cranking but no start

ravenmetals

Weekend Racer
Oct 14, 2009
73
0
0
College Station,Texas
I was driving yesterday doing 80ish and around 3000 rpm the car made a popping sound and then died. got it home and the car cranks but wont start. I have spark, fuel, valve train movement, and as best i can test and tell i have compression. any ideas on what could have killed it?
 

shaggydjlg

Amateur Racer
Dec 31, 2007
216
0
0
Hersey,Mich
first what kinda car is it and how many miles do u have on it I just got done with an older dodge truck that acted like the timing chain went out.spit and sputtered but wouldnt run.So i Did a tune up and put new chain in still no start. Came to find out the cat was plugged cut it off and it runs like a million bucks
 

MalibuMan1979

Frequent Racer
Aug 17, 2008
506
0
0
flint, (lapeer), michigan
t5montecarlo said:
Try doing a compression test. If you find all cylinders are low, the timing chain probably jumped.
x2
daughter's pontiac bonneville coughed once and backfired in our driveway. cranked but no fire. checked spark, fuel, vavletrain movement, ect., all were there. had me scratching my head. went to work and talked to one of the techs. he asked if it was a 3800 early style? i said yes. he said to replace the timing chain and gears and pull the oil pan and clean everything out of the pan. he was right. nylon gears were everywhere. put steel in with new cam button and new gaskets. just like new....
 

bowtie81

Moderator
Mar 28, 2008
5,008
0
36
sarnia, ontario canada
What does the spark look like it may not have enough juice to fire it up. I know it's back in the dinosaur age but my dads Z/28 had the same problem, come to find out it was his condensor in the dizzy that went for a crap. just a thought.
 

t5montecarlo

MalibuRacing Junkie
Oct 21, 2007
4,759
36
48
Lederach, PA
garage-scene.com
Yes, a bad condenser would cause a no-start situation. I remember at work, when I was in High School, we had a bad condenser on the wall labeled "The $200 Condenser". It had people baffled as to what was the problem for quite some time. After $200 of shop time, the problem was found.

I assumed that ravenmetals had HEI, but it may be a bad assumption.
 

ravenmetals

Weekend Racer
Oct 14, 2009
73
0
0
College Station,Texas
Sorry I didn't add more specifics to this.
83' El Camino
HT383
HEI
carb
non-EGR
700r4
no cats

after many more tests i pulled the distributor to find my bronze gear had been eaten. turns out the gear was slightly over sized and caused some rubbing luckily an easy fix
 

malibuj

Dragway Regular
May 6, 2007
1,074
0
0
Lancaster PA
Glad you found the problem...
I still have my chewed up bronze gear.....
Its now a paper weight For on the tool box......
Took me almost 4 hrs till I finally figured that one out..... ](*,)
 

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