Cranking but not starting

Tiny
FELICIA MELLO
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 155,000 MILES
Please my car was running great today. Drove a lot. Then went to dinner and now it wont start it cranks and that it has power. Please I need my car back up and running and do not know what to do.
Monday, June 27th, 2016 AT 10:59 PM

4 Replies

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,873 POSTS
There is no way to diagnose the problem with no test results to analyze, and I do not know which engine you have, but I can offer some suggestions. First, on any brand of car it is fairly common for a crankshaft position sensor or a camshaft position sensor to start to fail by becoming heat-sensitive, then they work again after they cool down for about an hour. Once the engine is running again, natural air flow while driving usually keeps them cool. They tend to fail after the hot engine has been sitting for a while.

The clue to this failure is you will be missing spark and fuel pressure. A lot of people get hung up on the first thing they find missing and troubleshoot the wrong circuit. Fuel pressure can be misleading because the fuel pump will still run for one second when the ignition switch is turned on, but it will not continue running during engine cranking. That one second is enough to get the pressure up to where it appears to be okay.

The next thing is you need to read and record any diagnostic fault codes. Chrysler makes doing that yourself easier than any other manufacturer. Cycle the ignition switch from "off" to "run" three times within five seconds without cranking the engine, leave it in "run", then watch the numbers appear in the odometer display.
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Tuesday, December 20th, 2016 AT 5:52 PM
Tiny
FELICIA MELLO
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Okay, the problem with that I just replaced the crank shaft sensor and camshaft sensor about a week ago. I drove today had to for work. Drove to the dinner had dinner. Then came out and it wont start. No check engine on nothing like that.
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Tuesday, December 20th, 2016 AT 5:52 PM
Tiny
FELICIA MELLO
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
And it drove just fine no mis-fire nothing of the sort. We did check oil and it was low. But I am hoping it is not due to the heat. Other than not starting right now. It wont crank over to start just crank. The car runs perfect.
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Tuesday, December 20th, 2016 AT 5:52 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,873 POSTS
You are seriously confusing me. Why where the sensors replaced recently? Is there some related history that you did not share. The Check Engine light only turns on when the fault code relates to something that could adversely affect emissions. A failed sensor will cause a "crank / no-start". An engine that does not run cannot cause excessive emissions, so the codes for these sensors wont turn the light on. A lot of people think the light has to be on for codes to be in memory, but that is not true.

"Other than not starting right now. It wont crank over to start just crank. The car runs perfect."

It wont start, but it runs perfect?

It cranks but it wont crank? Are we talking about a cranking problem, meaning the starter fails to crank the engine, or it cranks fine but the engine does not start and run?
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Tuesday, December 20th, 2016 AT 5:52 PM

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