Yes I know this must be the 1 millionth time this topic has been covered but hey not everyone's problem is the same. Well recently my car has been having trouble starting on very rare occasions. This is the third time it has happened in one month but it got real bad this time. My car makes the cranking noise but does not turn over. I have spark and I have a working walbro fuel pump. Spark plugs are new and gapped correctly and my wires are also pretty new. I am baffled it does not even attempt to catch on at all just cranks non stop. I have checked all the grounds, cleaned out any dirt in them and tightened them back down. Fuel filter was changed not too long ago so I am definitely getting fuel. Before it would take at least three times and it would turn on flawlessly but currently it wont start at all. It ran great the whole day so Im pretty confused on what could have happened. Battery is still good lights shine bright and alternator is keeping it charged. Started motor turns and it was tested a week ago still good.


Well after 30 mins of cranking and cranking it finally started and it is running perfect. Any idea on what could have caused my starting problem? Knowing my luck it will return with a vengance at the worst possible time and location. Im thinking it is some sort of sensor problem. Could be cam shaft positioning sensor since the car came with 3 extra ones from the previous owner. Also the wire for the cam shaft positioning sensor is ghetto rigged up since previous owner decided to play electrician. Guys I need help fast Im in the process of trading my car for a 1g gsx and would hate for this deal to fall through and I dont want to screw the guy over had it happen to me worst feeling ever.

That cam sensor is the prime suspect.

Agreed. If the ECU does not read a signal from the Cam Angle then it will not send the ignition signal.

Repair your wiring the correct way. Go from there.

Originally posted by FunkDocta
My car makes the cranking noise but does not turn over.

Not sure how it makes the cranking noise without turning over.
Anyhow, here is what I recommend after having a similar problem. Instead of replacing sensors that are suspect, just unplug them and see how that affects your situation. Our car will run with only the crank sensor or only the cam sensor. It will not run well, and will cause a CEL but it will run. If one of the sensors is going bad, likely the sensor is grounding somehow, it can throw off every other sensor in the car. This is because all of our sensors are connected with a 5V constant reference wire. If that reference wire is grounded it screws up all the sensors and can be very tricky to track down. I recommend systematically unplugging each sensor and checking for the response by your car. If you pull one, and the car seems to perk right up, perhaps you have found the culprit.

I thought for weeks that I was "destroying" cam sensors. Turns out it was a ground in the speedo sensor causing the havoc. Even satan's computer reader told me that it was either my cam or crank sensor, which had both been replaced twice....

so did you just replaced the speed sensor and the crank problem stopped?

Well my car gave out on me yesterday while at autozone so I had a friend solder some new wires together and did a great job fixing my camshaft sensor problem buuuuuuutttttt.........it turns out my starting problem were not because of the ghetto rigged up camshaft sensor but a short circuit in the fuel pump wires awesome yeah I know. So now I have to rewire the two burnt and unconnected parts of that wire and find out why the fuel pump is getting no electricity. Anyone know if our cars have a fuel pump fuse or relay? I checked the owners manual but didn't find anything about a fuse so please someone chime in car only starts and runs if I have someone in the back seat messing around with the fuel pump's wires and grounding it to my amp wire. I'm no electrician so please dumb down any answers you are about to spit at me.

anyone nothing at all?

yes there is a fuse, it's a 30 amp with a clear top, i think the fuse is pink. don't remeber the name but it is next to another one of the same exact style. i had the same problem but my car just shut off while i was driving. i had installed the walbro pump also and didn't check to make that the wiring was tucked in, and had pinched the power wire from the pump to the tank blowing my fuse. repaired the wire and a new fuse. hadn't had a problem since. hope this helps.

it's the engine fuse, on the top left of the underhood fuse block, next to the power window fuse

the fuel pump relay is on the driver side fire wall next to the brake booster. there's 2 relays together. the fuel pump relay is the one on the right aka passenger side.

Well after looking into the firewall saw the two relays just hanging down there not bolted onto the actual firewall. Seems the previous owner felt that an alarm was more important than having the relays mounted up away from any danger. So I ditched the alarm bracket that he put in place and put the relays back into their original spot. I didn't have a voltage tester but the fuel pump miraculously works again so I'm thinking the relay is just retarded and should be replaced soon. Is there a special way to remove them or just unhook them and swap?

just unclip them and replace them. that easy. fuel pump relay will be the one on the passenger side once the bracket is in it's proper place lol. if you moved it and it worked, could have been a loose connection or wire. if you replace it and still have the problem, check the pin retension and the wire harness.

Off topic, but wtf, someone stole my username?

lol sorry. didn't know anyone else had it. i use that name because my car has a huge bio-hazard symbol embroidered in the headliner.

ah. maybe you should change it.

do i have to start a whole new account to do that?

lawlz well I just have an extra relay bracket from an automatic eclipse sitting in my engine bay works so whatever problem resolved.

cool man. glad i could help.