1996 Ford Taurus Cranks but won't start

Tiny
KWHEELER74
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 FORD TAURUS
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 202,000 MILES
Lots of history here. Have a 96 Ford Taurus 3.0 OHV. Drove the car, unbeknownst to me a radiator hose was leaking. Had no idea until several miles up the road I tried turning the heater on and there was no heat. Looked at the temperature hand and it was warmer than normal but not overheated, if there is such a thing. To make a long story short, it warped a head. Took the heads off and to a machine shop. 12 tousandths later I had good heads. Put the car back together and now it will crank but won't start. Getting fuel. Getting spark. The timing belt is fine. It acts like it wants to start when you first try to start it until it floods the cylinders with gas and fouls the plugs. I have no idea where to start looking for the problem. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
We have checked all of the harness connecters and they are correct. This was a fleet vehicle and has excellent maintenance records.


Update: Took out the spark plugs and let the cylinders dry overnight. 6 new spark plugs later with dry cylinders, the car starts and runs. Now is idling smooth in park, when you shift into gear starts to idle rough, but once above 2000 rpms, motor smooths out.

In response to Blondemommy, the heads were pressure checked also. Motor runs great once above 2000 rpms. No loss of power that low compression would indicate. Thank you so much for response. I have had this car for 2+ years and love it. No service engine or check engine lights. No codes to read. Some of the spark plug wires were arcing off of the exhaust manifold so we replaced them but it didn't seem to help the miss. Now I am into this car for about 300$ in repairs. I just don't know what to check next or even if it is worth it.
Friday, January 18th, 2008 AT 2:21 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
BLONDEMOMMY
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Hi. My husband has been a machanic for sixteen years and was wondering if you tested your compression. Pressure should be between no less than 125 to around 150 psi. Might get alittle higher than that. If you get readings that are more than 40 psi, difference between cylinders, then chances are that your heads were not shaved good enough. If you do have a low reading, start by adding oil to each cylinder with a low reading. If pressure goes up, you have bad pisten rings. If pressure does not change, could be that the heads are not seating properly. Also, if it did overheat, you could have one or more burnt valves. One more thing you might want to check, if your timing marks are lined up properly. If your one tooth off, the engine will not start. If is does start, will run very poorly. Hope this helps.
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Sunday, January 20th, 2008 AT 12:26 AM

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