i had been cruising around just enjoying the night, when all of a sudden the engine just cut off. i pulled into a gas station and tried to restart it, and it was about too and then i heard a pop and saw a flash from under the hood. after that the starter would just crank away but the engine would never fire. the first time it acted like it was gonna start like normal then i heard that pop and a flash from under the hood. i looked around for anything that could have come disconnected somehow, but i saw nothing. i had been driving for at least 30 minutes, and the guages were all normal. I pulled a plug wire off and tried starting it and i didnt see any thing out the end of the wire (dont know if your supposed to or not but i wanted to check). any help is appreciated.

 

Remove teh distributor cap, , have an assistant crank the engine, and see if the distributor rotor moves. If so, the timing chain is at least not broken. If not, you'll need a new chain. You can also check the timing to see if the chain has slipped. Same results as above - moved timing could mean a failed chain.

If the timing is correct, test for spark at the plugs. If you checked the timing, you must at least have had some spark, but need to make sure it is getting to the plugs.

If everything is good so far, check for fuel. The pop and flash from under the hood might indicate that you had some fuel, and maybe too much.

Let us know how it goes after checking those items.

 

if i pull the distributor cap and crank the engine, do i have to reset the timing? ill try the rest of those when i get a chance. thanks for the help.

 

as long as you don't rotate the distributor, no. if all is well, just put the cap right back on.