98 s70 suddenly wont start

hyatt311 · Post by **hyatt311** » 01 Dec 2014, 15:47

98 s70 was running great two days ago, and go to start this morning, it sputtered once and died, then will turn over fine, but not starting. checked it is getting gas by pump whirling in rear, and pressurized gas from the fuel bar. threw error codes po455 and p0442, which I cleared, but are not reappearing ( because it wont run?) took rotor cap off and it looked fine (no burn marks, and clean contact points) checked fuses for fuel pump, but not the relay. found one vacuum line to air box had broken, so repaired. also now there is a distinct click in the middle console area of the odb connector when the key is turned off, and the drive selection switches are stuck to W. any ideas to what to check for next? I am just a backyard mechanic, with decent skills, but takes direction well Thanks!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 01 Dec 2014, 16:01

Does the car sound funny when it is cranking? Like it is cranking faster than normal?

Following a quick start and then shutting off again the cars can lose all compression. We have kind of dubbed it the "lawnmower syndrome" since it happens when you start the car, move it a couple of feet to get to the lawnmower, and then quickly shut it off again.

You need three things to make the car run. Fuel, compression, and spark. If you have confirmed fuel pressure and spark (I'm not sure that you have actually done either from the post) then, in its simplest form, all that is left is compression.

Lawnmower syndrome is cured by removing the spark plugs, dumping a bit of oil into each cylinder, and then (after replacing the spark plugs and re-installing the wires) crank until it starts and keeps running.

It is unfortunate that the car is in the garage since it will have a huge smoke cloud after it starts. The smoke will clear after you drive for a block or so.

Check your fuel pressure and lay a hooked up spark plug on the head and check for spark while the car is cranking. If you do have good pressure and spark then the oil trick would likely be my next step.

...Lee

Post by **erikv11** » 01 Dec 2014, 20:00

Echo to Lee's post, I would follow that first.

But this is odd:

hyatt311 wrote:... also now there is a distinct click in the middle console area of the odb connector when the key is turned off, and the drive selection switches are stuck to W. ...

It sounds like the electrical portion of the ignition switch could be acting up. Try jiggling the key a little bit when it is in position II (i.e. before starting it): do and dash and/or console lights flicker, and/or does the transmission selector now change out of W into Economy or Sport? Other symptoms are blinkers not working properly, the car stalling out, there are a bunch of them you may see in random combinations. If so, then the electrical portion of the switch is on its way out, a very common failure; make sure it is jiggled into the right position when you go driving.

If the switch is an issue, it is likely unrelated to the no-start, except that it could explain why the car shut off quickly in the first place.

hyatt311 · Post by **hyatt311** » 03 Dec 2014, 18:36

Thank you for your quick responses. I did the cure for the lawn mower syndrome, hoping that would do the trick, but it still wouldn't catch. It turned out that even though my inline spark tester lit, it was not enough to create a spark at the plug itself, so after replacing the ignition coil, it fired right up, although it smoked like crazy to burn the oil out!
Thanks again for the ideas...
( but still have that click in the console every time the ignition is turned off)