house, where it ran no more. She had another friend come look at it, didn't sound like the guy knew what he was doing, but he told her that she probably needed a fuel filter or her timing "belt" had failed (on a timing chain engine), then bolted.
Current Status:
Turns over, if you let it sit for 30 minutes or more then try to start it, it will sputter like it's trying to start, then die. Otherwise, it just turns and turns and turns.
No codes on the computer first off, of course, she and the guy that was looking at the car ran the battery dead before I could get to it, so maybe there were codes before it totally died. We keep having to recharge the battery with a trickle charger due to lots of testing. Battery will hold charge untouched though, so the battery is good.
So, had no fuel pressure, spark plugs were worn and fouled all to hell, oil was ancient (she hadn't gotten an oil change since she purchased it).
Checked compression - ~120PSI average on all cylinders (timing should be good then right?)
Changed oil/oil filter
Changed air filter
Replaced fuel filter, pulled and cleaned fuel injectors - 40 PSI at fuel rail (checked with a tire gauge, all the rental units in my town were broken, and the two I ordered online came broken)
Replaced spark plugs, wires, and coil packs - strange spark timing, check tach, no reading
Replaced ICM - tach is reading properly
Replaced Cam position sensor - Spark timing now seems to be accurate (checked by pulling a big no no - pulled plug, connected to wire, placed over plug hole, turned over engine, perfect little flames, although they were only about 6-10 inches tall)
checked impedance on IACV - 9Ω
checked conductivity on all wires between ICM and coil packs, all zero (no connection faults)
checked throttle position sensor, varies from north of 9KΩ down to 0.3Ω, so... perfect there
checked power to MAF, all good
checked MAF sensor - clean
checked signal from MAF removed from car in open air - With car on, voltage began to rise from 0.3V up to 0.6V when I stopped, figuring it was good.
Checked every fuse I could find, all good, checked the one relay I could find under the hood, all contacts good except for the switched point.
I don't have a timing light, I don't have access to a proper fuel pressure gauge, I don't have a multimeter that reads frequency, and I only have a basic OBDII code reader, no diagnostics. Biggest issue is that I'm doing most of my work in the dark, after I get off work, in her driveway, so I can't really pull the intake manifold or anything, or at least, I don't want to yet...
I'm almost ready to light this thing on fire, and she keeps wanting to take it to a mechanic in the area. I'm only $300 into the car so far but I can't help thinking that if it goes to a mechanic in town, she won't be able to afford to get it back. We're a small town, and the only mechanic that didn't screw people in town has been out for a month...
Any suggestions would be helpful. I'm planning on pulling the back seat this weekend, pulling the fuel pump, and cleaning all of its filters in the hope that it fixes things.